Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Children's stories; Christian life -- Juvenile fiction
Very often, during the day, the robins bring worms to fill the gaping
mouths. It is surprising how much they eat. No wonder they have grown
plump and large, for they eat and sleep as much as they please. We
expect soon to see them flying about from tree to tree, and hopping
along the ground. We hope that great cat, which steps about so softly,
will never find them. She is welcome to all the rats and mice she can
put her paws on, but we never like to see her climb a tree, for we
fear she will destroy some of our cheerful friends, who build near the
house in full confidence that they shall not be disturbed.
The young robins are not lonely in their rural home. The
plainly-dressed sparrows and the brilliant yellow-birds look in upon
them, and, now and then, their cousin, the oriole, comes, clad in the
richest golden plumage, and sings them a song. If he had dipped his
feathers in the gorgeous sunset he could not be more beautiful. The
delicate little humming-birds sip nectar from the deep horns of the
honeysuckle; and the red-winged starling, in his glossy black coat,
and his dashing scarlet epaulette, occasionally comes from his home in
the meadow, to make them a call. He does not like Honeysuckleville
quite as well as his dwelling in the grass, just above the water. If
he was not so confirmed in his habits, I think he would be strongly
tempted to become a neighbour of the robins. A few weeks ago, when his
favourite resort was five or six feet under water, he and his friends
seemed to be in great uncertainty what course to pursue. They had
several mass meetings on the quince-bushes, in full sight of
Honeysuckleville, and a great many speeches were made. It sounded to
me like incessant chattering, and as if all were talking at the same
time. I could not understand a word they said, and I cannot tell you
the result of their deliberations. Whatever it may have been, when the
water subsided, they returned to their old haunts by the river-side.
These I have mentioned are not the only visitors whose society our
friends enjoy. The swallows gracefully skim through the air, and greet
them with their merry voices. The wren often favours them with one of
his sweetest melodies, and the blue-bird flies around the corner to
sing a song on the walnut-tree. He has a curious little nest of his
own, hidden away under the eaves. The cat-birds, of course, are always
near, as they live in the lilacs. The oriole has suspended his nest,
like a basket, from a limb of the great pear-tree; and when the robins
know how to fly, they can return some of his visits.
The old robins, now and then, play peep with the young birds. They fly
almost up to the nest, and poise themselves for an instant on the
wing, just long enough to say, "Bo-peep!" and then away! almost before
they can be seen. Pretty soon they return again, generally bringing
some nice morsel with them. They often first alight on a small branch
of the vine, below the nest, and then hop up to it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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