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Bird Day Book 



birds, he sat sad, for he loved them, 

 stood and said : 



When they had finished, he 



"God sent them to comfort us. Think of 

 The thrush that carols at the dawn of day, 

 The oriole in the elm, the noisy jay. 

 The bluebird balanced on some topmost spray 

 Linnet and meadowlark and all the throng. 

 That dwell in nests and have the gift of song; 

 Think of your woods and orchards without birds, 

 Of empty nests that cling to bough and beams." 



The farmers listened to the teacher, but they laughed and said, 

 "We must kill the birds." Day by day the birds were killed. The 

 cruel work went on until not a bird was left in Killingworth. "Now 

 we shall have good crops," said the farmers; but when summer 

 came the days were hot, the grass yellow. Hundreds of caterpillars, 

 worms, and bugs ate the grain and vegetables. The trees were leaf- 

 less. When the people walked near them, worms dropped on them. 

 Then the farmers knew that because they had killed the birds, there 

 would be no harvest. How sorry they felt, but the birds were dead. 



One day in the next spring a strange sight was seen in Killing- 

 worth. This is what the people saw : 



"A wagon overarched in evergreen, 

 Upon whose boughs wicker cages hung, 

 All full of singing birds." 



The wagon was taken to the square of the city. Then the doors 

 of the cages were opened and the birds flew out. There was never 

 a song of a bird sung sweeter than those sung in Killingworth that 

 summer. 



What do you think of the people of Killingworth? Do you see 

 by their selfish first thoughts, what trouble they brought upon them- 

 selves. Let us care for our birds ? Some say, "Kill the birds ; they 

 are useless," but I say protect the birds, and make the conditions 

 for their increase favorable. "As little messengers of good cheer, 

 as exponents of grace, song and living beauty, as examples of paren- 

 tal love, they help to brighten and uplift our lives." — Willie Reed 

 Marsh. 



