294 REAL AUTUMN 



in the house Tommy helped her to put them in 

 water in an umbrella-stand. There was no other 

 vase large enough to hold them. 



He gave her a little scolding then for picking so 

 many, not, however, because Sunflowers are van- 

 ishing, but because the birds eat their seeds when 

 they are ripe. He told her that it was getting 

 harder every day for the birds to find food, and 

 that Sunflower seeds were one of their last feasts 

 before they went south. 



" Little Trudy throw out crumbs," she said, and 

 Tommy knew it was no use trying to make her feel 

 sorry that she had picked the flowers. 



Now she gets pieces of bread every day, and 

 throws them out by the well; but only sparrows 

 come to eat them, and these little birds are not 

 favorites with Tommy's father. In the spring 

 they build their nests above the windows or in the 

 shutters of his house, and long before he wishes 

 to awake in the morning they begin their noisy 

 chattering. Yesterday one robin came for the 

 crumbs. He looked very big and bold among the 

 sparrows. They were just beginning to tease the 

 robin and try to drive him away, when a chicken 

 ran in among them. This made Little Trudy 

 angry. 



" Crumbs only for birds," she cried, and shooed 

 the chicken away. The robin flew off also, and 

 neither he nor the chicken have been back since. 



Close to where the Sunflowers grow Pokeweed 



