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Birds & Nature Magazine 



Country Days 



By NELLIE GOUTANT 



FROM the time the first spring 

 beauties open their eyes, to the last 

 autumn bonfire, the days in the 

 country are crowned with delights. Not 

 the least of these, from the boy's point of 

 view, is the fact that here he is able to 



admirers, with the hen with the ducklings 

 a star attraction. Lady Methuselah, who 

 is at least nine years old, and who never 

 owns any but white chicks, receives her 

 share of attention and admiration. 



A near-bv brook attracts the children as 



'Just Wading' 



have some animal for which to care. There 

 are few things more pitiful than many a 

 city child's longing for a pet. But here in 

 the country, if they choose, Willie and 

 Jenny may bring up a rabbit, a woodchuck 

 or an orphaned lamb, and there is no one 

 to object. Sam's dogs have room to wag 

 their tails without protest from the neigh- 

 bors, and Sam himself may indulge his pro- 

 pensity for base ball and other sports, and 

 go in swimming twice a day in summer. 



The poultry on the place, whether hens 

 or ducks or turkeys, always has its ardent 



surely as a plate of sugar does flies, and 

 whether constructing wonderful forts and 

 tunnels of sand, or taking part in mimic 

 naval engagements, or fishing with a string 

 and a bent pin, or just Vv^ading, the brook 

 is one of the delights of summer. Prob- 

 ably there is some favored spot in the 

 vicinity where tradition says fish have been 

 known to bite, and it is a proud occasion 

 when the boy appears with a string of 

 beauties that he declares are almost too 

 heavy for him to carry. Repeated allusions 

 to these fish thereafter may cause the familv 



