“Quack, quack!” says the duck, “Was there ever such good luck! Spring has cleared the pond of ice, And the day is warm and nice, Just as I and Goodman Drake Thought we’d like a swim to take.” [Illustration: Parrot on wire] Polly Polly is a parrot. She has a crooked beak and bright colored feathers. Polly likes to scream. She eats crackers. She says, “Polly wants a cracker!” For Polly can talk. She can say many things. Polly says the same things that we do. She mocks us. If we say kind words, Polly says kind words. If we say cross words, Polly says cross words. So we must be careful how we speak. When the people pass, Polly says “Hello!” Sometimes Polly calls “Mamma!” She says “Good-by,” too. Polly also says “Naughty boy.” When I am naughty, mother says that. Polly mocks mother and says it too. Polly says, “Go to bed.” Polly can say “Meow,” so that it sounds like the cat. Polly calls the dog too. She calls, “Sport, come here!” We talk to Polly and Polly talks to us. Indeed Polly seems like a real playmate. Doves Doves are such gentle birds that we all love them. They say “Coo, coo.” Some doves are white. Other doves are bluish-gray. Once I had a gray dove. One day my sister and I went out on the back porch to clean some vegetables. The dove flew up on my head. My uncle’s doves flew into the barn through the open door. They made their nest up in the hayloft. Sometimes they flew over the meadows. They flew far away. But they always came back. The Turtle Doves’ Nest High in the pine tree, The little turtle-dove Made a little nursery To please her little love. “Coo,” said the turtle-dove, “Coo,” said she, In the long shady branches Of the dark pine tree. Our Dove One day my mother saw a dove upon the porch. The dove was not at all afraid. It was so tame that mother thought this dove belonged to some one. But no one claimed it. My mother took the dove into our house. At first she put it into a basket. Later she bought a cage for it. Now we keep the bird in a cage. Sometimes we let the dove out of the cage. Then we have a hard time catching it. I like this dove. [Illustration: Turkey chasing girl] A Turkey Story I went to pay my friend a visit. My friend lived on a farm. Her mother had some turkeys. She was keeping them for Thanksgiving Day. I tried to feed the turkeys. When they saw me, they said “Gobble, gobble!” One turkey was a cross gobbler. He was such a large turkey that when I saw him, I said, “Oh, what a big bird!” Once this big fat gobbler chased me. I was frightened and ran as fast as I could. The Turkey Gobbler