Produced by Al Haines [Illustration: Cover Art] [Frontispiece: "He came quite close and stared at the little girl" (missing from book)] STORIES OF BIRDS By Lenore Elizabeth Mulets _Illustrated by_ Sophie Schneider _"When our babe he goeth walking in his garden Around his tinkling feet the sunbeams play; The posies they are good to him And bow them as they should to him As he fareth upon his kingly way: The birdlings of the wood to him Make music, gentle music, all the day When our babe he goeth walking in his garden."_ _--Eugene Field._ Boston: L. C. Page and Company Publishers Copyright, 1903 By L. C. PAGE & COMPANY (Incorporated) All rights reserved Made in U.S.A. New Edition, April, 1925 THE COLONIAL PRESS C. H. SIMONDS CO., BOSTON, U. S. A. PREFACE Where can you find a lad who does not treasure among his secrets the nesting-place of some pair of birds? Where can you find a child who does not watch for the first robin of spring-time? Where can you find one who does not know when the wild ducks in the wedge-shaped flocks fly southward? This little book of "Bird Stories" is written both for the children who already know our common birds, and for those who may know them if they choose. For those children who know, the book is a verification of their own facts, with an addition of stories, poems, and songs to make facts beautiful; for the children who do not know, the book is a simple set of facts placed before them for verification and entertainment. To all, may the knowledge obtained be a pleasure and a delight. LENORE ELIZABETH MULETS. CONTENTS The Chickadee In the Snow Twenty Little Chickadees The Snowbird's Song How the Birds Got Their Feathers Chilly Little Chickadees All About the Chickadee Robin Redbreast Merry Robin Redbreast The Robin's Red Breast Which Was the Wiser? All About the Robin The Swallow Under the Eaves The Swallows All About the Barn Swallow The Hawk and the Raven From the Barnyard Fence The First Hawk Origin of the Raven and the Macaw All About the Chicken-Hawk All About the Raven The Kingfisher With the Water Watchman The Halcyon Birds All About the Kingfisher The Red-Headed Woodpecker In Cap of Red A Legend of the Northland All About the Woodpecker The Lark In the Meadow The Song of the Merry Lark Saved by a Lark All About the Meadow Lark The Owl A Good-Night The Owl (Tennyson) The Owl Girl The Owl and the Raven The Owl (Shakespeare) All About the Barred or Hoot Owl The Bobolink A Summer Song Robert of Lincoln All About the Bobolink or Rice-Bird The Sea-Doves and the Great Blue Heron Beside the Sea Sea-Pigeons The Sandpiper The Circling of Cranes All About the Great Blue Heron or Blue Crane All About the Sea-Dove LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS