SATURDAY BIRD CLASS , 
 
 \RGARET 
 MILLER 
 
 D. C. HEATH & CO.MP 
 
MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS 
 
 BY 
 
 MARGAEET MILLER 
 
 BOSTON, U.S.A. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY D. C. HEATH & CO. 
 1893 
 
a 
 M 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1893, 
 BY MARGARET MILLER. 
 
 EDUCATION 
 
 IBrcss : 
 
 J. S. Gushing & Co. Berwick & Smith. 
 Boston, Mass., U.S.A. 
 

 PEEFACB. 
 
 IT is with the wish that the experiences related may 
 inspire others to try the plan outlined in these pages of 
 interesting children in the study of nature, that this jour- 
 nal of My Saturday Bird Class is published. What more 
 delightful combination for the teacher can there be than 
 summer, birds, and children ? 
 
 With the exception of Chapter VI., "Billy Wren's 
 Housekeeping," which appeared in The Independent (New 
 York) for May 29, 1890, the record is here printed for the 
 first time. The descriptions in the notes at the end of 
 each chapter are drawn from Samuels's Birds of New 
 England and Adjacent States, and Coues's Key to North 
 American Birds, and from the latter source are also taken, 
 by permission, the engravings of the bobolink, golden- 
 winged woodpecker, downy woodpecker, kingfisher, blue 
 
 jay, and butcher bird. 
 
 M. M. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PREFACE iii 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. THE ROBIN 1 
 
 II. BLUEBIRD AND SPARROWS ...... 10 
 
 III. THE SWALLOWS 21 
 
 IV. WOODPECKERS . . . . . . . .31 
 
 V. THE WREN .42 
 
 VI. BILLY WREN'S HOUSEKEEPING ..... 50 
 
 VII. SCREECH-OWLS .56 
 
 VIII. CUCKOO AND COW-BUNTING 64 
 
 IX. FLYCATCHERS 76 
 
 X. THE BIRD CLASS AT SCHOOL 84 
 
 Xr. A PICNIC 89 
 
 XII. MIGRATION 99 
 
MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE ROBIN. 
 
 APRIL is here, and in all the school-rooms from 
 Maine to Connecticut to say nothing of school- 
 rooms in other states I think I can see eager faces 
 turned often to the window and hear restless feet 
 tapping the floor impatiently in prospect of a run 
 over the greensward. The robin beside the door is 
 calling, " Come out ! come out ! " and every bird that 
 sings is inviting us to come and see. Who says that 
 our feathered friends are shy ? Come gently, gently, 
 now, boys and girls, and say, "How do you do?" to 
 them and see what they will say to it. 
 
 Last year a little girl who found that I knew the 
 names of the birds came to me so often during the 
 winter to ask about those that came to her door for 
 crumbs that I began to think a bird class would be a 
 good thing. So I said to Lois, and Lois said to all 
 
2 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 the boys and girls she knew, that if they would meet 
 for an hour every Saturday afternoon through the 
 spring and summer, I would tell them what I knew 
 about birds. So on the second Saturday in April I 
 went to Lois' house, and there I found seven girls 
 and three boys waiting for me. They all seemed 
 quite happy at the prospect of the class: but when 
 they spied a small book in my hand, the boys at once 
 looked sober, and Cicely, the oldest girl, explained 
 that they did not suppose that they were going to 
 study out of a book. 
 
 "Why, no indeed," said I, . " I wouldn't think of 
 asking you to spend your holiday in that way. Now 
 see ; all I brought this for is to show you this draw- 
 ing of a bird. When you tell me about a bird, I want 
 you to use these names. Here is the bill H ; this is 
 the front, or forehead I ; this, the crown, or top of the 
 head J; here is the back L; this part of the back just 
 above the tail is the rump ; the wing you see spread 
 out ABODE; just under the bill is the throat and 
 chin, Gr and F; lower down is the breast; and the 
 rest you may call the under parts. Now, when 
 you've learned all these names, I will shut up the 
 book, and we will not look in it again once. 
 
 " The way we are going to do is this : Each time 
 you come, you shall tell me about some bird you 
 
THE ROBI:N T . 
 
 have seen, describing each part carefully. If I know 
 what it is from your account, I will tell you the 
 name of it. Then, after we have hacl a little talk, 
 we will go for a walk to see what we can see." 
 
 E D C B 
 
 A, primaries ; B. secondaries ; C, primary coverts ; D, greater coverts ; E, tertials ; 
 F, throat ; G, chin ; H, bill ; I, front ; J, crown ; K, lesser coverts ; L, interscapular 
 region ; M, leg (tarsus); N, abdomen ; O, rump ; P, upper tail coverts ; Q, under 
 tail coverts. 
 
 " Oh, Miss May, are we going to walk to-day ? 
 Can't we go now?" 
 
 " Why no ; of course not yet. "We are going to 
 talk about our good friend, the robin, first. I won- 
 der if any of you can describe his colors." 
 
MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 The children all looked at each other and laughed 
 a little, and then Cicely said, "I think I can " ; and 
 one and another said, " I can, I can." 
 
 " That is good. Now begin, Tom, with the bill." 
 
 " It is yellow, isn't it ? " 
 
 " Yes ; but are you not sure ? " 
 
 ' Yes, I'm sure now." 
 
 " Now, Cicely, the front and crown." 
 
 " I don't know, Miss May, as I'm exactly certain 
 about the color, but I know it is dark. I'm sure it 
 isn't black. It's brownish." 
 
 " / thought it was black, sometimes," said bright- 
 eyed Lois. 
 
 " So it is," said I ; " the father bird has a black 
 head, but the mother bird's is gray or brown. Now 
 what is the color of the back ? " 
 
 No one was sure about the back or wings or tail, 
 but they all agreed that the breast was red. " Why, it 
 must be red ; for wasn't it called ( Robin Redbreast ' ? " 
 Neither did any one know what colored stockings 
 Mr. Robin wore, although little Johnny said he 
 watched one only the day before. 
 
 " But please, Miss May, he ran so fast I couldn't 
 see his legs at all." 
 
 " Now, you see," said I, " you do not know what 
 kind of clothes your nearest neighbor wears, so you 
 
THE ROBIN. 5 
 
 will have to learn to look more sharply. The next 
 time you come, you must do better than to-day. The 
 next question is, ' What do robins eat ? ' 
 
 Chorus. " Cherries and currants and corn and 
 bread and worms and everything." 
 
 " Oh ho, oh ho, my boys and girls ! So you think 
 every kind of bird eats every kind of thing, do you ? 
 Just as if the little white boy and the Indian boy and 
 the Chinese boy all had the same things for breakfast. 
 Try again." 
 
 Tom. " I know they just stuff our cherries." 
 
 Johnny. " And they get all our strawberries." 
 
 Bertram. " And Uncle Henry says he would like 
 to shoot every robin, so that he could have some fruit 
 for himself." 
 
 "Is that so? I suppose poor Robin Redbreast 
 does like cherries and berries, and perhaps no one 
 ever told him that it was stealing. / do not call it 
 stealing, though, and I'll tell you why. I think he 
 earns every bit of fruit that he gets. I read a story 
 not long ago that proves it. 
 
 " A man found a poor little robin that had fallen 
 out of the nest before it could fly or had hardly any 
 feathers on it. So he put it in a cage and began to 
 feed it. He had had one before that he fed on bread 
 and fruit, and it died, so he thought he would give 
 
6 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 this one meat. He cut some beef into little strips, 
 each as large as an angleworm. ' Now/ he said to 
 himself, ' with four babies in the nest the old birds 
 can't get them more than ten worms apiece a 
 day. 
 
 " So the first day he gave the young bird ten bits 
 of meat. The next morning the poor thing was so 
 weak he thought it would die. That day he gave it 
 fifteen, and the next twenty-four, and every day after 
 that a few more. Still the bird did not grow any 
 until the fourteenth day, when he gave it sixty-eight 
 worms more than its own weight. Just think of 
 that ! Every five minutes, all day long, the old 
 birds come with their bills full of worms to stuff into 
 the open mouths. Don't you think our fathers and 
 mothers are glad their boys and girls do not eat more 
 than their own weight of food in a day ? 
 
 " Another man who was trying to raise some silk- 
 worms had to cover his mulberry trees with netting, 
 and then the robins would break through it, although 
 there was plenty of fruit in the neighborhood. You 
 see they knew their babies must have worms or they 
 would die. 
 
 " Tell your Uncle Henry, Bertram, that if he should 
 kill all the birds, I do not believe there would be a 
 leaf left on his trees or a bush for the berries to 
 grow on. 
 
THE ROBIN. 7 
 
 " There is one thing more that I have to tell you 
 to-day, and that is our robin's family name. You 
 may not know that all the birds belong in families 
 just as you do ; but so it is. Robin Redbreast be- 
 longs to the Thrush family, and a cousin of his is the 
 catbird." 
 
 After we had all repeated the name, I said, " We 
 will now go for a short walk in the orchard behind 
 the barn, but the boys 
 must remember that 
 they can't see any 
 birds unless they go 
 quietly." 
 
 Whoop ! Boys go 
 quietly on a Saturday, 
 who ever heard of 
 such a thing! Out- 
 side the door were waiting the great mastiff, King, 
 and his friend the Skye terrier, Trix, and fine helps 
 they were for bird-seeing ! A shout from the boys 
 would startle a bird from a bush, and away both 
 dogs would go after it until it was out of sight. 
 
 " boys, boys ! Why will you be boys ! Why can't 
 you tiptoe along as these girls are doing ? See ; there 
 goes a robin. Can we get near enough to see that 
 his throat is white streaked with black, and that 
 
8 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 there are small white patches above and below th 
 eye ? Fie on those dogs ! There he goes ; but no\ 
 we can see the white on his outer tail-feathers as h 
 flies. 
 
 " Flitting through the tops of the trees is a flock o 
 little birds keeping close together. They must b 
 tree sparrows, those dear little birds that have bee: 
 with us all winter ; for the spring birds do not go i 
 flocks like that. Well, let us go back now. Ther 
 is no use in going farther to-day. Another time w 
 will leave the dogs behind and the boys, too, : 
 they can't go more softly. Good by, children ; d 
 not forget what I have told you, for I shall ask yo 
 questions next Saturday." 
 
 FOR THE TEACHER. 
 
 THE THRUSH FAMILY. 
 
 Robin, already described. 
 
 Catbird : Color, blackish ash or dark slate ; crown and ta: 
 black; under tail-coverts, chestnut. It is so called from i 
 cry when alarmed, which is like a cat's mew. It has also 
 song which resembles that of the brown thrush. 
 
 Brown thrush (thrasher) : Color, reddish brown ; belo^ 
 white with more or less tawny tinge, and thickly spotted ai 
 streaked with dark brown. It has a long, richly varied son 
 
THE ROBIN. , U 
 
 Song-thrush or wood-thrush : Color, above, cinnamon brown, 
 shading into olivaceous on rump and tail ; beneath, white, 
 marked with large, distinct, dusky spots. Its beautiful song 
 is heard at early dawn and twilight. 
 
 Wilson's thrush : Color, above, nearly uniform light reddish 
 brown ; beneath, white, with small, indistinct spots on breast 
 and sides. The song is a peculiar one, with a metallic ring 
 difficult to describe, beginning quite loud and decreasing to a 
 faint lisp. It is commonly called the veery from its note. 
 
 The hermit and olive-backed thrushes are not so often 
 seen. They have the prevailing colors brown and white. 
 
 The mocking-bird of the Southern States belongs to this 
 family. 
 
 All of these birds, with the exception of the robin, catbird, 
 and mocking-bird, build in the woods and are quite shy. 
 
 The brown thrush rests in hedges and brush heaps on the 
 prairies of Illinois ; never in the woods. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 BLUEBIRD AND SPARROWS. 
 
 THE next week my class had increased to 
 twelve, and as lively a brood of chickens I found 
 them as ever an anxious mother hen had to look 
 after. 
 
 As soon as we had seated ourselves and were toler- 
 ably quiet, I began, 
 
 "Who knows to what family the robin belongs ?" 
 
 No one looked as if they had ever heard of it, 
 except Lois, who raised her hand. 
 
 " What ! not remember what I told you ? " 
 
 " Bird family, I guess," said Tom, pertly. 
 
 " Yes, and you belong to the boy family, I sup- 
 pose. 
 
 " Come, Cicely," I said, turning to the oldest girl, 
 "you ought to know." 
 
 Cicely. " I think you said the Bobolink family, 
 did you not, Miss May ? " 
 
 Lois could hold in no longer. 
 
 " It's a thrush, it's a thrush, Miss May ! " 
 
 Chorus. " Oh yes ; so it is." 
 
 10 
 
BLUEBIRD AND SPARROWS. 11 
 
 ' Can any one tell me what the young robins 
 
 < A > 1 
 
 eat c 
 
 The words were scarcely out of my mouth when 
 there was a deafening chorus of, " Sixty-eight worms 
 a day ! sixty-eight worms a day ! " 
 
 " Good ! I am glad you have not forgotten that. 
 Now I suppose you each have some bird to describe?" 
 
 Bertram. " I did not see any." 
 
 Tom. " I know a lot of them." 
 
 " Very well ; describe one." 
 
 Tom. " Guess I'll take the chippy. It is a little 
 bird about so big, and it is a kind of brown all 
 
 over." 
 
 " Is that all you can say about it ? " 
 
 " Yes'm." 
 
 "Then I think you have made a mistake. I 
 should say that was a wren, from your description." 
 
 " Oh, but I know 'twas a chippy." 
 
 " How do you know ? " 
 
 " Oh, by the looks of it." 
 
 " Yes ; but you see I do not know. If you were 
 telling me about some strange bird, I could not give 
 you the name of it from any such description." 
 
 " Oh, teacher," said Annie Blanchard, leaning over 
 the back of my chair, " what is that bird that always 
 goes in the bushes and seems so lonesome when there 
 
12 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 are no bushes for it to go in ? It is a biggish kind 
 of bird, but I forget what color it is " 
 
 " Oh dear," I said to myself, " I am getting into 
 trouble by agreeing to tell the names of birds from 
 description " ; then aloud, 
 
 " I do not know, Annie. It must be a strange 
 sort of bird. Have you seen it often ? " 
 
 " Yes'm, lots of times ; but not very lately." 
 
 " Well, I hope you will see it again so that you 
 can tell me more about the colors. What is it you 
 wish to say, Lois ? " 
 
 " Oh, please, Miss May," said little Lois, rising, 
 " I saw some birds down lot, and they looked like 
 this " (as she talked she patted the parts of her body 
 as she named them). " They were not as big as a 
 robin, and they were bigger than a chippy. The top 
 of the head crown I mean *" (here she clapped 
 both hands on her curls) "was gray, and I think the 
 -back was a kind of speckled gray and brown, and 
 underneath was all gray, and it had a black patch on 
 the throat, here, so only some did not have any 
 black at all. Do you know what kind it was ? " 
 
 " Very good, very good indeed, Lois. There is no 
 mistaking that bird. Those were English sparrows ; 
 the ones without the black were the females. You 
 know they were brought over here from England 
 
BLUEBIRD AND SPARROWS. 13 
 
 several years ago. I am sorry they are getting so 
 plenty in our little village, for they are quarrelsome, 
 and drive away other birds." 
 
 "I know all about those English sparrers," said 
 Bertram ; " there's a man down to N. gives five cents 
 apiece for 'em, and me and another feller's been 
 shootin' 'em all the mornin'." Bertram, you see, was 
 as careless about grammar as about everything else. 
 
 "Are you sure you get English sparrows every 
 time," I asked, "and kill no other birds by mistake ? 
 You know it is against the law to kill any other 
 little birds, and you may be fined ten dollars if you 
 are not careful.'.' 
 
 " Oh yes'm, I know," said Bertram, easily. As 
 we were going for our walk that afternoon we passed 
 Bertram's house, and he ran in and brought out a 
 string of five birds for me to see. Three were small 
 birds, hardly as large as a chippy, with crimson 
 patches on the top of their heads. 
 
 " Why, Bertram, do you call these English spar- 
 rows ? Do English sparrows have red caps ? " 
 
 " I guess that's blood," said Bertram, beginning to 
 look confused. 
 
 "No, it is not. These birds are called redpolls, 
 which means red head, and they are the prettiest 
 and dearest little birds that visit us sometimes in late 
 
14 MY SATUEDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 winter or early spring. They are so much smaller 
 than the others I should think you would have 
 known they were not English sparrows. Now let us 
 see the other two, larger ones. This one with the 
 spotted breast is a song-sparrow, poor thing ! He 
 will never sing his sweet song again, and all because 
 a boy was so sure he knew he would not take the 
 trouble to make sure. Here is just one English spar- 
 row out of the lot, and four innocent birds had to 
 suffer. Are you not proud of yourself, Bertram ?" 
 
 Bertram looked quite ashamed as he took his birds 
 into the house without saying another word. 
 
 But to go back to the lesson : we talked about the 
 birds that are the very first to come back in spring. 
 The dear bluebird was known to all, and some had 
 noticed that he had red on his breast. 
 
 " Bright red ? " said I. 
 
 " No : red as that," said they, pointing to a cherry- 
 wood table. 
 
 " I think there is one building now in the post at 
 the front corner of our house," said Lois. " We are 
 just as careful as we can be, Mary and I, not to 
 frighten it, and we have seen it going there lots of 
 times. 
 
 " And there is another bird with a blue back, Miss 
 May, that has been here all winter. It's not so blue 
 
BLUEBIRD AND SPARROWS. 15 
 
 as the bluebird, and it has black on the back of its 
 head that comes down so " (she drew her hands down 
 over her ears and neck), " and underneath it is all 
 white. It came to get crumbs at our back door 
 almost every day." 
 
 " I gueth there'th one now," exclaimed Sidney, who 
 had been looking out of the window. We all sprang 
 to see, and there, sure enough, coming down the elm 
 tree, only a few feet away, was the bird Lois had 
 described. 
 
 " Yes, I thought so. It is a nuthatch." 
 
 " It's a little beauty," cried all the girls. 
 
 "I shouldn't think it would like to go with its 
 head down all the time," said Tom. 
 
 " I have read that it sleeps with its head down," 
 said I. 
 
 " My ! I should think it would get a headache," 
 said Kate. 
 
 Meanwhile little nuthatch was running about the 
 trunk, undisturbed by the heads in the window, peep- 
 ing under the bark with bright black eyes, and pulling 
 out now and then a good morsel for his dinner. At 
 last he flew away with a funny little note that 
 sounded like " krek krek." 
 
 " Two other birds I must speak of before we go 
 for our walk. One is the song-sparrow. I hope we 
 
16 
 
 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 shall hear one to-day. It builds mostly on the 
 ground in the fields, sometimes close by the road." 
 "Pooh! I've found their nests lots of times/' 
 
 said Tom. " I call them 
 ground-birds. Their eggs 
 are blue, speckled all over." 
 " Well, after this you 
 will have a better name 
 for them. The best way 
 of knowing the song-spar- 
 row is by a distinct dark 
 spot in the middle of its 
 breast. There are smaller 
 streaks or spots upon its 
 sides. Then there is the 
 chipping sparrow. How 
 many know the chippy?" 
 Every hand went up, and I had so many stories 
 told me all at once about chippies that had built in 
 " my rose-bush " and "our hedge," that I concluded 
 this bird needed no description. So we started forth 
 for a walk. We stopped at the post at the corner, 
 and, looking in, could see the bluebird's nest, with 
 one pale blue egg in it. Then we went down to the 
 graveyard to look for birds among the evergreens. 
 The boys disappeared by the way, and as a ball 
 
 Upper Fig. SNOWBIRD. 
 Lower Fig. SONG-SPARROW. 
 
BLUEBIRD AND SPARROWS. 17 
 
 game was in progress up the street, we thought we 
 
 knew what had become of them. 
 
 ^ 
 
 Kate said that she was going to find a humming- 
 bird's nest. I told her " she would be a lucky girl 
 indeed if she did." 
 
 We saw the blackbirds called purple grackles, 
 spreading their boat-shaped tails as they flew about 
 the pine trees in which they were building ; we heard 
 several song-sparrows singing ; we followed a brown 
 bird a long distance, but could not get near enough to 
 see what it was. Then from one of the evergreens 
 came a sweet, long-continued warble. As we were 
 watching closely to see what it might be, the songster 
 flew out and sailed over our heads, singing as he 
 flew. We could see that he was about the size of a 
 song-sparrow. Just as he disappeared into another 
 spruce tree, we caught sight of the glowing crimson 
 on the upper part of his body. 
 
 " Oh, it is a purple finch," I cried. 
 
 " I should think it ought to be a red finch," said 
 Kate. 
 
 " No ; purple finch is the name of it, although it 
 looks more red than purple to us. It looks like a 
 brown sparrow which has been dipped in a deep red 
 dye. The head is the brightest color ; the brown 
 shows through on the other parts. 
 
18 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 " Now that we have seen something worth seeing, 
 let us go home." 
 
 FOE THE TEACHER. 
 
 THE SPARROW FAMILY. 
 
 Chipping-sparrow, or hair-bird: Color, rump, back of neck 
 and sides of neck and head, ashy ; crown, a continuous, uniform 
 chestnut ; forehead, black, separated in the middle by white ; 
 a white streak over the eye and a black one from the base of 
 the bill through and behind the eye ; under parts, ashy white ; 
 two narrow white bands across the wing-coverts. Length, 5| 
 inches. 
 
 Tree-sparrow : Color, hood and upper part of nape contin- 
 uous chestnut ; a line of the same from behind the eye ; sides 
 of head and neck, ashy ; a broad, light band over the eye ; 
 beneath, whitish, with a small, circular blotch of brownish in 
 the middle of the upper part of the breast ; edges of tail- 
 feathers, primary quills, and two bands across the tips of the 
 secondaries, white. Length, 6^ inches. 
 
 I have described the parts in which the chipping-sparrow 
 and tree-sparrow resemble each other, from which it may be 
 seen that they might easily be confused. 
 
 The tree-sparrow breeds in the north, but comes in small 
 flocks to spend the winter with us, often lingering till the first 
 week in May. 
 
 The chipping-sparrow arrives here early in the spring, and 
 is our neighbor and familiar friend through the summer. 
 
 The English sparrow has many unlovely traits, and often 
 drives away more attractive birds; but I should hesitate to 
 
BLUEBIRD AND SPARROWS. 19 
 
 encourage the spirit of destructiveness in boys by allowing 
 them to kill even such objectionable birds. 
 
 There are many other kinds of sparrows in the United 
 States, all of which bear a general resemblance to each other. 
 A familiar member of this family is the snowbird, which is 
 so frequently seen as a winter visitor that I give the descrip- 
 tion. 
 
 Snowbird: Color, grayish or dark ashy black, stopping 
 abruptly on the breast; beneath, white; first and second 
 external tail-feathers, white ; the third tail-feather, white, 
 margined with black. Length, 6J inches. 
 
 Closely allied to the sparrows are the finches and buntings, 
 individual species of which will be mentioned later. 
 
 The lesser redpoll is a finch described as follows : 
 
 Color, above, light yellowish, each feather streaked with 
 dark brown ; crown, dark crimson ; upper part of breast and 
 sides of the body tinged with a lighter tint of the same ; the 
 rump and under tail coverts also similar, but less vivid, and 
 with dusky streaks; rest of under parts white, streaked on 
 the sides with brown; wing-feathers edged externally and 
 tail-feathers all round with white ; two yellowish white bands 
 across the wing-coverts; secondaries and tertiaries edged 
 broadly with the same. 
 
 The specimen described above is a male in winter dress. 
 The spring plumage has much more of the red. 
 
 The female winter specimens lack the rose of the under 
 parts and rump. Length, 5 inches. 
 
 The redpoll is not a regular winter visitor, but is seen some 
 years in great flocks. I have only observed it two seasons in 
 ten years. 
 
20 MY SATURDAY BIRD GXASS. 
 
 The male purple finch is in color crimson, rosy or purplish 
 red, most intense on the crown, fading to white beneath, 
 mixed with dusky streaks on the back ; wings and tail dusky, 
 with reddish edgings, and the wing coverts tipped with the 
 same. 
 
 Female and young with no red olivaceous brown, brighter 
 on the rump, the feathers above all with paler edges, produc- 
 ing a streaked appearance ; below, white, thickly spotted, and 
 streaked with brown. Length, 6^ inches. 
 
 This beautiful bird is found everywhere, and builds usually 
 in pine or cedar trees. 
 
 The bluebird belongs to the family known as "rock- 
 inhabiters," and is the only species found in the Eastern 
 States. 
 
 The white-bellied nuthatch : color, above, ashy blue ; top of 
 head and neck, black ; under parts and sides of head to a short 
 distance above the eye, white ; bill stout. Length, about six 
 inches. 
 
 This bird is a frequent winter visitor, and it regularly 
 breeds as far south as Massachusetts. It is more often seen 
 than the red-bellied nuthatch, which is only 4J inches in length, 
 and whose color is above, ashy blue ; top of head, black ; a white 
 line above and a black one through the eye ; chin, white ; rest 
 of under parts, brownish rusty. 
 
 The nests of both species are built in holes in trees, or 
 stumps, usually excavated by the birds for the purpose. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE SWALLOWS. 
 
 MY third lesson was given at the house of Ralph 
 Upton. (Did I say that we met at the home of each 
 pupil in turn?) Ralph, being an only son, has a 
 room full of toys which were very distracting. Sid- 
 ney wound up the music box at once. Johnny began 
 to draw pictures on the transparent slate. Tom 
 seized a piece of chalk, and drew portraits of all the 
 bird class and their teacher on the blackboard, while 
 the rest of the children were soon immersed in pict- 
 ure books. At last I managed to get the toys piled 
 up on the shelf, pocketed the chalk, and called my 
 class to order by separating the boys, who were 
 crowded together on the sofa so that they looked like 
 nothing but a tangle of legs and arms. Then I be- 
 gan to talk very fast, and soon had them so interested 
 that they forgot to look for further distractions. My 
 subject was The Swallows. 
 
 " Five kinds of swallows there are, that live near 
 us, and one that is not really a swallow though it is 
 called so. Can any one name them ?" 
 
 21 
 
22 
 
 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 Chimney-swallows and barn-swallows were the only 
 ones my class had heard of. 
 
 " Have you never seen the bank-swallows' holes 
 in the sand along the river ? The bank-swallow is 
 grayish brown above and white beneath. Don't you 
 
 BANK-SWALLOW. 
 
 wish you could see it sometimes, tunnelling its way 
 into the bank several feet before it scoops out a room 
 for its nest ? How do you suppose it goes to work ? 
 Does it dig with its feet or its bill ? It is a curious 
 thing, is it not, that although the sand is quite soft 
 
THE SWALLOWS. 23 
 
 and yielding sometimes in the places it chooses, it 
 never seems to cave in on the birds. What a snug 
 place it is for the young ones where no hawks can 
 get them ! 
 
 " After the old birds have taken so much trouble 
 to make a safe home for their babies, you would not 
 think boys could be so mean as to dig into their 
 nests, would you ? The next time we walk to the 
 river we will see if we cannot spy the bank-swallows 
 skimming about over the water for insects. 
 
 " The chimney-swallow is really a swift, but it 
 looks and acts so much like a swallow that it is 
 called one. Where do they build ? " 
 
 " In the chimneys," shouted one and all. 
 
 " What did they do before there were any chim- 
 neys to build in ? " 
 
 That was a poser. 
 
 " Guess there weren't any swallows then," sug- 
 gested Johnny. 
 
 " Oh yes, there were. They made their nests in 
 hollow trees ; but when men came and built houses, 
 the swallows found out that chimneys were more to 
 their taste, though why they like them better I can- 
 not see. They always fly about in the air, above the 
 houses and tree-tops, catching insects. They fly so 
 fast and light so seldom, that it is hard to see their 
 
24 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 colors, but there are other ways of knowing them. 
 You can recognize them by their short tails, though, 
 if you have noticed the swallows, you will see that 
 they all fly differently, and you can almost know 
 them by that. Did any of you ever see a chimney- 
 swallow close by ? " 
 
 Lois had been waiting impatiently for an oppor- 
 tunity to speak. "' I have ; I have. There was a nest 
 fell down our chimney. Papa opened the fireboard 
 and put his hand in I don't see how he dared to 
 and pulled out a nest with three little birds in it. 
 He most dropped it, though, and I wondered what 
 made him look so funny. He gave me one bird to 
 hold and said it would not hurt me. So I took it, 
 but I thought it had pins in its tail, and I screamed ; 
 its tail-feathers are sharp just like pins, and it was 
 all black and gray, just as if it was covered with soot 
 and ashes. They were quite big birds ; we took them 
 out doors, let them go, and they flew away." 
 
 " The pins in the tail, Lois, were to help it climb. 
 Did you notice how small the feet were ? They say 
 it never lights on trees or on the ground. How do 
 you suppose it gets the sticks for its nest ? I know 
 you cannot guess, so I will tell you. The birds look 
 about till they find a dead tree or branch ; they then 
 fly against the twigs, snap them off, and carry them 
 
THE SWALLOWS. 25 
 
 away. They glue the twigs together and fasten 
 them to the bricks with saliva from their mouths. 
 Sometimes the rain gets to the nest and softens it so 
 that it falls down the chimney. Then, you see, if the 
 young birds are big enough, they climb up again by 
 help of the pins in their tails. 
 
 " The largest and most beautiful swallow is the 
 purple martin, which is a glossy dark blue, with 
 violet and purple tints. There used to be a colony 
 of them in the belfry of our church. On Sundays, 
 when the organ played, they chattered so loud it 
 made a great disturbance. I never could find out 
 whether they liked the music, or were afraid of it, 
 when they made such a din. I like to imagine they 
 enjoyed it, and were trying to sing the hymn when 
 they joined their voices with ours. The martins 
 usually build in boxes which people put up for them, 
 and they are nice, though noisy, neighbors. 
 
 The white-bellied, or, as he is sometimes called, the 
 bluebacked swallow, builds in the martin boxes or 
 holes in trees. These birds have blue backs, with 
 greenish lights on them, and are white beneath. The 
 next time you see any martin boxes, you must notice 
 whether the birds building in them are dark colored 
 all over, like the martin, or white beneath, like the 
 white-bellied swallow. 
 
26 
 
 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 " There are two kinds of swallows that build 
 around barns. The one that builds inside, on the 
 beams, or under the rafters, is called the barn-swal- 
 low. He has a beautiful dark-blue, shining back, 
 
 and a forked tail. He flies 
 like the wind. His nest is 
 made of grass and mud ; I 
 have seen him dart down 
 and seize a feather, on the 
 wing, to line it with. The 
 other plasters its nest out- 
 side, under the eaves, and 
 so we name it the eaves- 
 swallow." 
 
 " There are lots of them on Uncle Daniel's barn," 
 remarked Cicely. 
 
 " Then I suppose you have seen them getting the 
 mud for their nests?" 
 
 No ; Cicely had not seen them, neither had any of 
 the others. 
 
 " Where do they get it, Misa May ? " 
 " They usually get it in the road after a rain ; 
 though if it is very dry, they sometimes go as far as 
 the river. I have watched them many times after a 
 shower. They light in the mud and flutter their 
 wings to keep from sinking while they fill their 
 
 BARN-SWALLOW. 
 
THE SWALLOWS. 27 
 
 beaks full. Then they make a nice mud house with 
 it, and put some straw inside, and leave a round hole 
 for the door just large enough for an entrance. 
 Come, let us go down to Uncle Daniel's now, and see 
 if the birds are at work." 
 
 Hats and caps were on in a twinkling. 
 
 " Are the boys going with us to-day," I said, look- 
 ing from one to another, " or is base-ball more fun?" 
 
 " I guess we'll go to walk to-day," said Tom. 
 Johnny, who always told everything, blurted out, 
 " Our mothers told us, if we couldn't go to walk and 
 behave ourselves, we needn't go to the class at all. 
 And we liked to come to the class, you know, all 
 except Bertram. He says he doesn't have half holi- 
 day enough anyway, so he's gone fishing." 
 
 We walked down the street, two and two, all in 
 proper order. Uncle Daniel's barn was not far from 
 the road, and we could see the swallows darting back 
 and forth. " Oh, pshaw ! " pouted Kate ; " it isn't 
 wet at all in the road, so we can't see them get the 
 mud." 
 
 As we came to the barn and looked up under the 
 eaves at the crowded mud nests, Lois was the first to 
 exclaim, in a disappointed tone, " I don't see any 
 long necks to their nests such as you told us of." 
 
 Cicely said " they were not half so queer and 
 
28 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 pretty as the picture in Audubon showed." As I 
 had never looked at the nests close by before, I was 
 not prepared for the change which the birds had 
 made. In old times these swallows built on cliffs, 
 whence they were called cliff-swallows, and the long 
 gourd-like necks were needed for protection of the 
 entrance to their nests ; but the eaves now supplied 
 protection, and the birds were wise enough to leave 
 off the unnecessary neck. This I explained to the 
 children and showed them how wise the little crea- 
 tures were. 
 
 Under the eaves of the long barn we discovered a 
 few new nests, some old ones, and some partly com- 
 pleted. In some of the new nests we could see birds' 
 heads, their bright eyes peeping at us, the white 
 crescent-shaped mark above the bill showing dis- 
 tinctly. 
 
 "Now you can see, children, why the scientific 
 name is lunifrons, which means moon-front." 
 
 Some of the birds were startled at the merry chat- 
 ter below them, and slid out of their nests and flew 
 away. As they went, we caught sight of the chest- 
 nut color on rump and throat. 
 
 Uncle Daniel came to see what was the excite- 
 ment. " Oh, those birds ! " he said. " I've often 
 wished they would clear out and go somewhere else. 
 
THE SWALLOWS. 29 
 
 They used to build on the old barn, but just as 
 soon as the new one was made they all moved over 
 to it. I didn't like it much to have them spoil the 
 looks of the new paint, so as fast as they plastered 
 up a nest I'd knock it down. But they stuck to it, 
 and finally I had to let 'em have their own way. I 
 think I should miss 'em now, they've been around 
 here so long. I like to hear 'em twittering up there. 
 One fall a pair of 'em stayed long after all the rest 
 had gone south. I used to wonder if they meant to 
 stay all winter. Finally, I noticed that they kept 
 going to one of the nests. So I got a ladder and 
 went up there, and what do you suppose I found ? " 
 
 The children were looking up in his face with ex- 
 cited eyes. 
 
 " Oh, I don't know," said Lois, in a half -whisper. 
 
 "I know," said Cicely, who had heard the story 
 before ; " 'twas a young bird caught in the nest." 
 
 " So 'twas ! how did you know ? It had a hair 
 wound tight around its leg. Just as soon as I had 
 loosened it, it flew away, and that was the last I saw 
 of 'em." 
 
 " Thank you for the story. We will count the 
 swallows among our special friends after this, won't 
 we ? In some foreign countries people are so glad to 
 see the swallows when they come back in the spring 
 
30 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 that the children go from door to door begging gifts 
 for the birds. 
 "They say,- 
 
 "The swallow, the swallow, 
 Upon you doth wait ; 
 An alms-man and suppliant, 
 He stands at your gate ; 
 Let him in then, I say, 
 For no graybeards are we, 
 To be foiled in our glee, 
 But boys who will have our own way." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 WOODPECKERS. 
 
 THE day we met at Tom's house we talked about 
 the woodpeckers. Ralph said he had a stuffed one 
 at home, so. as he lived close by, I sent him after it. 
 When it came, I found that it was a golden-winged 
 woodpecker, the largest kind that is common. It 
 was much admired by the children for the beauty and 
 variety of its markings. They did not think they 
 had ever seen one before. I held it up for them to 
 take a good look at it, then put it behind me and 
 bade them describe it. This was excellent practice, 
 and was almost as much fun as a guessing game. Its 
 markings were so varied that it was difficult to 
 remember them. Blue-gray on the crown, with a red, 
 crescent-shaped spot on the back of the head, cinna- 
 mon-colored throat, with black on the- breast like a 
 necklace ; under parts, with round black spots, and 
 the under side of the wing and tail feathers golden- 
 yellow ; a dark back with black markings. \Yhat a 
 handsome bird it is ! 
 
 " This white spot on the rump as large as a silver 
 dollar," said I, " shows very plainly when it flies, and 
 
 31 
 
32 
 
 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 that is one way by which you may know the bird. 
 
 Another way to tell the woodpeckers at a distance is 
 
 by their flight. They all go up and down, so, in reg- 
 ular scallops. This golden- 
 wing has a great many 
 names more, perhaps, 
 than any other kind of 
 bird. One is ' high -hole,' 
 because he makes his nest 
 high in the trees. Another 
 is ' yellow-hammer ' ; an- 
 other, ' flicker ' ; and yet 
 another, ' wake-up.' The 
 last two are from the call 
 it makes. Have you never 
 heard it ' wake up, wake 
 
 up, wake up,' very fast and loud?" 
 
 "Wake up, wake up, wake up," repeated the class 
 
 in chorus. "We shall know it now when we hear 
 
 it." 
 
 All the rest of the afternoon Johnny was saying 
 
 "wake up, wake up, wake up," to himself. 
 
 " See what a strong bill this bird has ! All the 
 
 woodpeckers make holes in trees for their nests. 
 
 There are two other kinds that are common, and they 
 
 look a good deal alike, the hairy and the downy. 
 
 GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER. 
 
WOODPECKERS. 33 
 
 They are both barred with black and white, and the 
 male of each has a red patch on the back of its head. 
 The hairy woodpecker is larger than the downy, 
 which is quite small, and it is chiefly by the differ- 
 ence in size that you may know them, although the 
 hairy may also be known by a broad white stripe 
 down the middle of the back." 
 
 "I think, Miss May," said Lois, "that there's a 
 downy woodpecker making a hole in the maple tree 
 near Cicely's back door. It looks as you say, and 
 the bird is not very large." 
 
 " Is that so ? Isn't that nice ? Have you seen it, 
 Cicely ? " 
 
 "No'in,-! haven't noticed it. I knew there was a 
 lot of chips on the walk, but I didn't know what 
 made them." 
 
 " A pair of downies," said I, " came to build in 
 an apple tree near our house this spring. The dead 
 branch which they had selected was in sight from 
 our sitting-room window, so that we often watched 
 Mr. Downy at work. How he made the chips fly ! 
 He made a round hole just large enough for an en- 
 trance. Then he went down deeper and deeper into 
 the limb, until at last we couldn't even see the tip of 
 his tail as he worked. Mrs. Downy sat around and 
 watched him admiringly. It took three weeks to 
 
34 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 finish the house. The day it was done a pair of 
 English sparrows, who had been waiting all this 
 time, set upon Mr. Downy and his wife. All the 
 other English sparrows in the neighborhood came 
 to join in the fight, and as there were no other wood- 
 peckers to assist, poor Downy was having a hard 
 time of it, when we heard the commotion and came 
 to the rescue. Downy was fighting bravely, but in 
 such an unequal contest he was sure to be beaten. 
 We brought long poles and waved them and threw 
 things at the sparrows until they went away. 
 
 "But they came again and again, so often that it 
 would have taken every moment of our time to keep 
 watch, and at last the downies became so discouraged 
 that they went away. We were so angry at the spar- 
 rows that my father got a ladder and went up and 
 plugged up the hole. He said ' the sparrows should 
 not have it, anyway.' They were very mad when 
 they found that they could not get into the house 
 they had stolen, but finally they, too, left the scene. 
 For a week all was quiet, but two days ago we heard 
 a familiar tapping in the apple tree. We ran to the 
 window, and there was Mr. Downy sounding the limb 
 at different points. He found that the plug which had 
 stopped his hole was of too hard wood for him, so he 
 began to dig just below it, inclining the passage up- 
 
WOODPECKERS. 35 
 
 ward to meet the first entrance. In an hour's time 
 he had disappeared within. We could see the chips 
 flying out as if he were sweeping with his tail. 
 
 " The sparrows are now building their nest some- 
 where else, so that we think our friends can go on 
 with their housekeeping unmolested." 
 
 " Where are we going to walk ? " was the question 
 as we stood on the doorsteps. It was decided by 
 seeing some swallows skimming over the grass near 
 a shed in a field not far away. Thither we went, 
 and found that they were barn-swallows. We could 
 see their shining blue backs and long forked tails. 
 
 Sidney was lucky enough to see one dart into an 
 opening near the peak of the shed. The children 
 raced away to the shed, and I arrived there in time 
 to help Sidney on to an old wagon, where the rest of 
 the class had already climbed. From this perch we 
 could see the rafters, and there, firmly fastened to 
 the lower side of one of the beams which upheld the 
 roof, was a barn-swallow's nest. The old bird was 
 clinging to it, feeding the chittering young ones. 
 
 "My! I'm tho glad I thaw that bird fly in here. 
 Aren't you, Mitheth May ? " exclaimed Sidney. 
 
 " I guess we are all glad," said Lois and Annie and 
 Kate, all in a breath. 
 
36 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 After we had watched the old birds come to the 
 nest a number of times, we started up the street. 
 
 " Let us go into the meadows by the upper road/' 
 said I, " and walk along the bank of Mill River, and 
 come out on the lower road. Will that be too long 
 a walk?" 
 
 " No, no ! That will be jolly ! " cried all. 
 
 They were not allowed to go to the river alone, so 
 it was a great treat. 
 
 Johnny was lagging far behind. I think he was 
 planning to play truant, and join Bertram and some 
 other boys who were playing ball in the street. 
 
 "Johnny," shouted Sidney, as loud as he could, 
 "come on. We are going to Mill River. Hurry 
 up!" 
 
 Johnny ran to join us, with no more thoughts of 
 ball. 
 
 We walked along the rough bank, under the shady 
 trees, now stopping to hear the merry bobolinks in 
 the distance, now watching the robins and flycatchers. 
 On the way Johnny had a fright ; for he saw, hoeing 
 in a field ahead of us, a man that he was sure was Mike 
 Milligan. Mike was a poor-looking creature, with a 
 red face, wicked eyes, and only two teeth in his head ; 
 and since the time when he told Johnny he was going 
 to swallow him, the boy had always been afraid of 
 him. 
 
WOODPECKERS. 37 
 
 So he tried to persuade us that we wanted to turn 
 about and go back by the same path we had come. 
 The other boys said Johnny was afraid, but Johnny 
 said, "No, sir." I noticed, however, that he kept 
 close to us and said nothing until we were well past 
 the field where Mike was working. 
 
 We saw few birds close by on this walk. It was 
 not what the children had learned to call "a good 
 bird day." On some days, you know, there seem to 
 be twice as many birds as there are on other days, 
 and they are much tamer. However, Johnny, while 
 crawling through some bushes, saw a small brown 
 and white bird running close by the water, and came 
 to call us. He said, " He ran along, jerking up his 
 tail in such a funny way. Just so," showing us with 
 his hands how it went. We tiptoed back ; but our 
 bird flew away, looking much larger as he spread his 
 long wings. As he went, he called " peet-weet, peet- 
 weet." 
 
 " Good ! " I exclaimed. " Now you've seen the 
 little sandpiper that comes often along our rivers. It 
 has two common names. One is 'tilt-up'; you can 
 guess why that is, and the other is < peet-weet,' from 
 its call. It makes its nest on the ground, and the 
 eggs, which are light brown with black spots, are so 
 near the color of the earth that you would have hard 
 
38 
 
 MY SATUEDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 SANDPIPER. 
 
 work to find the nest, unless you scared up the old 
 bird from it, right under your feet." 
 
 "I'm going to find one before the thummer's 
 
 over/' said Sidney. 
 
 " Yes, if you can," 
 said Tom. 
 
 " Sidney will see a 
 great many more things 
 than you do, Tom, un- 
 less you look sharper." 
 
 " Can't see birds when 
 there aren't any to see." 
 " Yes ; but there are 
 almost always birds to be seen somewhere, if you are 
 looking for them. Remember that." 
 
 " What's that noise ? " said Tom, to change the 
 subject ; " sounds like a rattle. Wonder who's mak- 
 ing such a racket ? " 
 
 " Steal along by those bushes and see. I think it 
 is a bird." 
 
 "I don't believe it," said Tom, as he rushed off. 
 He made such a commotion, breaking through the 
 alders, that the owner of the voice, a large blue and 
 white bird with a thick bill, flew directly over our 
 heads, rattling as he went. 
 
 "Ah! it is a kingfisher. We must have disturbed 
 
WOODPECKERS. 
 
 39 
 
 him fishing. He digs a hole from four to six feet 
 
 into the river-bank for his nest. The Greek name 
 
 for the kingfisher was 
 
 halcyon. They used 
 
 to believe that the 
 
 bird made its nest on 
 
 the water, and that 
 
 while it was brooding 
 
 the sea was always 
 
 calm." 
 
 "That's the bird 
 for me," said Tom. 
 " We've seen some- 
 thing worth while 
 to-day. KINGFISHER. 
 
 FOR THE TEACHER. 
 
 The hairy woodpecker is nine inches long and fifteen in 
 extent. It is so named because the nostrils are hid under 
 thick, bushy, recumbent hairs or bristles ; under the bill are 
 certain long hairs thrown forward and upward. 
 
 The downy woodpecker is 6i inches long. 
 
 The golden-winged woodpecker is about 12? inches in 
 length. Its other names are, clape, high-hole, pigeon-wood- 
 pecker, flicker, yucker, Harry Wicket, and wake-up. 
 
 The yellow-bellied woodpecker is irregularly distributed as 
 a summer visitor. Its general colors are black above, much 
 
40 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 \ 
 
 variegated with white ; crown, scarlet, bordered by black on 
 the sides of the head and nape ; a streak above, and another 
 below the eye, and a stripe along the edges of the wing-coverts 
 white ; a triangular broad patch of scarlet on the chin, bordered 
 on each side by black stripes which meet behind and extend in 
 front into a large quadrate spot 011 the breast ; rest of under 
 parts, yellowish white streaked on the sides with black. 
 Length, 8J inches. 
 
 The large pileated woodpecker is found in thickly wooded 
 districts. It is about eighteen inches long. Its general color 
 above is dull greenish black; entire crown, from the base of 
 the bill to well developed occipital crest, scarlet red ; a white 
 streak below the eye ; under wing-coverts and sides of body 
 tinged with sulphur-yellow. 
 
 The red-headed woodpecker is found abundantly in some 
 parts of the country, but it is not common in New England. 
 Its head and neck are all round crimson red, margined by a 
 narrow crescent of black, on the upper part of the breast ; 
 back, primary quills, and tail, bluish black ; under parts, gen- 
 erally, a broad band across the middle of the wing and rump, 
 white. Length, 9 1 inches. 
 
 There are several other species of woodpecker mentioned as 
 rare. The habits of all are similar. They excavate holes in 
 trees for their nests. Their food is chiefly insects and grubs, 
 varied by fruit and Indian corn. 
 
 The spotted sandpiper is widely spread through North 
 America, every pond or stream having two or three pairs 
 breeding on its shores. It may be described in a general way, 
 as brownish olive-green above, spotted with black ; beneath, 
 white, spotted with black ; outer tail-feathers, primaries and 
 secondaries, tipped with white, 
 
WOODPECKERS. 41 
 
 The sandpipers all have long slender bills, and rather long 
 legs. They build their nests on the ground, and search for 
 their food, which generally consists of the larvae of aquatic 
 insects, along the edges of salt or fresh water. 
 
 The belted kingfisher. Head with a long crest; above, 
 blue ; beneath, pure white ; a band across the breast, and the 
 sides of the body under the wings, blue like the back. The 
 female and young, with a chestnut belly-band, and the sides 
 of the same color. Length, about 12 f inches. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE WREN. 
 
 " I SAW Billy Wren, this week/' said I, as we gath- 
 ered for our fifth lesson, at Johnny's and Sidney's 
 house. " Do you know him ? He is a jolly fellow, 
 and he was looking for a tenement." 
 
 "Billy Wren," giggled Johnny, nearly falling off 
 his seat. " Billy Wren, what a funny name ! " 
 
 " Yes, it is a funny name for a bird, I know ; but 
 it just suits him, for he is a funny little bird. He 
 is shorter and rounder than the chippy, and would 
 answer very well to the description of a ' little brown 
 bird.' He is as lively as a cricket, and goes hopping 
 about, jerking his tail, and scolding if he happens to 
 see a cat. He builds in holes in trees, or in bird- 
 houses. I have brought a pattern of the kind of 
 house he likes the best, thinking that you boys might 
 like to make one. You see, it has four sides and a 
 sloping roof, just like our house, and a front door- 
 step. The door is a round hole, not more than an 
 inch in diameter, because if it is larger, the English 
 sparrow can get in, and drive poor Billy away. 
 
 42 
 
THE WREN. 43 
 
 Billy doesn't seem to care for windows, and he even 
 builds up his nest half across the doorway, so that 
 very little fresh air gets in. 
 
 " We have heard a wren singing in our neighbor- 
 hood for several days, and at last my father made a 
 house like this, and nailed it up in the pear tree near 
 the door. It was not half an hour before Billy 
 found it. He seemed quite delighted, flew on to the 
 roof, then on to the doorstep, ' peeked ' into it, and all 
 around, and then tried to go in. But, was it not too 
 bad ? the door was not quite large enough ! You 
 see, we were so afraid the hole would be too large 
 that we had made it a little too small. Billy tried it 
 several times, but at last had to give it up and go 
 away. Just as soon as he was gone father went up 
 and made the entrance a trifle larger. It was not 
 long before Billy came back again, acting as if that 
 was such a nice little house he couldn't bear to give 
 it up. How surprised he was to find that he could 
 enter with ease ! He popped in and out a half-dozen 
 times as quick as winking, as if to say, ' Dear me, I 
 never saw a hole grow as this one does ! I wonder 
 if I made a mistake about it before ? It's a snug 
 little house. Just my size, and I like it.' Then he 
 went up on the roof and sang a song. After that he 
 went inside and picked up every chip, brought them 
 
44 
 
 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 WREN. 
 
 out, and dropped them overboard. Two days after, 
 he brought Jenny Wren to see the house. ' Just the 
 prettiest, neatest cottage that ever was,' he said. 
 But Jenny, for some reason or other, did not like it ; 
 
 we think probably because 
 it was too near the house, 
 and now they are building 
 in a retired corner of the 
 orchard." Then I told 
 them the story which is 
 found in the next chapter. 
 " Now, I have something 
 to show you," I said, open- 
 ing a box, which the class had been eying with 
 curious glances, all the time that I had been talking. 
 I held up a bright red bird, with black wings. " I 
 found it dead in the woods. Isn't it handsome ? 
 It is a scarlet tanager. Can you remember that 
 name ? A pair built in the woods behind our house 
 last summer, and we used to see them going a long 
 distance to get silk from caterpillars' webs to line 
 their nests. The female is yellow and brown, with 
 no red on it at all, so that you would not know it 
 was the same kind of bird." 
 
 " Pleath, Mitheth May," lisped six-year-old Sidney 
 (he always called me Mrs. May), " pleath, Mitheth 
 May, mayn^t I have the pretty bird to keep ?" 
 
THE WREN. 45 
 
 " I am sorry I cannot give it to you, Sidney, but 
 it is beginning to spoil now. I only kept it to show 
 to you, then I thought I should throw it away." 
 
 " Let's bury it ! Let's bury it now ! " shouted 
 Johnny. " Come on, we are going to have a funeral 
 in our garden." 
 
 Away to the garden we went with a rush. Johnny 
 fetched a trowel, and Sidney the big coal shovel, and 
 they both began to dig as fast as they could, while 
 the older boys who could not get a shovel, found 
 fault with their work, and teased for a chance. 
 When the hole was deep enough, I handed over the 
 bird wrapped in a paper. 
 
 " Where's the box, Miss May ? " asked Johnny, 
 much grieved. " I can't bury it without a coffin." 
 
 " Oh yes, you can," said Tom. " This is well 
 enough, and the box is at the house. We can't wait. 
 Hurry up ! " 
 
 " No, I can't bury it without a coffin. Must I, Miss 
 May ? You make them wait." 
 
 He put the bird in my hand, and ran to the house 
 as fast as his short legs could carry him, to get the 
 box. 
 
 When the tanager was safely buried, and the grave 
 decorated with flowers by *the girls, we started for a 
 walk to the pasture. The boys' four-year-old sister 
 
46 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 Alice asked if she might go, too, and was very happy 
 when I said that she might. We walked down the 
 street, stopping a moment to look at the swallows 
 on Uncle Daniel's barn, and then across a field, going 
 single file in a furrow, so that the farmers would 
 not scold us for treading down their grass, crawled 
 through a fence, and were in a delightful over-grown 
 pasture. First, we sat down on a bank, so that Alice 
 might rest. A few feet in front of us was a thicket 
 of bushes. Into it came hopping, chipping, and scold- 
 ing at us, with a mouthful of dry grass for its nest, 
 a tiny summer yellowbird, so near that we could see 
 the faint red streaks on its breast. 
 
 " See 'ittle canary," whispered Alice. 
 
 " Go away, go away," chipped the bird. " Oh 
 dear, those people won't move, so I shall have to go 
 to my nest, anyway," and she dived into a bush. In 
 a moment she flitted out again ; we peeped in and 
 saw the dainty nest half made. Through the tangle 
 of hawthorn and alder bushes we scrambled, lifting 
 Alice over the rough places. Lois fell, and nettled 
 her wrist badly. 
 
 "Look out," I called; "do not touch the poison 
 ivy. That three-leaved vine is it." 
 
 "How does it feel to be poisoned by it?" asked 
 Johnny. 
 
THE WREN. 
 
 47 
 
 " Oh, it itches and burns so, that you would not 
 want to try it more than once." 
 
 " I gueth I mutht have touched it," said Sidney ; 
 " ray neck itches now. Don't you think I have, 
 MithethMay?" 
 
 " No, I don't, my boy ; you would not feel it so 
 soon. Now run along, and let us get out of this." 
 
 The open part of the 
 pasture, into which we 
 soon came, was full of 
 scrubby, wild apple trees 
 in bloom ; the grass was 
 blue with violets in 
 places, or white with 
 innocents and anemones. 
 Here the children had 
 the happiest time, gath- 
 ering handfuls of flowers. We discovered a robin's 
 nest in the low crotch of an apple tree, where we 
 could easily look into it, and see the four very blue 
 eggs. 
 
 The red-winged blackbirds flew overhead, display- 
 ing their gay shoulder knots, and showing much 
 alarm at our nearness to their nests. But they were 
 safe enough, for the bushes which held their homes 
 stood in hollows full of water. 
 
 RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. 
 
48 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 V 
 
 " There's a canary, sure," cried Johnny, as a yel- 
 low bird, with black crown, wings, and tail, flew past 
 us. 
 
 " They sing something like a canary, too," said 
 Lois, " so we always called them wild canaries. 
 What are they really ? " 
 
 " They are goldfinches. Sometimes they are called 
 thistle-birds, because they are very fond of thistle 
 seeds. Later in the summer we can see them in 
 small flocks, after the nesting season is over. See 
 them now, flying up and down, up and down, like 
 the woodpeckers, saying, as they go, ' cheet-a-chee, 
 cheet-a-chee.' ' 
 
 After a joyous hour in our wild retreat, we came 
 out at the farther gate, near the bridge. Here I said 
 good by ; for my path led up the hill, and theirs in 
 the other direction. They all declared it was the 
 best walk they ever had. 
 
 FOR THE TEACHER. 
 
 THE WREN FAMILY. 
 
 The common and familiar wrens are much alike in disposi- 
 tion, manners, and habits ; the house-wren may be taken to 
 typify these. 
 
 The house-wrens are sprightly, fearless, and impudent little 
 creatures, apt to show bad temper when they fancy themselves 
 
THE WREN. 49 
 
 aggrieved by cats or people, or anything else that is big and 
 unpleasant to them; they quarrel a good deal, and are par- 
 ticularly spiteful towards martins and swallows, whose homes 
 they often invade and occupy. Their song is bright and 
 hearty, and they are fond of their own music ; when disturbed 
 at it they make a great ado with noisy scolding. Part of 
 them live in reedy swamps and marshes, where they hang 
 astonishingly big, globular nests, with a little hole in one side, 
 on tufts of rushes, and lay six or eight dark-colored eggs ; the 
 others nest anywhere, in shrubbery, knot holes, hollow stumps, 
 and other odd nooks. Nearly all are migratory; one is sta- 
 tionary ; one comes to us in fall from the north, the rest in 
 spring from the south. Insectivorous and very prolific, laying 
 several sets of eggs each season. Plainly colored, the browns 
 being the usual colors ; no red, blue, yellow, or green in any 
 of our species. COUES. 
 
 Summer yellowbird: Color, golden yellow; back, olive yel- 
 low ; breast and sides streaked with orange brown ; wings 
 and tail dusky, yellow edged. This little bird is one of the 
 large family of warblers, many of which are brilliantly colored. 
 Few warblers nest with us, but most of them can be seen in 
 May as they are journeying northward. I have seen ten 
 different species in one season, flitting about the apple trees 
 in bloom. 
 
 The red-winged blackbird is referred to in the note to 
 Chapter VIII. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 BILLY WREN'S HOUSEKEEPING. 
 
 IT was house-hunting times, and Billy Wren was 
 in search of a tenement. Billy Wren was a gay 
 young bachelor, and it was a little surprising to his 
 neighbors that he thought of settling down, he was 
 so fond of a roving life. Then he was so particular 
 about his house. Big enough for a family he said it 
 must be, and not a bit too big. When he inspected 
 the hole in the apple tree Mr. Bluebird asked him 
 why he didn't ask Mrs. Wren what she thought 
 about it. 
 
 " There isn't any Mrs. Wren," said Billy, pertly, 
 putting his head on one side. " There isn't going to 
 be any Mrs. Wren till I know where I'm going to 
 keep her." 
 
 Now under the eaves of Farmer Miflin's corn house 
 was the perfection of a cottage. It belonged to the 
 Miflin children, and they rented it for a song a day. 
 Mr. Billy spent a day in examining it, tried a few 
 sticks in it to see how it would look when furnished, 
 and finally concluded to accept, at the owners' terms. 
 
 50 
 
BILLY WREN'S HOUSEKEEPING. 51 
 
 He said that he had rarely seen a house that he liked 
 so well, for the door was just exactly large enough 
 for him to go through, and that was the great trouble 
 with tenements in these days, the doors were so large 
 that you never could tell who would be coming in. 
 Early the next morning he put in some furniture, 
 pine twigs and dried grass, and after having spent 
 some time in arranging it, at last had it just to his 
 mind. Then he went out to advertise for Mrs. Wren. 
 How do you suppose he did it ? Having selected a 
 twig on the apple-tree, where he had a good view of 
 the country round, he first gave a short song, as pay- 
 ment of his rent, then went on to tell of himself and 
 his fortunes. All day he sat and sang without a sign 
 of success ; but he was not discouraged. 
 
 " Of course," he said to himself, cheerfully, at 
 night, " one couldn't expect such good luck the first 
 day." 
 
 So the next morning he re-arranged his furniture, 
 and went at his trilling again. 
 
 " Really," he exclaimed, as the second day passed 
 and never a sign of a young lady wren, " this is 
 strange ; but, after all, it isn't so bad. This apple 
 tree is a nice place to sit in the breeze, with the bees 
 humming around. I don't think I'd mind singing a 
 week." 
 
52 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 At the end of the week, however, he couldn't under- 
 stand where the Wren family kept themselves. He 
 supposed they must be taking a vacation down by 
 the river or up on the hills ; but he did think the 
 first of June was time for them to return to their old 
 haunts. 
 
 But still he sang as gayly as ever, " Oh, where art 
 thou, my Jenny?" and kept as light a heart as he 
 could. The next morning he was rewarded by seeing 
 a little brown bird flitting coyly about in the out- 
 skirts ; so he politely invited her down to see his 
 humble dwelling, and was as attentive as could be. 
 She, however, was hard to please, said his house was 
 small and stuffy, and that she couldn't think of 
 liking a bird who put on so many airs, and directly 
 went away. 
 
 The Miflin children, who had been watching all 
 this, were very sorry for their little friend ; but he 
 said it was foolish to care about such a bold-faced 
 jig, and tuned up again. Another week of throat 
 music and another cousin turned up. 
 
 " Patient waiters are no losers," warbled Billy, as 
 Miss Jenny, quiet and modest, said shyly that she 
 thought the cottage was very cozy, and she would 
 like to stay. Then what a jubilee overflowed from 
 the brave little bird's heart ! It did not matter to 
 
BILLY WREN'S HOUSEKEEPING. 53 
 
 him that his bride gently but decidedly removed 
 every stick so carefully put in by him, and brought 
 others to suit herself. He eagerly sought other sticks 
 which he thought would please her better; but she 
 promptly threw these, too, on the ground, as if to 
 say : " What do men know about housekeeping ! " 
 
 So he finally let her do it her own way, and sat on 
 the tree near by and sang as if his heart was bursting 
 with joy. This pleased himself and Mrs. Wren and 
 the Miflin children ; and, as even the neighbors ap- 
 proved, it was called a very happy match. 
 
 One thing only did Dorothy Miflin criticise. She 
 said she thought that little enough fresh air could get 
 in through that very small hole which served as door 
 and window, without building up the nest half across 
 the opening. However, as Mrs. Wren paid no more 
 regard to her than she did to her husband, nothing 
 could be done about it. 
 
 Soon there were little birds in the nest, and so gay 
 Billy Wren became a man of family, wrote his name 
 William Wrenne, Esq., and spent most of his time, 
 when he was not handing in a fat green worm to the 
 children, in scolding the yellow cat, Caesar. 
 
 Caesar took a more than common and neighborly 
 interest in the family. He would climb up on the 
 roof and, hanging over the eave-t rough, lie there by 
 
54 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 the hour, stretching out a long arm toward the nest 
 (which fortunately he could not reach), unmindful of 
 the threats and persuasions of Miss Dorothy, who 
 stood anxiously below. 
 
 It has been noticed that the smaller the house the 
 more children there are in it. It was a great day in 
 the Miflin's back yard when the Wren family came 
 out. Little Dorothy and Brother Ben and Caesar had 
 spent much time wondering how many babies there 
 were ; and as the door was so small that only one 
 could stick out a head at a time, there were no 
 means of knowing. 
 
 It had been noticed that Father and Mother Wren 
 had not been to feed their hungry brood that morn- 
 ing, but stayed back in the apple tree. 
 
 The biggest brother had been looking out of the 
 door for some time, waiting for his breakfast, and 
 thus shutting in all the other brothers and sisters, 
 who were just as hungry as he was. 
 
 All at once there seemed to be a revolution in the 
 nest, a sudden push from behind, and the greedy 
 brother was outside on the piazza. But there was 
 another one in his place. 
 
 All the morning what an anxious time it was ! 
 One after another being pushed out by those behind 
 was coaxed over to the tree by the old birds, and led 
 
BILLY WREN'S HOUSEKEEPING. 55 
 
 by short flights out of Caesar's reach. When the 
 sixth bird and every one was larger and plumper 
 than Mr. Wren Senior had made his appearance 
 from the tiny house, the wonder of the Miflins knew 
 no bounds. 
 
 " They must have been squeezed awfully/' said 
 Dorothy, "for Mamma Wren used to go in, too, and 
 that made seven ! " 
 
 " Pooh ! " replied Mr. Wren, tossing his head, 
 " that's nothing to what we could do if we tried." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SCREECH-OWLS. 
 
 " I HAVE such a nice story to tell you this after- 
 noon," I said, on the pleasant June Saturday when 
 we met for our sixth lesson. " But first I want to 
 ask how many of you have seen an owl ? " 
 
 " I've seen lots of pictures of them," said Tom ; 
 " and I could draw one if I had a piece of paper." 
 
 " I've seen them made out of peanuts," whispered 
 little Martha to me. Martha was too shy to speak 
 out loud in the class, but I know she paid attention, 
 for she always gave her mother a full account as 
 soon as she got home. 
 
 " I saw one once," said Cicely ; " at least, I think 
 'twas an owl. 'Twas a big gray and white bird, and 
 'twas in a milliner's window with a white cap on its 
 head. I presume most likely 'twas a stuffed one." 
 
 "Well," said I, "I think you all have some idea 
 of how an owl looks, and you know they fly in the 
 night. There are a great many kinds, and the one 
 I am going to tell you about is one of the smallest. 
 It is called the little screech-owl, but the scientific 
 
 50 
 
SCREECH-OWLS. 
 
 57 
 
 name in the books is Megascops asio, so I will call 
 him Mr. Scops, as that name suits him very well. 
 
 " It was a lovely, balmy night last April when Mr. 
 Scops sat on the fence 
 and sang what he thought 
 one of his sweetest songs \ 
 to his little bride. The 
 white mist lay along the 
 river, and came creeping 
 up in all the hollows. 
 A crescent moon shone 
 faintly on the pair as they 
 bobbed and courtesied to 
 each other on the fence. 
 I dare say you and I 
 would not have thought 
 much of Mr. Scops's voice, 
 as if he had lost his best friend. You would think 
 he w r as in the depths of sorrow, but he was really 
 very happy, for he was telling Mrs. Scops that he 
 had just discovered such a fine, large hole up in the 
 elm tree close by. Mrs. Scops was afraid just a 
 little bit afraid that it was not safe enough, being 
 right over the road where people were all the time 
 passing. But Mr. Scops said (very wisely, as he 
 thought) that owls could see by night and not by 
 
 SCREECH-OWL. 
 
 It sounded as mournful 
 
58 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 day ? whereas it was just the other way with men ; 
 they could see by day and not by night. So he 
 thought they were in no danger of being seen, and 
 ' Mrs. Scops was sure he must know best.' 
 
 "All the evening Mr. and Mrs. Harwood, who lived 
 in the house behind the fence, had been hearing 
 strange noises. Mr. Harwood was sure it was a dog 
 whimpering, but Mrs. Harwood was equally certain 
 that it was a baby crying. At last, Mr. Harwood 
 came out to see what was the matter. As he opened 
 the door, the two birds flew softly from the fence up 
 into the elm-tree ; for owls have such downy feathers 
 they can fly without making the slightest sound. 
 Mr. Harwood looked up and down the street and 
 listened for about five minutes. Then he went into 
 the house and said they had both made a mistake. 
 There was no dog, no baby, no anything outside 
 except fog. Meanwhile, the two big-eyed birds went 
 up and looked at the hole in the dead branch of the 
 elm. It had been made by some woodpecker, but 
 the wood had rotted away till it was large enough 
 for two or three families. Here, before long, were 
 laid four round white eggs, and after that came four 
 downy heaps with wide mouths. But no one knew 
 of it, and no one saw the old birds come and go. 
 The noises in the hollow branch grew louder night 
 
SCREECH-OWLS. 59 
 
 after night, and the Harwoods began to say that 
 they must be haunted ; they never heard such 
 strange sounds before. But the really perilous 
 time came when the young birds pushed and 
 scrambled out of the hole, and climbed from one 
 bough to another all over the big tree. It was 
 just after sunset, and not yet dark, when they did 
 this. Their mother begged them to be quiet, but 
 the more she cautioned them the louder they 
 chattered. 
 
 "Now Some One was passing under the tree just 
 as one of the owlets slid down a low hanging 
 branch almost to the tip of it, which was only a 
 few feet above her head. This Some One heard 
 a strange sound. She thought it was the grating 
 of machinery. She wondered if a lawn-mower could 
 make such a noise. She stopped and looked all 
 around. At last it seemed to be right over her 
 head, and she looked up to ee a strange creature 
 scrambling up the rough bark. It looked like a 
 ball of yellowish down, with a great round head and 
 no tail at all. She hardly thought it was a bird at 
 first, but hearing the same harsh sound repeated in 
 different parts of the tree, she looked higher up and 
 saw the old birds flying noiselessly back and forth. 
 Whenever they came to one of the young birds there 
 
60 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 was the greatest snapping of bills and grating and 
 chattering. For several evenings this same person 
 came to see the owl party. One rainy night they 
 came out earlier than usual, and one of the old birds 
 flew so near her that she could see the back was 
 a rusty red color. By this she knew that they 
 were screech-owls. I think the person that found 
 those owls had a great piece of good luck, don't 
 you?" 
 
 " 'Twath you, Mitheth May," cried Sidney. 
 
 " Yes ; 'twas you, Miss May, wasn't it ? " shouted 
 all the children at once. 
 
 " I wonder how you guessed ! All who would like 
 to see those owls hold up their hands." 
 
 Every hand was raised and voices too. 
 
 " Very well, then, we won't take any walk this 
 afternoon ; but you may all go home now and ask 
 your mothers if you can't meet in front of Mr. 
 Harwood's at sunset to-night. The birds may be 
 gone, but they were there last night ; and so I hope 
 we shall see them." 
 
 At sunset we met at the appointed place. All 
 was quiet, and the robins were singing their cheer- 
 ful evening song. The children stared at the hole 
 in the elm, and then began to walk about impa- 
 tiently. 
 
SCREECH-OWLS. 61 
 
 " How soon do you suppose they will come out ? 
 Isn't it most time for them now ? " they repeated 
 again and again. 
 
 " What is that little gray thing over on that door- 
 step?" cried Lois, pointing across the street. 
 
 " Oh, it is the owl and there is a cat coming 
 round the corner ! " 
 
 Ten pairs of feet stirred the dust in the road, and 
 a triumphant shout urged me on. 
 
 " It's a teenty little owl, and he's tight asleep." 
 
 Drawn up in a fluffy ball sat the baby owl, with 
 his eyes pinched oh ! so close together, although the 
 sun had been down for several minutes. But when 
 Lois touched him softly on the back, he opened his 
 great human-looking eyes suddenly, and snapped his 
 bill in a way that made us all jump back. We 
 heard an answering click over our heads, and looked 
 up to see the mother owl swooping down at us 
 from the branches of the maple, snapping her bill 
 viciously, then retiring to the thick foliage to say, 
 " Hoo ! hoo ! " in a soft but startled manner. 
 
 " What shall we do ? We can't leave him here 
 for the cats to get." 
 
 " You take him up, Miss May." 
 
 " Dare you touch him ? " 
 
 " Oh, don't, Miss May. He will bite you." 
 
62 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 I seized the ball of mottled gray down gently but 
 firmly from behind, and carried it across the road, 
 with the old birds sweeping back and forth close to 
 our heads. 
 
 " What shall we do with him ? " 
 
 " Let us put him up in the tree." 
 
 " Oh no, let us keep him." 
 
 " What ! and sit up all night to feed him ? " 
 
 " Oh, let us feed him now. Mrs. Harwood will 
 give us some meat." 
 
 So some scraps of meat were brought and offered 
 to little Scops, but he did not seem to know what 
 they were. Then I opened his mouth and stuffed 
 some meat into it, which he swallowed greedily. 
 
 " That's the way the old birds feed him. They 
 fill his mouth, and all he has to do is to swallow. 
 His bill is quite soft yet ; he couldn't take hold of 
 anything for himself." 
 
 " I do not see how he can snap it, if it is so soft," 
 said Cicely. 
 
 " Nor I either. It sounds as hard as iron, does it 
 not ? Now let us give him back to his mother." 
 
 A chair was brought, and I reached up as far as 
 I could and put his feet on the rough bark. He 
 caught hold and climbed like a cat to the crotch 
 of the tree, where we left him calling for his 
 mother. 
 
SCREECH-OWLS. 63 
 
 " Oil, wasn't it fun ! " said one and all as they bid 
 me good-night. 
 
 FOE THE TEACHEK. 
 
 The owls are easily recognizable from their striking char- 
 acteristics, chief of which are their cat-like eyes, and the disc 
 of short, rigid feathers which encircle the face. 
 
 TJie horned owls are so called from erect tufts of feathers 
 which somewhat resemble a cat's ears. 
 
 The great horned owl is from twenty to twenty-five inches 
 in length, variable in color from nearly white to dark brown, 
 usually wjth the upper parts dark brown, every feather mottled. 
 It breeds in inaccessible places in deep forests. 
 
 The long-eared owl is somewhat similar to the preceding in 
 color and habits, but is smaller. 
 
 The screech-owl is a horned owl. It is often called the 
 mottled owl or red owl. A peculiarity of this bird is, that 
 some individuals are a rusty red, some gray. Scientists are 
 not yet agreed as to the cause of this difference of plumage. 
 
 The subfamily of gray owls is without ear tufts, and in- 
 cludes : 
 
 The barred owl : Color, brown and white, in wavy bars and 
 stripes. Length, about twenty inches. 
 
 The Acadian owl, or saw-whet owl (so called from its note), 
 is the smallest member of the family, measuring only 1\ inches 
 in length. 
 
 Among the day owls is the snowy owl, which is a rather 
 common winter visitor in the Northern States. Its plumage is 
 pure white, with frequently a few imperfect spots or bands of 
 dark brown above, and a few irregular bars of the same below. 
 The snowy owl hunts both by daylight and twilight. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 CUCKOO AND COW-BUNTING. 
 
 THE Saturday before this lesson I asked the class 
 to make a list of all the birds seen by them during 
 the week. 
 
 " So I suppose you are prepared with a list as 
 long as your arm/' I said to Tom, while we were 
 waiting for the girls, who were late. 
 
 "Birds were not very thick this week," replied 
 Tom, " and I didn't have any time to look for 'em, 
 either. I had to go to school/' as he handed me a 
 paper. 
 
 " Oh, what an excuse ! Had to go to school ! 
 Where were your eyes before school, and after school, 
 and on your way to school ? Let us see what you 
 have crow, robin, rooster, sparrow, canary. Five 
 birds ; that is better than nothing, but I am afraid 
 you will not be at the head of this class. Besides, 
 we don't count tame birds, like the rooster and 
 canary. Now, where' s Sidney's list ?'" 
 
 " I thaw theven, Mitheth May," said Sidney, as 
 he gave me his paper, on which the names were 
 half written and half printed. 
 
CUCKOO AND COW-BUNTING. 65 
 
 " Robin, crow, blackbird, chippy, woodpecker, blue- 
 bird." 
 
 " And another one ath big ath a robin, all yellow 
 and red and black. He came in our backyard, and 
 got thome thringth to make a netht with. Thome- 
 body thaid twath a golden robin, but I thaid I wath 
 going to athk Mitheth May." 
 
 "Very well done, my boy; that was an oriole. 
 Oh, here come the girls, all running except Martha, 
 who is carrying something." 
 
 They burst in all out of breath. "Martha's got a 
 bird! Martha's got a bird!" they shouted/ "She 
 found it this morning. It's all dead, though." Here 
 Martha came in, with the bird wrapped in a paper. 
 
 " It's a real live dead bird, Miss May. When I 
 opened our porch door this morning I found it right 
 on our step. A real live dead bird." 
 
 "What is it? what do you suppose killed it?" 
 they all inquired at once. 
 
 It was a long bird, with long wings and tail, brown 
 above and white beneath, with a curved black bill, 
 which was broken. 
 
 "It is a cuckoo, a black-billed cuckoo. It is a 
 cowardly bird. Sometimes it sneaks up to a nest 
 and eats the eggs, when the other birds are not 
 looking ; but it is readj to run the moment it is 
 
66 
 
 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 discovered. I should not wonder if it was being 
 chased this morning and flew against your house, 
 Martha, so hard that it was killed by the blow. 
 That is the only way I can account for the broken 
 bill." 
 
 "I think I read somewhere," said Johnny, " that 
 the cuckoo lays its eggs in other birds' nests." 
 
 " Not this cuckoo, Johnny. The European cuckoo 
 
 does that. Our bird is a 
 useful one, for he eats 
 the tent-caterpillars that 
 are so injurious to the 
 apple trees, so we must 
 try to forgive him for his 
 taste for fresh eggs. We 
 have a bird, though, that 
 does lay its eggs in other 
 birds' nests ; it is called 
 the cow-bunting or cow-blackbird. It is in size be- 
 tween a song-sparrow and a robin, and is of a rusty 
 black color. It generally chooses a smaller bird's nest 
 for the place to leave an egg. The poor little chip- 
 pies very often have an egg imposed on them. The 
 baby cow-bird is so much larger than the other birds 
 in the nest that he soon pushes them out, then he 
 has it all to himself, and all the worms go into his 
 
 CUCKOO. 
 
CUCKOO AND COW-BUNTING. 67 
 
 great mouth. One summer, a chippy who built 
 near our door, had one of these great, overgrown 
 babies to take care of. He looked like a young 
 giant, he was so much larger than his foster-mother. 
 He looked large enough to take care of himself, but 
 he would just sit and call for food, and his tiny 
 mother would work all day to fill his big stomach. 
 Now, girls, where are your lists of birds ?" 
 
 Two or three had seven each, Lois had twelve, 
 and Kate twenty-one. 
 
 " Why, Kate, did you see a peacock ? " 
 
 " Oh, no'm. Did you mean just the birds I saw ? 
 I thought you meant the names of all that I knew." 
 
 So that counted Kate out, and Lois stood at the 
 head of the class. 
 
 " You see," said I, " that you do not have to kill 
 the birds to find out their names. It is a great deal 
 wiser way just to watch them, isn't it ? " 
 
 " If I had a bow'n arrer, I guess I could shoot a 
 hundred birds," boasted Johnny. 
 
 " Yes ; but would you if you could ? That is the 
 question. I hope you would not want to ; but I 
 don't understand boys. I don't see why, just be- 
 cause they are boys, they should like to be always 
 killing things. When we think of the poor little 
 birds, with the crows and the hawks, and the butcher- 
 
68 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 birds and owls all after them, and the blue jays and 
 cuckoos stealing their eggs, it seems a shame that 
 boys must be added to their enemies. The birds of 
 prey, as those birds that eat other birds are called, 
 have to kill in order to live ; but what a waste of 
 life it is, when boys take to shooting birds just to 
 show how smart they are, or collect eggs just to see 
 how many they can get. It is not wrong for the 
 crows and hawks to do such things, although it 
 seems dreadful to us, but it is wicked and cruel 
 for people to do it ; and I wish I could make 
 every boy ashamed of himself that ever did such a 
 thing." 
 
 " I found a netht oncth, Mitheth May, all by 
 mythelf ; it had four little thpeckled eggth in it, and 
 I never touched one of them." 
 
 " And besides being wicked in itself, you know it 
 is against the law to kill singing birds or rob their 
 nests." 
 
 This moved the older boys, and they began to 
 protest " that they never, never did such a thing, 
 and they never, never would." 
 
 " Of course not. I hope my bird class would 
 know better than that. Now, my lecture's done. 
 Come, let us go to walk." 
 
 " Boys are so horrid, aren't they, Miss May ? " 
 
CUCKOO AND COW-BUNTING. 69 
 
 said Cicely, as we set out ; " they're always kill- 
 ing something. I wouldn't be so mean." 
 
 " I have seen little girls," said I, " and big ones, 
 too, who wore birds' wings, and sometimes whole 
 birds, on their hats. That seemed to me just as 
 bad as for the boys to kill birds." 
 
 " Oh, but we don't kill them, you know," said 
 Cicely, quickly. 
 
 " Somebody must kill them, though ; and isn't it 
 just as wicked to buy the wings of some one who 
 has done it ? How would you feel, if any one should 
 kill your canary because the wings were pretty to 
 wear on a hat ? " 
 
 " Now you're catching it," said Tom, in great glee. 
 " You are not any better than the boys, after all." 
 
 " Yes, now I have scolded both of you. I think 
 it was only because you were thoughtless. I shall 
 ask you to sign the pledges of the Audubon society. 
 There are three of them : not to kill any wild bird, 
 except to be used for food ; not to destroy eggs or 
 nests of any bird ; not to wear any feathers, except 
 those of the ostrich and domestic fowl." 
 
 " Feathers are awful pretty in a hat, but I sup- 
 pose I'll have to give 'em up," sighed Cicely. 
 
 "I promise you I won't wear any more in my 
 hat," said Tom. 
 
70 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS, 
 
 " Will you take the other pledges, too, Tom ?" 
 
 "I never did hit a bird yet, so I guess it's safe 
 enough to promise." 
 
 " No, I don't want any such promises. I want 
 you to agree not to try to hit them." 
 
 " Well, I'll promise not to hit them unless they 
 get right in my way so that I can't help it," said 
 
 BOBOLINK. 
 
 Tom, who hated to say right out that he would do 
 a thing. 
 
 By this time we had come to a row of apple trees 
 along the meadow road. In the top of one of these 
 a bird, about as large as a robin, was singing the 
 j oiliest song, the notes coming so fast that they 
 nearly tripped each other up. 
 
CUCKOO AND COW-BUNTING. 71 
 
 At the end of the song, he flew down to a tall 
 weed and sat there swaying to and fro. 
 
 "All black and white, isn't he?" said Kate. 
 " White on the back of his head and his shoulders 
 and rump." 
 
 " Lookth ath if he had a bald head," said Sidney ; 
 " there he goth again." 
 
 The jolly bird flew over a grass field, singing as 
 he went, poised a moment, then dived into the tall 
 grass. 
 
 " It is a bobolink," said I ; " don't you know the 
 bobolink?" 
 
 " Bobolink, bobolink, spink, spank, spink, is what 
 it says in the reading book," said Johnny. " Is this 
 the bird it meant ? " 
 
 " Yes, ' hidden and safe is that nest of ours,' he 
 says, and he has probably gone to it now. But you 
 need not think it is just where he dropped down ; he 
 is too smart for that. He will creep along under the 
 grass to it, and you might hunt the whole field over 
 and not find it ; so we won't trample down the 
 grass to look for it. There comes another one, and 
 his mate with him. Yes, that yellowish brown 
 bird is his mate, although she does not look at all 
 like him. Did you ever think why the females are 
 so much duller in color usually, than the males ? It 
 
72 MY SATUEDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 is so that they need not easily be seen as they sit on 
 the nest, or go and come with food for the young. 
 It is all very nice to wear gay clothes, but it is much 
 more dangerous for birds at least, for they would be 
 so much more quickly seen by their enemies. 
 
 " The bobolink, the blackbirds, and the orioles all 
 belong in the same family. 
 
 MEADOW-LARK. 
 
 " Another bird which builds in the grass is the 
 meadow-lark. Perhaps you know him. He has a 
 handsome yellow breast, with a black necklace, and 
 is a little larger than a robin. He sometimes weaves 
 a roof of grass for his nest and makes a winding 
 covered passage to it.' 
 
CUCKOO AND COW-BUNTING. 73 
 
 FOE THE TEACHER. 
 
 The family of starlings contains many familiar birds. They 
 are bobolink, meadow-lark, orioles, blackbirds. 
 
 The general color of the bobolink (also called reed-bird and 
 rice-bird) is black ; the nape, brownish cream color ; a patch on 
 the side of the breast, back and rump, white ; the outer 
 primaries sharply margined with yellowish white ; the tail- 
 feathers margined at the tips with brownish ash. Its change 
 of color in the autumn is described in the chapter on migra- 
 tion. 
 
 The meadow-lark is, above, dark brown ; the feathers mar- 
 gined with brownish white ; exposed portions of wings and tail 
 with transverse dark brown bars; beneath, yellow, with a 
 black crescent on the upper part of the breast; sides, pale 
 reddish brown, streaked with blackish. Length, 101 inches. 
 
 There are two orioles. 
 
 The Baltimore oriole, called also golden robin and hangnest, 
 is best known : Color, head all round and to middle of back, 
 scapulars, wings, and upper surface of tail, black ; rest of under 
 parts, rump, and terminal portion of tail-feathers, orange red; 
 edges of wing-quills, with a band across the tips of the greater 
 coverts, white. Length, 7|- inches. 
 
 The female is much less brilliant, the black of the head and 
 back being generally replaced by brownish yellow. 
 
 The orchard-oriole is more rare in New England. It is 
 of about the same size as the preceding species. Color, head 
 and neck all round, wings, back, and tail-feathers, black ; rest 
 of under parts, lower part of back to tail, brownish chestnut ; 
 a narrow line across the wing, and the extreme outer edges 
 
74 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 of quills, white. Like the Baltimore oriole, it has a loud, 
 rich voice, and its song is longer and more varied. 
 
 Cow-blackbird, called also cow-bunting and cow-bird : Color, 
 head, neck, arid upper half of breast, light chocolate brown ; 
 rest of body lustrous black, with a violet purple gloss next to 
 the head, of steel blue on the back, and of green elsewhere. 
 Female, light olivaceous, brown all over, lighter on the head 
 and beneath. Length, eight inches. It has a peculiar guttural 
 note which cannot really be called a song. 
 
 Swamp blackbird or redwing blackbird : General color, uni- 
 form lustrous velvet black, with a greenish reflection ; shoul- 
 ders and lesser wing-coverts of a bright crimson or vermilion 
 red. Female, brown above, the feathers edged or streaked 
 with brown and yellowish ; beneath, white streaked with 
 brown; forepart of throat tinged with brownish yellow. 
 Length, 9|- inches. They arrive early in the spring, and 
 congregate in flocks in the tree-tops, uttering their well-known 
 note of " quonk a ree." 
 
 Of the two grackles, the crow-blackbird, or purple grackle, 
 is the more social in its habits. Color, head and neck, all well- 
 defined steel-blue ; the rest of the body with varied reflections 
 of bronze, golden green, copper, and purple. Female similar 
 and duller. Length, thirteen inches. 
 
 The rusty grackle is in general color black, with purple 
 reflections. Female, dull brown. Length, 9^- inches. This 
 more retiring bird is not uncommon in the spring and fall 
 migrations, but is never common, and retires to high latitudes 
 to breed. 
 
 While the blackbirds do considerable damage to the grain- 
 fields in the fall, it should be borne in mind that they do great 
 service in the spring by destroying harmful insects. Perhaps 
 
CUCKOO AND COW-BUNTING. 75 
 
 the good done at one season offsets the harm done at another, 
 who knows? 
 
 The yellow-billed cuckoo is quite rare. 
 
 The black-billed cuckoo is abundantly distributed. They 
 are similar in size and color, the most noticeable difference 
 being in the color of the bill, which gives the name to each 
 species. The black-billed cuckoo is described as follows : 
 Color, bill, entirely black ; upper parts generally of a metallic, 
 greenish olive, ashy towards the base of the bill. Beneath, 
 pure white, with a brownish yellow tinge on the throat. 
 Length, about twelve inches. Its note is tuk, tuk, tiik, repeated 
 very fast, or /coir, kow, kow, more slowly. In the south it is 
 called the "rain crow," as its call is said to predict rain. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 FLYCATCHERS. 
 
 THE eighth meeting of our class was at Martha's 
 house, and her five-year-old brother Robert was 
 proud enough to come in and take his seat with the 
 rest of us. He was very anxious to tell what he 
 knew about birds and his sister, who sat beside him, 
 had to whisper to him a great many times that he 
 must keep still. 
 
 " There are three kinds of flycatchers, that I am 
 going to tell you about to-day, and I will begin with 
 the smallest. He is called the least flycatcher and 
 is smaller even than the chipping-sparrow. He is 
 a plain brownish gray, or grayish brown, above, ashy 
 white on the breast, and tinged with yellow under- 
 neath. He sits on the fence and says ' chebec,' 
 jerking his head back at the same time, then darts 
 off to catch an insect. From this note he gets his 
 common name of chebec." 
 
 Robert, feeling that it was time he put in a word, 
 burst out, " I saw a little brown bird yest'day." 
 
 " What do you suppose he means by ' a little 
 
 76 
 
FLYCATCHERS. 77 
 
 brown bird ' ? " said the boys to each other, scorn- 
 fully. 
 
 " I guess he means a chippy," said Martha to 
 me, apologetically. 
 
 Robert subsided, and I continued my talk about 
 the flycatchers. 
 
 " The next in size looks very much like the least 
 flycatcher, but is as large as a song-sparrow. It 
 comes early in the spring, and we are all glad when 
 we hear it calling a girl's name " 
 
 " Phoebe," said Lois. 
 
 " Yes, that is it ; and when he is excited he raises 
 a crest on his head. This bird builds on rafters 
 under sheds, sometimes close to houses." 
 
 " A pair built under our back porch last summer," 
 said Kate ; " and they used to sit on the clothes-line 
 all the time, jerking their tails." 
 
 " The largest flycatcher of the three is such a loud- 
 spoken bird he cannot have escaped your notice. 
 He builds in the tops of apple trees usually, and is 
 always looking out for enemies. I call him the 
 policeman bird, for the moment he spies a crow, or 
 hawk, he gives the alarm, and, in a moment, a dozen 
 or more of them are chasing the offender, pouncing 
 down on his back, and tormenting him, till he is glad 
 to get out of the way." 
 
78 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 "Oh, you mean the king-bird," said Tom; "I did 
 not know it was a flycatcher. It does look some 
 like the phoebe, only larger. I saw one once chasing 
 a crow, and he just lighted on the old crow's back, 
 and took a ride." 
 
 " Yes ; how excited they look with their crests up ! 
 If you had a king-bird in your hand, and should 
 part the crest, you would find a flame-colored spot 
 hidden by the outer feathers. I once had the good 
 fortune to come close to two king-birds who were 
 fighting, when that spot showed on one of them like 
 a live coal. It is a fitting crown for a brave king 
 of birds. 
 
 " There are birds of another family which catch 
 insects, and are somewhat like the flycatchers in 
 coloring. I refer to the vireos, of which there are 
 several kinds. They are all nearly of the same 
 size, a little' smaller than the phoebe, olive brown 
 above and grayish white beneath. They are slen- 
 derer than the flycatchers, have smaller heads, are 
 more retiring, and have softer voices. Some of 
 them have a sweet warble." 
 
 Robert had been looking at me intently for two 
 minutes, and he now raised his hand. 
 
 " I know where a chip bird's got its nest." 
 
 " What's a chip bird ? " asked Torn, in his most 
 
FLYCATCHERS. 
 
 79 
 
 superior tone. " I presume you mean a chipping- 
 sparrow, don't you ? " 
 
 Poor Robert looked so downcast that I hastened 
 to tell him that he might 
 show me the nest, and we 
 all went out on the front 
 porch to see it in a crotch 
 of the trumpet-creeper that 
 was trained upon the pillar. 
 
 " Shall we go to see 
 Miss Mary Bradley 's tame 
 blue jay ? " I asked, as we 
 started up the street. 
 
 Oh yes, oh yes. They 
 all wanted to see it, and 
 would I please tell them 
 about it. So, as we walked 
 
 along, I told them how Miss Mary came to have it. 
 Her brother found it on the ground in their yard, 
 early one morning. It was a helpless baby then, 
 could not fly at all, and the wonder was how it came 
 there, for there was no nest near. Miss Mary put 
 it in a basket, and fed it with bread and milk, and, 
 as soon as it could fly, it would come straight to her 
 lap and cuddle in her hand, every time she sat 
 down. Dick, as she calls him, hates to be put out 
 
 Upper Fig. RED-EYED VIREO. 
 Lower Fig. CEDAR-BIRD. 
 
80 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 of doors, the other birds torment him so. Blue jays, 
 you know, eat other birds' eggs, and so, of course, the 
 smaller birds are very much afraid of them. As soon 
 as Dick is put out in the horse-chestnut tree, it is the 
 signal for all the birds in the neighborhood to gather 
 and try to chase him away." 
 
 As we neared the house we heard a great com- 
 motion in an apple tree in the orchard. A king-bird, 
 with crest erect, was screaming and darting in and 
 out. Some smaller birds were scolding with all 
 their might. As we came nearer, we found that 
 these were a pair of red-eyed vireos and a chipping- 
 sparrow. Some robins came and added their loud 
 voices to the clamor, and Dick flew in great haste 
 to the porch, where the other birds dared not 
 follow. 
 
 Miss Mary came out, and we asked her to call 
 him down ; but he declined to come when so many 
 people were present. 
 
 " I know what will bring him," she said, and 
 threw down her thimble. In a twinkling he was at 
 her feet, ha.d seized the thimble and flown away 
 with it. 
 
 " Now I must watch where he hides it. He is 
 just like a jackdaw about stealing bright things." 
 
 When Dick had safely tucked the stolen treasure 
 
FLYCATCHERS. 
 
 81 
 
 between the slats of the blind, Miss Mary gave 
 Robert some corn to hold in his hand, as he sat on 
 the step, while the rest of us retired to a little dis- 
 tance. Soon the handsome bird flew down to the 
 floor, and hopped along cautiously, with his head 
 now on one side, now on the other ; picked a grain 
 
 BLUE JAY. 
 
 of corn from Robert's hand, then rolled up a bright 
 eye to see if the little boy was looking, then snatched 
 another and another till they were all gone. Robert 
 held his breath while it lasted, but the others clapped 
 their hands softly with delight. 
 
 " Isn't he perfectly lovely, all blue and white ! " 
 
82 MY SATUKDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 " Just as cute as he can be ! " 
 
 "I should not think such beautiful birds would 
 be so naughty. What makes them steal eggs and 
 corn?" 
 
 " Dick will never be so bad. He's too pretty." 
 " Handsome is that handsome does, say I." 
 "Dick is a rogue," said Miss Mary. " He loves to 
 tease the cats, flying down in front of them, and 
 tempting them to chase him. He will come to a 
 bad end some day, I am afraid, if he doesn't learn 
 caution." 
 
 Dick followed us for some distance down the 
 street. Once, when no one was looking at him, he 
 flew down suddenly and struck Kate's hat, and was 
 back in the tree, almost before she could turn around. 
 Then he chuckled to himself, as if it were a great 
 joke. Just as we were thinking that he meant to go 
 all the way home with us he suddenly disappeared, 
 and we saw no more of him. 
 
 FOR THE TEACHER. 
 
 FLYCATCHERS. 
 
 The wood-pewee is similar to the phoebe in coloring, but is 
 a little smaller, the phoebe being seven inches in length, the 
 wood-pewee 6J. It prefers the solitudes of the deep forests, 
 
FLYCATCHERS. 83 
 
 and places its nest on the limb of a tree, generally at a 
 height of about twenty feet from the ground. Its note is 
 more plaintive and drawling than the phcebe's, sounding like 
 the syllables " pe-weeee," " pe-weeee." 
 
 Other flycatchers rarely seen in New England : The great 
 crested flycatcher; length, 8| inches. The olive-sided fly- 
 catcher ; length, 7-J- inches. The Traill's flycatcher ; length, 
 nearly six inches. The small green-crested flycatcher ; length, 
 o inches. 
 
 The vireos build pensile, beautifully constructed nests in 
 the crotches of small branches. The only exception to the 
 general scheme of color which I have mentioned, is found in 
 the yellow-throated vireo, the throat and breast of which are 
 sulphur yellow. 
 
 The red-eyed vireo frequents the trees in the neighborhood 
 of houses. Its pleasing warble, constantly repeated, has given 
 it the name of the preacher. 
 
 There are three other species : the warbling vireo, the 
 white-eyed vireo, the solitary, or blue-headed, vireo. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE BIRD CLASS AT SCHOOL. 
 
 As I was walking slowly home through the quiet, 
 shady streets after our last lesson, I was overtaken 
 by Miss Graham, the teacher of most of my bird 
 class. I gave her a warm greeting, for I was always 
 glad to meet her, and she at once began to talk about 
 the bird class. 
 
 "You don't know how much the children are 
 learning," said she. " I have often wished I knew 
 as much about birds as you do, for I have so many 
 questions about them put to me that I can't answer. 
 Now, when there is any such matter to be decided, I 
 call for the bird class, and they can usually tell all 
 about it. One day, when I arrived at school in the 
 morning, the children came running to meet me. 
 
 " ' Oh, teacher ! oh, Miss Graham ! there's an awful 
 cunning little bird in the school-room.' 
 
 " Sure enough, there was a dear little bird flying 
 against the windows, which had been closed for fear 
 it should escape. 
 
 " ' Oh, teacher, what kind is it ? Can't we keep it 
 here all the morning ? ' was the cry. 
 
 84 
 
THE BIRD CLASS AT SCHOOL. 85 
 
 66 ' Oh no, my dears ; the poor thing would beat 
 itself to death against the glass. We'll just wait 
 till some of the bird class come, and they will tell 
 us the name of it ; then we'll let it go.' 
 
 " Tom was the first one to appear, and the question 
 was at once put to him. He looked very wise, and 
 considered the subject a few moments ; then he 
 said, 
 
 " 6 I'm not sure, Miss Graham, but I think it's a 
 summer yellowbird.' 
 
 " Lois came next, and the instant she saw the 
 little visitor, she exclaimed, ' I know ; it's a summer 
 yellowbird.' 
 
 " So. as two of the class agreed on it, each without 
 knowing what the other had said, I was sure they 
 must be right, and we opened the window, and let 
 the poor frightened little creature fly away. 
 
 "Yesterday morning we had a great excitement. 
 Kobert and Alfred, my two smallest boys, were late 
 to school. At last I heard them puffing and panting 
 up the stairs, and Robert, with flushed cheeks and 
 shining eyes, walked straight up to me, carrying 
 carefully in his two hands a nest with a young robin 
 in it. They were so excited they were all of a 
 tremble, and both chattered at once, quite forgetting 
 the disgrace of being late. 
 
86 MY SATUKDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 " i We finded the nest on the ground, and it can't 
 fly at all, and please can't we keep it here on your 
 desk, and feed it out of our lunch baskets ? ' 
 
 "So I put the nest, with the bird in it, on my 
 desk where they could all see it, and told them they 
 must be very good if I let it stay. They really did 
 study better than usual that morning, only looking 
 at robin once in a while, as he stretched up his neck 
 and opened his mouth, as if for food. By and bye 
 Johnny put up his hand, and asked if I wouldn't 
 take the bird out of the nest, and let it hop around 
 on my desk. So I said yes, if they'd be good. The 
 robin had hopped around the desk but a few times, 
 when Lois asked if I wouldn't please put him on the 
 floor, and see if he wouldn't hop down the aisles. 
 So again I said yes, if they'd learn their lessons 
 better than usual. Would you believe it, all the 
 morning that bird hopped about among the seats, and 
 the children were as still as mice, not laughing at all, 
 only peeping down at him, when he came close to 
 them. At recess time they wanted to feed him. 
 The boys went out, and soon came in with two of 
 the biggest angle worms I ever saw. 
 
 " ' Oh, don't give him such big worms as that ! ' I 
 cried. 
 
 " ( Why, don't you know,' shouted all the bird 
 
THE BIRD CLASS AT SCHOOL. 87 
 
 class in chorus, he eats sixty-eight worms as big as 
 this every day/ 
 
 " Of course I had to yield to the bird class, and 
 Master Robin gulped down the worms as if they 
 were nothing at all. 
 
 " At noon I told Rob and Alfred to take the bird 
 back where they found it, so that the mother could 
 feed it, for we could never find sixty-eight worms 
 a day to fill its mouth." 
 
 When Miss Graham parted with me she gave me 
 a composition written by Lois, and it is so good that 
 I give a copy of it. 
 
 THE CHIMNEY-SWALLOWS. 
 
 There are so many different kinds of birds that I cannot 
 tell you about all of them, but will tell about as many as I 
 have time. I will tell you about the swallows : there are five 
 different kinds. The names of them are the white-breasted 
 swallow, the eave or cliff-swallow, the barn-swallow, the bank- 
 swallow, and the chimney-swallow. Before there were many 
 houses the chimney-swallows built in hollow trees. Every 
 year they all come together before they go south. One night 
 a man was sitting in his house, and heard the greatest chirping 
 out doors. He did not know what it was, and went out and 
 found it came from a hollow tree. The next night he got a 
 lantern and an axe, and cut a hole in the bottom of the tree, 
 and put his head in, and what do you think he saw ? He saw 
 the tree was packed as tight as it could be with chimney- 
 
88 MY SATUKDAY BIKD CLASS. 
 
 swallows. We once had chimney-swallows in our chimney; 
 but papa put screens over the chimney, and they could not get 
 in. At the next house, the same side as we live, they had 
 chimney-swallows. One time they found four little swallows 
 that had fallen down the chimney. Two or three big ones 
 have flown down the chimney into the sitting-room. The 
 chimney-swallows' feet, or claws, are very small, so they do not 
 use them very much. They have sharp needles like on their 
 tails, which they stick into the chimney, and they help the 
 swallows to climb the chimney. 
 
 Lois BANKS. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 A PICNIC. 
 
 You may be sure that on the day when the class 
 met at my house there were no vacant chairs. 
 Since the second time, the whole class had never 
 been together at any one lesson. But when I told 
 them that the day they came to the house on the 
 hill for a lesson, they might bring their suppers and 
 picnic in the grove, I saw by their faces that all 
 intended to be there. Little Martha told me several 
 times that it was such a long walk she was afraid 
 she couldn't come, " 'thout she took a nap in the 
 morning." Even Cicely, who didn't care whether 
 she came every time or not, and had easily found 
 excuses to stay away a number of times, impressed 
 it on Lois that she could never forgive her if she 
 did not tell her when the picnic was coming. 
 
 So I set out the chairs and laid out my great 
 bird books on the table ; for, although the sky was 
 clouded, I had no doubt that I should have a class. 
 Soon a farm-wagon drove up, and landed a half-crazy 
 crew at my door. It seemed to me that my class 
 
 89 
 
90 MY SATURDAY BIKD CLASS. 
 
 had doubled in size, and I tried to count them. I 
 found they were all there except Bertram (who had 
 only been present at the first two lessons, and so did 
 not dare call himself a member of the class) ; and, 
 moreover, there were three extra ones Mary, Ben, 
 and Robert, younger brothers and sister of two of 
 my class. 
 
 A person who is going to get on with such young 
 folks must not be slow, so I hurried to get them 
 seated, and began my lesson at once ; telling them 
 first that they must be sure to remember that the 
 picnic did not come till after the lesson. We began 
 by looking at- the colored plates in DeKay's " Birds 
 of New York," asking the class to name the birds 
 they knew. The hawks were all " hen-hawks " to 
 them, and the owls, " screech-owls." 
 
 " Have you ever heard of this bird, the whippoor- 
 will ? " 
 
 Instantly the boys and girls joined in a song they 
 had learned at school. 
 
 " I love to stray by the wooded rill 
 Where the twilight shadows play, 
 And list to the song of the whippoorwill, 
 As he sings his evening lay. 
 
 Chorus. "Whippoorwil], whippoorwill, whippoorwill! 
 List to the song, list to the song ! 
 Whippoorwill, whippoorwill, all the way." 
 
A PICNIC. 91 
 
 " That is very pretty. So you do know about the 
 whippoorwill, and now you see how he looks, with 
 his mottled brown back and his great hairy mouth, 
 wide open for the catching of small insects at twi- 
 light. Sometimes he will sit every night on the 
 front door-step of some lonely farmhouse, uttering 
 his plaintive cry of ' whip-poor-will.' ' 
 
 Kate and Lois had together seen a wonderful 
 bird, which they began to describe. " As large as a 
 robin, all black and white, with a pinky red spot on 
 the breast " 
 
 "And pink under the wings, too," said Lois. 
 
 " No sir," said Kate ; " I was with you when we 
 saw it, and / didn't see any pink, under the wings." 
 
 " I did," said Lois ; " and when it flew I saw it 
 very plain." 
 
 " Is this it ?" I said, as we came to the picture of 
 a rose-breasted grosbeak. 
 
 " Yes'm, that's it." 
 
 So we turned to the description and found that 
 the under wing-coverts were rose-color, just as Lois 
 had said. 
 
 "So much for bright eyes. This is the bird I am 
 going to talk about to you to-day." 
 
 " Oh, a bluebird ! a bluebird ! " exclaimed all, as 
 they looked at the picture of a small dark blue bird, 
 
92 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 with greenish tints on the throat, and brown mark- 
 ings on wings and tail. 
 
 "It may be a blue bird," said I, "but that is not 
 the name of it. It is called the indigo-bird. You 
 see that is a darker color than the bluebird's. The 
 reason why I tell you about it to-day is, because a 
 pair of these birds is nesting in the raspberry bushes 
 behind the house, and so you will have an oppor- 
 tunity to see them. For three years now they have 
 built there, and we think it must be the same pair 
 every time. When I first discovered the nest, the 
 old birds were much afraid to have me come near. 
 But now they know I won't hurt them ; so Mr. 
 Indigo sits on the^ top of the apple tree and sings, 
 and Mrs. Indigo looks at me with her bright black 
 eyes, but does not move, as I come close up to the 
 nest. I wonder how they are wise enough to learn 
 that I am their friend ; for they do not mind me at 
 all, while they are always afraid of cats. 
 
 " Every time a cat comes, the birds call so loud, 
 that we run from the house to see what is the mat- 
 ter. Just as soon as we get there, the birds stop 
 scolding, and seem to be satisfied that we will take 
 care of them. I usually seize a broom and tin pan 
 to throw at the cats ; but it does not matter how 
 much noise I make, the birds seem not to be afraid 
 
A PICNIC. 93 
 
 at all. I do not know, though, what they will say 
 to so many children, so we must go quietly/' 
 
 We tiptoed out to the bushes, and one by one each 
 child pressed forward and peeped into the nest, where 
 four pale blue eggs were lying. 
 
 "Whath that little yellow brown bird in the pear 
 tree?" whispered Sidney. 
 
 " Why, that's the mother-bird." 
 
 " Tithn't blue at all." 
 
 " No. You wouldn't know it was the same kind, 
 would you ? But it is, and you see she is quite 
 anxious about her nest." 
 
 " I wish the father-bird would come down where 
 we could see him, but he does not seem to care." 
 
 " Oh, I know what will fetch him." I ran to the 
 house where we kept our cat confined all through 
 bird-nesting time, and brought old Tabby. In a 
 moment the male indigo-bird flew down, almost 
 within reach, scolding, and flying back and forth in 
 a great state of excitement. He seemed to shine 
 with green and blue lights, and looked very hand- 
 some. When he had been admired by all, I took 
 Tabby back to her quarters, and we went to visit the 
 downy woodpecker's hole, of which I had told the 
 story before. There were young birds in the nest, 
 and when we all held our breaths for a moment we 
 
94 
 
 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 DOWNY WOODPECKER. 
 
 thought we could hear them " chittering." We 
 were in luck to see one of the old birds fly into the 
 tree, eye us for a moment from behind a branch, 
 
 then fly to the hole, 
 and, sticking his head 
 in, deliver up his 
 mouthful to the rav- 
 enous youngsters. 
 
 When he had flown 
 away, the boys de- 
 cided that it was time 
 for the picnic to begin, and started for the grove, 
 with a whoop. 
 
 ".Oh dear, it's beginning to rain. What shall we 
 do?" 
 
 The grove was of pine trees, standing close to- 
 gether, and, though small, was dense. 
 
 " Get your umbrellas. The rain won't come 
 through the trees much." 
 
 That was a good idea. It was even more fun to 
 play "puss in the corner" with umbrella in hand 
 than it was without, and " hide and coop" was made 
 more exciting by the regulation that no one could be 
 caught unless the head was seen. 
 
 'Twas a great pity that the supper in the grove 
 had to be given up, but I do not believe we could 
 
A PICNIC. 95 
 
 have laughed harder than we did as we sat in a long 
 row on the piazza, with our laps full of good things, 
 and ate and ate as people at picnics always do. 
 
 After we had feasted till we could feast no more, 
 we played games on the piazza, for the grove was 
 now become too damp. 
 
 Acting Words was called the best game of the 
 afternoon. I played a double part in it. First the 
 company was divided into two sides. Then I helped 
 one side choose a word. They gave a word that 
 rhymed with the chosen one. Then I went over to 
 the other side and helped them to act words to 
 rhyme with the one given them until they found the 
 right one. Of course I was not to tell one part what 
 the other part had told me. 
 
 Little Rob (only five years old) was quite wild 
 with a desire to act. He raced back and forth, say- 
 ing, "Can't I do .one?" Soon he came and caught 
 my dress, whispering, with a most earnest face, 
 " Can't I just go and pick some grass and take in 
 there ? Won't that be a word ? " 
 
 " I do not know, Rob ; what word will it be ? " 
 
 " I don't know," he said, shaking his head, " but 
 can't I just ? " 
 
 I said he must wait until I thought of a word for 
 him. Soon he came again. < Can't I, Miss May, 
 
96 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 can't I just lie down and kick up my heels ? Won't 
 that be a word?" 
 
 We laughed so hard that I was afraid his feelings 
 would be hurt, so I hastily gave him some pebbles to 
 pile up, pretending they were blocks. He did not 
 care that they guessed the word " blocks " at once, 
 but kept on building for half an hour, seriously 
 thinking that he was helping on the game. 
 
 At six o'clock the farm wagon reappeared ; the 
 children bundled into it, under an army of umbrellas, 
 all shouting " good-night " as they rattled down the 
 road. 
 
 I am not sure how much of that day's lesson they 
 will remember, but I am certain that they will never 
 forget that they had a grand good time at the picnic. 
 
 FOE THE TEACHER. 
 
 The buntings belong to the Sparrow family, which contains 
 a large proportion of our more familiar birds. Their distin- 
 guishing feature is a stout conical bill, suitable for eating 
 seeds or buds. 
 
 The black-throated bunting is abundant in the states east 
 of the Mississippi, but is rare in New England. 
 
 The more noticeable markings of the rose-breasted grosbeak 
 are as follows : upper parts, generally, with head and neck 
 all round, glossy black; a broad crescent across the upper 
 
A PICNIC. 97 
 
 part of the breast, axillaries and under wing-coverts, carmine ; 
 rest of under parts, rump and upper tail-coverts, middle wing- 
 coverts, spots on wings, and a large patch on the ends of 
 the inner webs of the three outer tail-feathers, pure white. 
 
 Female. Color: Yellowish brown streaked with darker; 
 head, with a central stripe above and one on each side, 
 white; beneath, dirty white, streaked with brown on the 
 breast and sides; under wing-coverts and axillaries, saffron- 
 yellow. Length, 8 inches. 
 
 This bird is a not very common inhabitant of New 
 England, yet I have usually seen at least one individual 
 each season. It is a fine songster. It has a rich, strong 
 voice, which, in its first notes, reminds one of an oriole. 
 
 It nests in low bushes in deep woods. Its food consists 
 of seeds of birches and alders, various birds and berries, and 
 occasionally insects and worms. 
 
 Indigo-bird. Color: Blue tinged with ultramarine on the 
 head, throat, and middle of breast ; elsewhere with verdigris- 
 green ; wing-feathers brown, edged externally with dull bluish 
 brown. 
 
 Female. Brown above ; whitish, obscurely streaked or 
 blotched with brownish yellow beneath. Length, about 5f 
 inches. 
 
 The indigo-bird has a short, peculiar song which it utters 
 at intervals throughout the entire day. Though naturally a 
 shy bird, it prefers to build its nest in the vicinity of houses 
 and gardens : this is constructed in a low bush. 
 
 In the woods or in retired localities may frequently be 
 seen the ground-robin, towhee, or chewink. The first name 
 is given from the chestnut color on the sides of the breast, 
 
98 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 which gives it a slight resemblance to our well known bird. 
 The two latter names indicate its note. 
 
 Color : Upper parts generally, head and neck all round, and 
 upper part of breast, glossy black; sides of the breast and 
 under the wings, light chestnut ; edges of outer six primaries 
 with white at the base and on the middle of the outer web ; 
 inner two tertiaries also edged externally with white ; tail- 
 feathers, black; outer web of the first with the ends of the 
 first to the third, white. 
 
 Female with the black replaced by brown. Length, 8J 
 inches. 
 
 The ground-robin builds upon the ground and seeks its 
 food among the fallen leaves, where it is almost continually 
 scratching. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MIGRATION. 
 
 MY bird class held one meeting in the fall after 
 vacation was over. 
 
 " Some of you have been away/' I said, as I 
 looked around at the smiling faces. 
 
 "Yes'm," said Johnny; "we go to grandpa's every 
 
 summer." 
 
 " And now, just as you are settling down to work, 
 the birds are getting ready to start on their travels." 
 
 " I don't see what the birds have to do to get 
 ready," said Kate ; " can't they just start any time ? 
 They have no trunks to pack." 
 
 " No ; but some of them put on travelling dresses, 
 just as we do." 
 
 " Travelling dresses ! My, how funny ! " 
 
 " Yes ; the gay bobolink cannot wear his black and 
 white dress, which shows so clearly, so he puts on a 
 plain brown suit like his wife's. Then he changes 
 his name, too. When he gets to New Jersey he is 
 called the reed-bird, because . he and his fellows 
 gather on the reeds in the marshes. Farther south 
 
 99 
 
100 
 
 MY SATUKDAY BIKD CLASS. 
 
 he is called the rice-bird, because he is so fond of 
 eating the rice as it grows in the fields. He makes 
 a more complete change of dress than any other 
 bird I can think of ; but several kinds are duller 
 in plumage in the winter, and you know the young 
 
 birds are hardly ever so 
 brightly colored as the old 
 ones before the next spring. 
 Now, why do you think 
 the birds go south ? " 
 66 Because of the cold." 
 
 
 
 " Then why do some 
 birds stay here all winter ? " 
 " I guess their feathers 
 are thicker." 
 
 " No, I don't believe 
 you would find it so. Just 
 think a moment." 
 
 All thought very hard for a moment, but were 
 just about to give it up when Kate said, 
 
 " Is it because they can't get anything to eat ?" 
 " Yes, that is one of the chief reasons why they 
 go. The swallows usually leave us in August, and 
 other insect-eaters go early. What kinds could stay 
 later?" 
 
 " Those that eat seeds ? " asked Lois. 
 
 SNOW BUNTING. 
 
MIGRATION. 101 
 
 " Yes, and there are others. In the winter the 
 snow covers the ground, and the insects that fly in 
 the air are all gone, but the weeds and grasses that 
 stick above the snow are full of seeds, and all the 
 tree trunks have grubs and eggs tucked away under 
 their bark." 
 
 " Oh yes, I forgot the woodpeckers." 
 
 " And the sumac bushes are full of berries and 
 sometimes the corn in farmers' corncribs is where 
 the blue jays can get it. So we can always have 
 some kind of feathered friends around us. Isn't it 
 strange to think how the birds all over the country 
 are moving somewhere ? The crows and blue jays 
 are the only ones I think of now that stay in the 
 same place. How do you think they can go so far, 
 and what keeps them up in the air ? " 
 
 " Because they're so little," said Johnny. 
 
 " Oh no," said I. " If you had a stone as big as a 
 robin it would not be very light would it ?" 
 
 "If I had a stone ath big ath a robin I could 
 throw it from here way acroth the street," said 
 Sidney. 
 
 " Yes ; but you could not make it stay in the air 
 could you ? The little birds not only stay up in the 
 air, but fly hundreds of miles. That is because their 
 bones are hollow, and the air in them makes the 
 
102 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 birds very light. But how they know the way to 
 go so far, and then come back to the same place 
 every year, as many of them do, we cannot tell. 
 
 " The wild geese go in marching order, in a 
 straight line, with their captain in front, or in two 
 
 CANADA GOOSE. 
 
 lines, like the letter V, with the leader at the point. 
 Stand up here and I will show you how they do it." 
 
 So I ranged them in order, with Tom as the 
 leader. 
 
 " Now, Tom, you must say ' quonk ' once in a 
 while, as if to ask c how are you getting on there ? ' 
 and some one must answer ' quonk,' as if to say ' all 
 right, sir.' ' 
 
MIGRATION. 103 
 
 After we had marched about a few times I told 
 how a man I knew once saw a flock of wild geese 
 on the Connecticut River. While the others were 
 feeding, the leader sat on a rock and kept watch. 
 When he saw some one coming this sentinel said 
 " quonk," and they all flew away. 
 
 " When our summer birds are gone, then other 
 birds, who have built their nests farther north, come 
 to see us. 
 
 " The dear little chickadees come close to us for 
 they know we would not hurt them. 
 
 " The tree-sparrows, that look so much like the 
 chipping-sparrows, come in flocks. 
 
 " When the snow is on the ground the snowbird 
 comes about our doors. I dare say you all know 
 how he looks. He is dark gray above, the same 
 color extending down his throat, and stopping in a 
 line across the upper part of the breast. 
 
 " Then there is a terrible bird that sometimes we 
 see chasing the little birds. He is called the butcher- 
 bird, or shrike. He is about as large as a robin. 
 His color is light gray above, with black wings and 
 tail. Beneath, he is white, with fine dark lines 
 across his breast. His bill is very strong, and is 
 bent down in a hook." 
 
 " But why does he chase the little birds, Miss 
 May ? " asked Johnny. 
 
104 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 " Because he wants to catch them and eat them." 
 " I am going to get a gun and shoot that old 
 butcher-bird/' cried Sidney. 
 
 " Fortunately there are not a great many butcher- 
 birds, and there 
 are a great many 
 small birds. Last 
 winterlwatched 
 one chasing a 
 hairy woodpeck- 
 
 BUTCHER-B.RD. ^ ^ WQod . 
 
 pecker was so large that the butcher-bird did not 
 dare fly right at him, so they kept dodging each 
 other round a tree trunk. At last the woodpecker 
 tried to go to the next tree, but the enemy was 
 after him so fast that he lit in the path, while 
 the butcher-bird perched on the fence and watched 
 him. There they stayed till a man came by and 
 scared them both back to the tree." 
 
 " And which beat ? " asked Tom. 
 
 " I do not know. I watched them for half an 
 hour, and then I was so cold I had to leave them to 
 fight it out by themselves ; but I was almost sure 
 the shrike would not succeed in getting the wood- 
 pecker." 
 
 " Oh, Miss May, is this truly the last lesson we 
 
MIGRATION. 105 
 
 are going to have ? " asked Lois, as we started for 
 our walk'. 
 
 " Yes, I am sorry to say it is ; but you know you 
 can come to me at any time, and tell me about birds 
 you have seen." 
 
 " If this is the last walk/' said Johnny, " let's go 
 ever so far." 
 
 " Yeth, way down by the Connecticut, and up 
 through North Meadow, and around by the chethnut 
 trees," cried Sidney. 
 
 " Chestnuts aren't ripe, goosey," said Tom; " there 
 haven't been any frosts yet." 
 
 " I am afraid that will be too long a walk," said 
 I ; "but we will go into North Meadow if you like." 
 
 On our way we passed a spruce tree close by the 
 path, where we heard a cheery voice say " chick-a- 
 dee-dee." We looked amongst the thick branches 
 and saw a family of chickadees. 
 
 " They had a nest somewhere near by," I said. 
 " I have been seeing them all summer." 
 
 " I thought they only came here in the winter," 
 said Kate. 
 
 " Oh yes; they sometimes build here, but not very 
 often." 
 
 In the meadow we saw a great flock of red-wingecj 
 blackbirds in the distance. 
 
106 MY SATURDAY BIRD CLASS. 
 
 " I gueth they are bobolinks/' said Sidney ; " they 
 look brownish." 
 
 " Oh no," said Kate ; " they're just as black as 
 they can be." 
 
 " I think the bobolinks have already gone," said I. 
 
 " I don't care, there's a flock of brown birds now. 
 They're bobolinks with their travelling dress on." 
 But these proved to be meadow-larks. 
 
 These were all the birds we saw. When we 
 reached the chestnut tree there were some green 
 burrs on the ground, and it took some time to pound 
 them open, and secure the unripe nuts. Then we 
 went home over the fields of stubbly grass. 
 
 When I bade my class good by I said, " Now you 
 have only made a beginning. You must watch the 
 birds, and learn a great deal more about them." 
 
 "Why, I thought we knew all the birds," said 
 Johnny. 
 
 " Oh no, indeed," said I ; " only the most common 
 
 ones." 
 
 FOE THE TEACHER. 
 
 The male bobolink, in his winter dress, is similar to the 
 female. His appearance, then, is yellowish beneath; two 
 stripes on the top of the head and the upper parts through- 
 out, except the back of the neck and rump, dark brown, all 
 edged with brownish yellow ; the sides sparsely streaked with 
 
MIGRATION. 107 
 
 dark brown, and a similar stripe behind the eye ; three bands 
 of yellow on the head. 
 
 The black and white dress of the bobolink is only worn 
 during the mating season. 
 
 Another name for the chickadee is black-cap titmouse. Its 
 color is : back, brownish ashy ; top of head and throat, black ; 
 sides of head between them, white ; beneath, whitish ; brown- 
 ish white on the sides ; wings and tail plain, more or less 
 white-edged. Length, five inches. 
 
 This little bird does incalculable good in destroying grubs 
 concealed in tree buds, and eggs and larvae hidden beneath 
 the bark. 
 
 THE END. 
 
SEASIDE AND WAYSIDE. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Illustration from No. i. MR. AND MRS. CRAB. 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 LESSON. 
 
 I. 
 
 II. 
 
 III. 
 
 IV. 
 
 V. 
 
 VI. 
 
 VII. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 IX. 
 
 X. 
 
 XI. 
 
 XII. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 XV. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 xvm. 
 
 XIX. 
 XX. 
 
 Book I 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Crab. 
 Mr. Crab and his House. 
 More about Mr. Crab. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Crab get New 
 
 Coats. 
 
 What the Crab does. 
 Mr. Crab and his Friends. 
 Some Other Crabs. 
 The Hermit Crab. 
 The Crab's Enemies. 
 The Uses of Crabs. 
 Mrs. Wasp and her Home. 
 What Mrs. Wasp can do. 
 A Look at Mrs. Wasp. 
 Mrs. Wasp's Year. 
 Mrs. Wasp at Home. 
 Review. 
 
 The Bee and the Man. 
 How the Bee is Made. 
 The Bee at Home. 
 The Bee Babies. 
 95 pages. 32 illustrations. 
 
 LESSON. 
 
 XXI. The Bee War. 
 
 XXII. The Bee's Work. 
 
 XXIII. The Wise Bees. 
 
 XXIV. Earth Bees. 
 XXV. Other Bees. 
 
 XXVI. More about Bees. 
 
 XXVII. The Spider and his Dress. 
 
 XXVIII. The Spider at Home. 
 
 XXIX. The Little Nest. 
 
 XXX. The Spider and his Food. 
 
 XXXI. Very Queer Spiders. 
 
 XXXII. Review. 
 
 XXXIII. Out of Harm's Way. 
 
 XXXIV. Shell-Fish. 
 
 XXXV. The Story of Mr. Conch. 
 
 XXXVI. Sea-Babies. 
 
 XXXVII. More about Sea-Babies. 
 
 XXXVIII. About Mr. Drill. 
 
 XXXIX. The Story of a War. 
 
 XL. How Shell-Fish Feed. 
 
 XLI. Review. 
 Introduction price, 25 cts. 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 Illustration from No. 2. THE PARASOL ANTS. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 LESSON. 
 
 LESSON. 
 
 I. A Look at an Ant. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 II. The Life of an Ant. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 III. The Ant's Home. 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 IV. The Ants at Home- 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 V. The Ants on a Trip. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 VI. The Farmer Ants. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 VII. Ants and their Trades. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 VUI. The Slave Ants. 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 IX. Wonder Ants. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 X. The Ways of Ants. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 XI. Mr. Worm and his Family. 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 XII. The Earth-worm at Home. 
 
 
 XIII. Mr. Worm at Work. 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 XIV. Mr. Worm's Cottage by the 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 Sea. 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 XV. Mr. Worm at Home. 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 XVI. A Look at a House-Fly 
 
 XL. 
 
 XVII. How to Look at a Fly. 
 
 
 XVIII. Mrs. Fly and her Foes. 
 
 XLI. 
 
 XIX. Of what Use are Flies. 
 
 XLII. 
 
 XX. A Swarm of Flies. 
 
 XLIII 
 
 XXI. Some Queer Flies. 
 
 XLIV. 
 
 XXII. In Armor Clad. 
 
 
 XXIII. When Mr. Beetle was 
 
 XLV. 
 
 Young. 
 
 
 XXIV. How to Learn about Beetles. 
 
 
 BOOK II. 184 pages. 39 illustratioi 
 
 The Rose Beetle. 
 
 Princes and Giants. 
 
 The Little Sexton. 
 
 The Story of the Stag Beetle. 
 
 Mr. Beetle Seeks for a Home. 
 
 The Little Water-Men. 
 
 Whirligig Beetles. 
 
 What a Fisherman Told. 
 
 Mr. Barnacle and his Son. 
 
 A Fishing Party. 
 
 A Last Look at Mr. Bar- 
 nacle. 
 
 Flowers of the Sea. 
 
 The Life of a Jelly-Fish. 
 
 Sea-Stars. 
 
 A Sea-Change. 
 
 The Star-Fish with an Over- 
 coat. 
 
 The Flying Flowers. 
 
 Under the Water. 
 
 A Happy Change. 
 
 The Dragon-Fly and his 
 Cousins. 
 
 The Wings of the Dragon. 
 
 Review Lessons. 
 
 35 cts - 
 
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BOOK III. 
 
 Illustration from No. 3. BEAKS. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 LESSON. 
 
 L The Great Mother. 
 II. The Earth's Eldest Child. 
 
 III. A Look at a Plant. 
 
 IV. A Year in a Plant's Life. 
 V. The Growth of Plants. 
 
 VI. The Food of Plants. 
 VII. Seeds and Leaves. 
 VIII. The Color of Plants. 
 IX. The Motion of Plants. 
 X. Plants and their Partners. 
 XL Air, Water, and Sand Plants. 
 XXII. Plants that eat Animals. 
 XIII. Weather Prophet Plants. 
 XIV. Plant Clocks. 
 XV. The School Cabinet. 
 XVI. The Old Man of the Meadow. 
 XVII. The Life of the Old Man. 
 XVIII. The Robber Cousin. 
 XIX. The Merry Cousins. 
 XX. Queer Cricket. 
 XIX. Other Hoppers. 
 XXII. A Real Live Fairy. 
 XXIII. The Child of the Day. 
 XXIV. Life Among Snow and Roses. 
 
 LESSON. 
 
 XXV. Joseph's Coat. 
 
 XXVI. Cousin Moth. 
 
 XXVII. The Child of the Night. 
 
 XXVIII. The Bird. 
 
 XXIX. Beaks and Claws. 
 
 XXX. Trees, Ground, and Water 
 
 Birds. 
 
 XXXI. On the Wing. 
 
 XXXII. Nest Building. 
 
 XXXIII. The Bird at Home. 
 
 XXXIV. Birds of Song. 
 XXXV. The Other Partner. 
 
 XXXVI. A Brigade of Birds. 
 
 XXXVII. The Birds in the Woods. 
 
 XXXVIII. The Birds in the House. 
 
 XXXIX. The Lost Birds. 
 
 XL. The Fin Family 
 
 XLI. Outside and Inside. 
 
 XLII. Where they live. 
 
 XLIII. How they Behave. 
 
 XLIV. Fry and School. 
 
 XLV. Scales and Teeth. 
 
 XLVI. Big and Little Brothers. 
 
 BOOK III. 300 pages. 29 illustrations. 50 cts. 
 
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BOOK IV. 
 
 Illustration from No. 4. THE REIGN OF THE PINE. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 I. Earth Building. 
 II. The First Continent. 
 
 XXVII. 
 XXVIII. 
 
 III. The Age of Crabs and Corals. 
 IV. The Pines and the Reptiles. 
 V. The Palm and the Man. 
 
 XXIX. 
 XXX. 
 
 VI. The Starry Heavens. 
 VII. A Fragment of the Milky 
 Way. 
 VIII. Plan and Progression. 
 IX. The King of the Day. 
 X. The Queen of the Night. 
 XL Vanished Fauna. 
 
 XXXI. 
 XXX J I. 
 XXXIII. 
 XXXIV. 
 
 XXXV. 
 XXXVI. 
 
 XII. A Mountain of Fossils. 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 XIII. Written in Rocks. 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 XIV. Footprints in the Sand. 
 XV. The Winter of the World. 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 XVI. Fossil Crabs. 
 
 XL. 
 
 XVII. Stone-Fish and Stone-Lilies. 
 
 XLI. 
 
 XVIII. Long-Buried Reptiles. 
 XIX. Birds of other Ages. 
 XX. The Early Mammals. 
 XXI. Very Old Families. 
 XXII. The Marvel in Mail. 
 
 XLII. 
 XLIII. 
 XLIV. 
 XLV. 
 XLVI. 
 
 XXIII. The Wonderful Builder. 
 
 XLVII. 
 
 XXIV. An Opossum Hunt. 
 XXV. A New Fashion of Pappoose. 
 XXVI. Low Down in the Scale. 
 
 XLVIII. 
 XLIX. 
 L. 
 
 BOOK IV. 370 pages. 28 illustrations. 60 cents. 
 
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 With a Duck's Bill. 
 
 In Australian Rivers. 
 
 A Walk Among Wonder 
 
 Trees. 
 
 Still in the Wonder Grove. 
 A Noisy Family. 
 The Frogs' Cousin. 
 Salamanders. 
 A Citizen of the Marsh 
 
 Lands. 
 
 A Stranger from Mexico. 
 Some Merry Little Friends. 
 The Ancient Monster. 
 El Lagarto. 
 Wiser than any Beast of the 
 
 Field. 
 
 Our Common Enemy. 
 With a House on His Back. 
 A Real Live Mermaid. 
 Great Whales Also. 
 A Seal-Skin Cloak. 
 Flying Mammals. 
 Order out of Confusion. 
 Nibblers. 
 Gnawers. 
 The Thick Skins. 
 The Ruminants. 
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY