and he knew the Jays had located there. 

 Though Mr. Blue Jay was always cau- 

 tious, trying to deceive every one con- 

 cerning the whereabouts of his home, he 

 himself knew every other nest in the yard. 



So persistent was he in patrolling 

 Leafy Lawn, jumping from tree to tree 

 and from branch to branch, reporting his 

 presence, and in case of danger threat- 

 ening, squawking so loudly and repeat- 

 edly, that it was agreed, as he already had 

 a blue uniform, that he should be the po- 

 liceman for this precinct. 



There came a day early in the season 

 when Mr. Woodpecker, Robin Red- 

 breast and Mr. Blue Jay all asembled 

 within speaking distance on the lower 

 branches of a silver maple tree and excit- 

 edly discussed the arrival of a number of 

 birds which they had heard early that 

 morning but had been unable to find. 



"My wife," said Robin, "awakened me 

 from the twig near her nest, where I us- 

 ually sleep and keep guard, and she said 

 that one of our kin had arrived for she 

 had heard a voice exactly like mine from 

 the plum tree. Hoping it was one of my 

 brothers I searched eagerly until sunrise, 

 and though I heard him twice I could not 

 find him." 



Mr. Blue Jay was more excited than 

 before and turned about, twitched his tail 

 violently, scolded and sputtered that he 

 had had just such an experience and he 

 believed the sparrows had added witch- 

 craft to their other sins and were trying 

 to hoodoo the birds of Leafy Lawn. 



A frightened sparrow overheard this 

 accusation and came near enough to pro- 

 test that they were not guilty and )iad 

 been themselves trying in vain to find 

 their newly-arrived English relatives, 

 whom they had believed they heard that 

 morning. 



Mr. Woodpecker said it might be no 

 personal afTair of his as he had heard no 

 drumming nor mocking of his song, but 

 if Leafy Lawn were to be occupied by 

 kildares, bobolinks, meadow larks and 

 blackbirds he thought there would be 

 scarce picking of worms, bugs or seeds 



for the old settlers who were the rightful 

 possessors of these premises and it was a 

 serious condition of things. In closing 

 his pompous speech he shook his scarlet 

 bonnet furiously, smoothed his waistcoat 

 and jumped upon a higher limp and called 

 off his "chit-it-it-it-it-it" so shrill and high 

 that his companions were for the moment 

 alarmed lest he should split his throat. 

 But he stopped as suddenly as he had be- 

 gun, and upon the silence that followed 

 the birds heard^ as surely as they saw the 

 blossoms on the apple trees, the song of 

 the thrush. 



"It is undoubtedly a hobgoblin," 

 hoarsely whispered Mr. Woodpecker, 

 "for Mr. Blue Jay swore to me this morn- 

 ing that during the seasons he and his an- 

 cestors have patrolled this lawn never 

 have they seen a thrush even alight here." 



It was decided that the three birds 

 make one more immediate and thorough 

 search for the monster hobgoblin which 

 infested the Lawn. 



Imagine their chagrin when they saw 

 tilting upon the unleaved twig of a late 

 catalpa tree a modest little gray bird with 

 keen, bright eyes, who commenced a gar- 

 ble of all their songs called off in such 

 merriment that the birds could not but 

 appreciate the sport. Then the stranger, 

 who was no other than Mr. Cat-bird, a 

 cousin to the brown mocking-bird of the 

 south, gave a weird cry exactly like a cat's 

 meow which so frightened the birds they 

 flew hastily away to their several homes. 



Mr. Cat-bird was welcomed to Leafy 

 Lawn, for his beautiful voice was an es- 

 teemed acquisition to the morning 

 chorus, but he could not deceive the 

 birds again with his imitative songs. 



"Many a time, however, he would sit 

 upon the corner of the house roof and 

 perpetrate his joke on the boy in the 

 hammock below, who thought he knew 

 much about birds, but who could not un- 

 derstand why, when he heard so many 

 different voices, there was only a little 

 gray cat-bird within sight. 



Gertrude Southwick Kingsland. 



203 



