In a city in Maine there lives a bus driver. This bus driver has a pet hen that is very tame. When the hen hears the driver taking the bus out of the barn, she runs to the car. When the driver takes his seat at the wheel, the hen flies up and sits beside him. As the driver goes from town to town, the hen stays with her kind friend. She stays with him all day long. When the bus driver returns home at night, the hen flies down to the ground. Then she runs to the barnyard door, and has her supper with the other hens. After her long automobile trip, this hen is very tired. So she goes to roost very early in the evening. After a night’s rest, she is ready to start out again in the morning. Rain or shine, this hen never misses her automobile ride. Now, is she not a queer hen? [Illustration: Canary Birds] Sing, Little Bird Sing, little bird, When the skies are blue, Sing, for the world Has need of you. Sing when the skies are overcast, Sing when the rain is falling fast. Sing, happy heart, When the sun is warm, Sing in the winter’s Coldest storm. Sing little songs, O heart so true, Sing, for the world has need of you. [Illustration: Bird in cage] Buttercup Once I went to my grandmother’s house. My grandmother gave me a canary. His name was Buttercup. He was called Buttercup because his breast was so yellow. This canary was a small bird. His feathers were black and yellow. Buttercup was in a cage. When we went home my grandmother put paper around the cage. Then my brother carried the bird to our home. Now we enjoy the bird very much indeed. We take the best care of him. We like to listen to his sweet song. How We Care for Our Canary We keep the canary in a cage. We place the cage near a window where there is much sunshine. Every day we feed the canary. We put some cuttle bone between the bars in a corner of the cage. We do not give our canary sweet or salty food. We call our canary Dickie. Dickie is fond of lettuce. So we often give him lettuce. We feed our bird apples, too. Sometimes we give him crackers. We give bird seed to our canary. We put the seed into a dish. Then Dickie helps himself. He often spills the seed. Then my mother has to sweep it up. Of course we remember to give our bird fresh water to drink every day. Indeed, we try to take good care of our canary. Because we care for him, Dickie sings sweet songs for us. The Little Bird “Little bird! little bird! come to me! I have a green cage ready for thee.” _Lydia Maria Child_ The Bird’s Bath Our bird has a bath every day. We put fresh water into a little dish. The bird gets into the dish. The dish is his bath-tub.