The Burgess Bird Book for ChildrenBurgess, Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo)
General
The Burgess Bird Book for Children
Burgess, Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo)
Birds -- Juvenile literature
XLIII QUEER FEET AND A QUEERER BILL
The Ruffed Grouse and the Crossbills.
XLIV MORE FOLKS IN RED
The Pine Grosbeak and the Redpoll.
XLV PETER SEES TWO TERRIBLE FEATHERED HUNTERS
The Goshawk and the Great Horned Owl.
THE BURGESS BIRD BOOK FOR CHILDREN
CHAPTER I. Jenny Wren Arrives.
Lipperty-lipperty-lip scampered Peter Rabbit behind the tumble-down
stone wall along one side of the Old Orchard. It was early in the
morning, very early in the morning. In fact, jolly, bright Mr. Sun had
hardly begun his daily climb up in the blue, blue sky. It was nothing
unusual for Peter to see jolly Mr. Sun get up in the morning. It would
be more unusual for Peter not to see him, for you know Peter is a great
hand to stay out all night and not go back to the dear Old Briar-patch,
where his home is, until the hour when most folks are just getting out
of bed.
Peter had been out all night this time, but he wasn't sleepy, not the
least teeny, weeny bit. You see, sweet Mistress Spring had arrived, and
there was so much happening on every side, and Peter was so afraid he
would miss something, that he wouldn't have slept at all if he could
have helped it. Peter had come over to the Old Orchard so early this
morning to see if there had been any new arrivals the day before.
“Birds are funny creatures,” said Peter, as he hopped over a low place
in the old stone wall and was fairly in the Old Orchard.
“Tut, tut, tut, tut, tut!” cried a rather sharp scolding voice. “Tut,
tut, tut, tut, tut! You don't know what you are talking about, Peter
Rabbit. They are not funny creatures at all. They are the most sensible
folks in all the wide world.”
Peter cut a long hop short right in the middle, to sit up with shining
eyes. “Oh, Jenny Wren, I'm so glad to see you! When did you arrive?” he
cried.
“Mr. Wren and I have just arrived, and thank goodness we are here at
last,” replied Jenny Wren, fussing about, as only she can, in a branch
above Peter. “I never was more thankful in my life to see a place than I
am right this minute to see the Old Orchard once more. It seems ages and
ages since we left it.”
“Well, if you are so fond of it what did you leave it for?” demanded
Peter. “It is just as I said before--you birds are funny creatures. You
never stay put; at least a lot of you don't. Sammy Jay and Tommy Tit
the Chickadee and Drummer the Woodpecker and a few others have a little
sense; they don't go off on long, foolish journeys. But the rest of
you--”
“Tut, tut, tut, tut, tut!” interrupted Jenny Wren. “You don't know what
you are talking about, and no one sounds so silly as one who tries to
talk about something he knows nothing about.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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