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
Creeper continued on up the trunk of the tree, picking here and picking
there. Just then Peter caught sight of another friend whom he could
always tell by the black mask he wore. It was Mummer the Yellow-throat.
He had just darted into the thicket of bushes along the old stone wall.
Peter promptly hurried over there to look for him.
When Peter reached the place where he had caught a glimpse of Mummer, no
one was to be seen. Peter sat down, uncertain which way to go. Suddenly
Mummer popped out right in front of Peter, seemingly from nowhere at
all. His throat and breast were bright yellow and his back wings and
tail a soft olive-green. But the most remarkable thing about him was the
mask of black right across his cheeks, eyes and forehead. At least it
looked like a mask, although it really wasn't one.
“Hello, Mummer!” cried Peter.
“Hello yourself, Peter Rabbit!” retorted Mummer and then disappeared as
suddenly as he had appeared.
Peter blinked and looked in vain all about.
“Looking for some one?” asked Mummer, suddenly popping into view where
Peter least expected him.
“For goodness' sake, can't you sit still a minute?” cried Peter. “How do
you expect a fellow can talk to you when he can't keep his eyes on you
more than two seconds at a time.”
“Who asked you to talk to me?” responded Mummer, and popped out of
sight. Two seconds later he was back again and his bright little eyes
fairly shone with mischief. Then before Peter could say a word Mummer
burst into a pleasant little song. He was so full of happiness that
Peter couldn't be cross with him.
“There's one thing I like about you, Mummer,” declared Peter, “and that
is that I never get you mixed up with anybody else. I should know you
just as far as I could see you because of that black mask across your
face. Has Mrs. Yellow-throat arrived yet?”
“Certainly,” replied another voice, and Mrs. Yellow-throat flitted
across right in front of Peter. For just a second she sat still, long
enough for him to have one good look at her. She was dressed very like
Mummer save that she did not wear the black mask.
Peter was just about to say something polite and pleasant when from just
back of him there sounded a loud, very emphatic, “Chut! Chut!”
Peter whirled about to find another old friend. It was Chut-Chut the
Yellow-breasted Chat, the largest of the Warbler family. He was so
much bigger than Mummer that it was hard to believe that they were own
cousins. But Peter knew they were, and he also knew that he could never
mistake Chut-Chut for any other member of the family because of his big
size, which was that of some of the members of the Sparrow family. His
back was a dark olive-green, but his throat and breast were a beautiful
bright yellow. There was a broad white line above each eye and a little
white line underneath. Below his breast he was all white.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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