402 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 196 



"Because my feet are so long," answered the bird. 



"Well, they will be useful to you one of these days," said the 

 Grasshopper. 



"How?" asked the bird. 



"You just wait. You'll see," said the Grasshopper. Then the 

 Grasshopper told him to quit hiding and to go out in the fields and 

 sing. 



The bird took his advice and went forth and sang. His song was 

 so beautiful that everyone stopped to Usten to it. The next afternoon 

 he went out and sang again. But he kept thinking to himself, "My 

 feet are good for nothing." He hid in the grass again. 



A female bird had laid some eggs in the middle of a wheatfield. 

 The wheat became ripe, and she heaxd some men say that they were 

 going to cut it. She began to cry because she had no way of saving 

 her eggs. 



The Grasshopper came to see her. "What are you crying for?" 

 he asked. 



"I am crying because the wheat is going to be cut and my eggs 

 will be destroyed," she said. 



"There is a bird Hviug over there in the grass who is always hiding 

 because he has big feet," said the Grasshopper. "I am sure that he 

 can help you out." 



The female bird said, "I'U go see him. Maybe he can carry away 

 the eggs in his claws." 



She went to see him, and he agreed to try and help her. Then he 

 found that with his long feet he could carry the eggs very easily. 

 He took them for her to a safe place. 



"Now I see what the Grasshopper meant," he said. 



2.— THE BIRDS SELECT A CHIEF* 



AH the birds decided to select a Chief and an Assistant Chief. 

 They considered how they could determine which ones of them to 

 choose and decided that they would have a contest. The one who 

 flew highest would be Chief; the one who flew second highest would be 

 Assistant Chief. 



The Tsitsi ^^ knew that the Eagle was certain to go highest, so he 

 got imder the Eagle's wing, and as the Tsitsi weighed very Uttle, the 

 Eagle did not notice his presence. All the birds flew off. 



Some did not go very high, and when they had gone as high as they 

 could go, they came down. The Eagle went highest, and when he 

 had satisfied himself that no other bird had gone higher than he, then 



»' winter wren, see footnote 10, p. 389. 



