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Page 3
It is true our noisy neighbors, the blue-jays, sometimes disturbed my
mother by their hoarse chattering when she was weary of wing and wanted
a quiet hour to meditate, but they disturbed us younger ones very
little. My mother did not think they were ever still a minute.
Constantly hopping back and forth, first on one bough, then on another,
flirting down between times to pick up a cricket or a bug, they were
indeed, a most fidgetty set. Their restlessness extended even to their
handsome top-knots, which they jerked up and down like a questioning
eyebrow. They were beautiful to look at had they only possessed a
little of the dignity and composure of our family. But as I said, we
little ones did not trouble ourselves about them.
The air was so pleasant, our nest so cozy, and our parents provided us
such a plentiful diet of nice worms and bugs, that like other
thoughtless babies who have nothing to do but eat, sleep, and grow, we
had no interest in things outside and did not dream there was such a
thing as vexation or sorrow or crime in this beautiful world. When our
parents were off gathering our food, we seldom felt lonely, for we
nestled snugly and kept each other company by telling what we would do
when we should be strong enough to fly.
At this stage of our existence we were as ungainly a lot of children as
could well be imagined. To look at our long, scrawny necks and big
heads so disproportioned to the size of our bodies, which were scantily
covered with a fuzzy down that scarcely concealed our nakedness, who
would have thought that in time we would develop into such handsome
birds as the bobolink family is universally considered to be?
Our mother, who was both very proud and very fond of us, was untiring
in her watchful care. No human mother bending over the nursery bed
soothing her little one to rest, showed more devotion than did she, as
she hovered near the tiny cradle of coarse grass and leaves woven by
her own cunning skill--alert and sleepless when danger was near and
enfolding us with her warm, soft wings. Thus tenderly cared for we
passed the early sunny days of life.
After we could fly we often visited a fragrant orchard that sent its
odors across the grain fields. From its green shade we made short
excursions to the rich, black soil in search of some choice tid-bit of
a worm turned up by the plow expressly for our dessert. We were indeed
glad to be of use to the farmer by devouring these pests so destructive
to his crops, but did not limit our labors to these places; we also
made it our business to pick off the bugs and slugs that infested the
fruit trees, and often extended our efforts to the tender young grape
leaves in the arbor and the rose bushes and shrubs in the flower garden.
On a warm morning after a rain was our favorite time for work, and it
was pleasant to hear the tap-tap-tapping of our neighbor the
woodpecker, as he located with his busy little bill the bugs in the
tree limb. It was like the hammer of an industrious blacksmith
breaking on the still air. His jaunty red cap and broad white shoulder
cape made of him a very pretty object as he worked away blithely and
cheerily at his useful task. While the rest of us did not make so much
noise at our work, we were equally diligent in picking off the larvae
and borers that ruined the trees, and on a full crop we enjoyed the
consciousness of having aided mankind.
On several occasions I had seen our enemy, the cat, slinking stealthily
on his padded feet from the direction of the great brick house which
stood on the edge of the orchard. Crouched in a furrow he would gaze
upward at us so steadily and for so long a time without so much as a
wink or a blink of his green eyes, that it seemed he must injure its
muscles. Aside from the many frights he gave us it is sad to relate
that he succeeded before many days in getting away with one of our
number. One morning he crept softly up to a young robin which had
flown down in the grass, but had not sufficient power to rise quickly,
and before the unsuspecting little creature realized its danger, the
cat arched his back, gave a spring, and seized it. A moment later he
softly trotted out of the orchard with the poor bird in his mouth and
doubtless made a dainty dinner in the barn off our unfortunate comrade.
This incident cast a deep gloom over us, and our songs for many days
held a mournful note.
But while cats were unwelcome visitors from the great brick house, we
sometimes had others whom we were always glad to see. The two young
ladies of the family, together with their mother and little niece,
occasionally came out for a saunter under the trees, and it was very
delightful to listen to their merry chat. So affectionate toward each
other, so gentle and withal so bright and lively, they seemed to bring
a streak of sunshine with them whenever they came. Miss Dorothy, who
was tall and stately, seldom sat on the grassy tufts which rose like
little footstools at the base of each tree, but rambled about while
talking. This was perhaps because she disliked to rumple her
beautifully starched skirts. But Miss Katie--impetuous, dimple-cheeked
Katie, would fling herself down anywhere regardless of edged ruffles or
floating sash ribbons.
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