516 DAN BEARD'S ANIMAL BOOK 



gentle mate in the growing bouquet hears and re- 

 joices. 



Away back under the black foliage of the giant 

 white pines, a wee bit of fuzzy stuff attached to 

 a dead limb showed, to the knowing ones, the home 

 of one of the pigmies of the bird colony. It is the 

 home of a humming-bird whose body is not much 

 larger than a grapevine beetle, but it conceals the 

 heart of a lion, for never yet did the midget hesi- 

 tate to take up the battle where the kinglet left 

 off. It did not fear even Uncle Sam, the big 

 eagle. 



Old Redtail always seemed to rejoice when he 

 had sailed safely by these warriors, for when he 

 would reach his own fortress in the swail you would 

 hear him screaming, 



KEE YI A; KEE YI IA ; 



which in bird language means, I dare you to come 

 in my back-yard. 



In due course of time the fuzz upon the young 

 princes' skinny bodies was underlaid with large, 

 juicy-looking quills and a little later the ends of 

 these quills were each marked with a baby feather. 

 Progress after this was rapid, and it was not long 

 before the 



EMPTY NEST OVER THE DARK-GREEN LILY PADS 



told the .story of another deserted home. The 

 royal couple had succeeded in rearing all their chil- 

 dren and in protecting all their neighbors, because 



