A MILD DAY IN WINTER
It had been a cold and windy winter. Day after day the storm-clouds hadpiled up in the northwest and spread slowly over the sky, dropping greatragged flakes of snow down to the shivering earth. Then the forest treeswere clothed in fleecy white garments, and the branches of theevergreens drooped under their heavy cloak.
Then there had been other days, when a strong wind stripped the treesof their covering, and brought with it thousands of small, hard flakes.These flakes were drier than the ragged ones had been, and did not clingso lovingly to everything they touched. They would rather frolic on theground, rising again and again from their resting-places to dance aroundwith the wind, and help make great drifts and overhanging ledges of snowin the edge of the Forest, where there was more open ground.
It is true that not all the winter had been cold and stormy. There weretimes when the drifts melted slowly into the earth, and the grass, whichlast summer had been so tender and green, showed brown and matted on theground. Still the Great Horned Owl and his wife could not find enough toeat. "We do not mean to complain," said he with dignity, as he scratchedone ear with his feathered right foot, "but neither of us has had ameal hearty enough for a healthy Robin, since the first heavy snowcame."
This was when he was talking to his cousin, the Screech Owl. "Heartyenough for a Robin!" exclaimed Mrs. Great Horned Owl. "I should say wehadn't. I don't think I have had enough for a Goldfinch, and that ispretty hard for a bird of my size. I am so thin that my feathers feelloose."
"Have you been so hungry that you dreamed about food?" asked the ScreechOwl.
"N-no, I can't say that I have," said the Great Horned Owl, while hiswife shook her head solemnly.
"Ah, that is dreadful," said the Screech Owl. "I have done that severaltimes. Only yesterday, while I lay in my nest-hollow, I dreamed that Iwas hunting. There was food everywhere, but just as I flew down to eat,it turned into pieces of ice. When I awakened I was almost starved andso cold that my beak chattered."
It was only a few days after the Screech Owl's call upon his cousinsthat he awakened one night to find the weather milder, and the groundcovered with only a thin coating of soft snow. The beautiful round moonwas shining down upon him, and in the western sky the clouds were stillred from the rays of the setting sun.
Somewhere, far beyond the fields and forests of this part of the world,day-birds were beginning to stir, and thousands of downy heads weredrawn from under sheltering wings, while in the barnyards the Cocks werecalling their welcome to the sun. But the Screech Owl did not think ofthis. He aroused his wife and they went hunting. When they came backthey did not dream about food. They had eaten all that they could, andthe Great Horned Owl and his wife had made a meal hearty enough for adozen Robins, and a whole flock of Goldfinches. It was a good thing forthe day-birds that this was so, for it is said that sometimes, when foodis very scarce, Owls have been known to hunt by daylight.
When morning came and it was the moon's turn to sink out of sight in thewest, the Owls went to bed in their hollow trees, and Crows, Blue Jays,Woodpeckers, Chickadees, Grouse, Quail, Squirrels, and Rabbits came out.The Goldfinches were there too, but you would never have known thehusbands and fathers of the flock, unless you had seen them before intheir winter clothing, which is like that worn by the wives andchildren. Here, too, were the winter visitors, the Snow Buntings and theJuncos, brimming over with happiness and news of their northern homes.This warm day made them think of the coming springtime, and they werealready planning their flight.
"I wish you would stay with us all summer," said a friendly Goldfinch,as he dirted the snow off from a tall brown weed and began to pick outand eat the seeds.
"Stay all summer!" exclaimed a jolly little Snow Bunting. "Why should wewant to stay? Perhaps if you would promise to keep the snow and ice wemight."
"Why not ask the Goldfinches to come north with us?" suggested a Junco."That would be much more sensible, for they can stand the cold weatheras well as we, but we cannot stand warm days, such as I hear they havein this part of the country after the ice melts."
Then the older people of the group began to talk of the cares of lifeand many other things which did not interest their children, so theyounger ones wandered away from them.
"I say," called a young Junco to a young Snow Bunting, "wouldn't youlike to show some of these playmates of ours the countries where wewere born?"
"Yes indeed," answered the Snow Bunting. "Wouldn't they open their eyes,though? I'd like to have them see the rocks up there."
"And the animals," said the Junco.
"Yes! Wouldn't they stare at the Bears, though!"
"Humph," said a Blue Jay. "I wouldn't care very much about seeing Bears,would you?" And he turned to a Crow near by.
"No," said the Crow. "I don't think very much of Bears anyway." He saidthis as though he had seen them all his life, but the Chickadees saythat he never saw even a Cub.
"They haven't any big animals here," said the Junco to the Snow Bunting.
"Haven't we, though?" replied the Blue Jay. "Guess you wouldn't say thatif you saw the Ground Hog. Would he say that?" he asked, turning to theyoung Grouse, Quail, Woodpeckers, Goldfinches, Chickadees, Squirrels,and Rabbits who stood around listening.
"No indeed!" they answered, for they wanted their visitors to understandthat the Forest was a most wonderful place, and they really thought theGround Hog very large.
"I don't believe he is as big as a Bear" said the Snow Bunting, with hisbill in the air.
"How big is he?" asked the Junco.
Now the Blue Jay was afraid that the birds from the north were gettingthe better of him, and he felt very sure that they would leave beforethe Ground Hog had finished his winter sleep, so he did what no honestbird would have even thought of doing. He held his crested head veryhigh and said, "He is bigger than that rock, _a great deal bigger_."
The Crow looked at the rock and gave a hoarse chuckle, for it was ahundred times larger than the Ground Hog. The Grouse, Quail,Woodpeckers, Goldfinches, Chickadees, Squirrels, and Rabbits looked ateach other without saying a word. They knew how the Blue Jay had lied,and it made them ashamed. The Grouse pretended to fix their snow-shoes.They did not want to look at the birds from the north.
The Snow Buntings and Juncos felt that it would not do to talk aboutBears to people who had such a great creature as the Ground Hog livingamong them. "He must be wonderful," they said. "Where does he sleep?"
"In the Bats' cave," answered the Blue Jay, who having told one lie, nowhad to tell another to cover it up. "He sleeps in the middle and thereis just room left around the edges for the Bats."
Now at this very time the Ground Hog was awake in his burrow. He couldfeel that it was warmer and he wanted room to stretch. He thought itwould seem good to have an early spring after such a cold winter, so hedecided to take a walk and make the weather, as his grandfather haddone. When he came out of his burrow he heard a great chattering andwent to see what was the matter. That was how it happened that soonafter the Blue Jay had told about the Bats' cave, one wide-awake youngJunco saw a reddish-brown animal trotting over the grass toward them."Who is that?" he cried.
The Grouse, Quail, Woodpeckers, Goldfinches, Chickadees, Squirrels, andRabbits gave one look. "Oh, there is the Ground Hog!" they cried. Thenthey remembered and were ashamed again because of what the Blue Jay hadsaid.
"Oh!" said the Snow Buntings and the Juncos. "So that is the Ground Hog!Big as that rock, is he? And you don't think much of Bears?"
The Crow pointed one claw at the Blue Jay. "I never said he was as bigas that rock. _He_ is the fellow that said it."
"I don't care," said the Blue Jay; "I was only fooling. I meant to tellyou after a while. It's a good joke on you." But he had a sneaky lookaround the bill as he spoke, and nobody believed him. Before long, heand the Crow were glad enough to get away from the rest and go awaytogether. Yet even then they were not happy, for each began to blame theother, and they had a most dreadful fi
ght.
When the Ground Hog was told about it he said, "What foolishness it isto want to tell the biggest story! My grandfather told us once that alie was always a lie, and that calling it a joke didn't make it anybetter. I think he was right."
And the Snow Buntings and Juncos, who are bright and honest, noddedtheir dainty little heads and said, "Nobody in our own dear northcountry ever spoke a truer word than that." So they became firm friendsof the Ground Hog, even if he were not so large as the rock.
THE END.
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