"MR. OWL AWAKENED THE FAIRIES AND TOLD THEM TOLISTEN TO HIS BOOK."--_Page 2_]
DADDY'S BEDTIME BIRD STORIES
by
MARY GRAHAM BONNER
With four illustrations in color byFlorence Choate and Elizabeth Curtis
Emblem]
New YorkFrederick A. Stokes CompanyPublishers
Copyright, 1917, byFrederick A. Stokes Company
All rights reserved; including that of translationinto foreign languages
TO "E. E. E."
CONTENTS
PAGE
OLD MR. OWL WRITES A BOOK 1
THE WOODPECKERS START A BIRD BAND 4
THE CARDINAL BIRD AND THE ROBIN 7
THE WINTER WRENS' DEW-DROP BATHS 10
THE SEAGULLS MOVE TO BLUEY COVE 13
HOW THE LITTLE REDBIRD BECAME RED 16
POOR OLD MR. OWL'S TOOTHACHE 19
THE SOLOIST OF THE BIRD CONCERT 22
THE ROBINS OPEN A SPRING SHOP 25
THE RACE BETWEEN THE SECRETARY BIRDS 28
THE QUARREL BETWEEN NAUGHTY LITTLE SPARROWS 31
THE SUCCESSFUL CONCERT OF THE CHICKADEES 34
THE COLONY OF STARLINGS GIVE A BALL 37
ROBIN REDBREAST'S AND MISS ROBIN'S WEDDING 40
THE TAME CANARY BIRD AND HIS MISTRESS 43
THE PET BIRD OF THE WARD 46
THE EAGLE'S PRIDE AS THE BIRD OF FREEDOM 49
WHAT THE BIRDS THOUGHT OF THE FOURTH OF JULY 52
MR. NIGHTINGALE'S NEW FRIEND MR. BLACKBIRD 55
MR. PLAIN SPARROW CALLS ON DUCKS 58
FARMER'S SCARECROW PROTECTS A CORN-FIELD 61
THE BRAVE BROWN SPARROWS IN WINTER 64
WHAT THE RAINBOW THINKS OF THE WORLD 67
EAGLES AND RAVENS 70
THE EAGLES WHO WERE ALWAYS STILL 73
THE BOBOLINKS HAVE A TEA PARTY 76
A HAPPY DAY IN BIRDLAND 79
THE ROBINS' SPRING CONCERT 82
THE CROWS AT THE FAIRIES' BALL 85
THE NAUGHTY LITTLE SICK SNOWBIRDS 88
A SPARROW CALLS ON A HIPPOPOTAMUS 91
THE ROBINS COME TO THE RESCUE 94
MR. AND MRS. OWL'S STOREROOM 97
POLLY WAS THE HEROINE OF THE FIRE 100
THE WINTER HOME FOR THE WREN FAMILY 103
THE VAIN GOLDFINCH LEARNS A LESSON 106
THE BATS HAVE A JOLLIFICATION 109
THE REPENTANCE OF LITTLE JIM CROW 112
THE RESCUE OF THE CANARY BIRD 115
SMALL FIRE DEPARTMENT RESCUES BIRDS 118
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
"Mr. Owl awakened the fairies and told them to listen to his book" _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
"In the afternoons Elizabeth lets him out of his cage" 44
"'We've been on this chair so long,' said the fourth eagle" 74
"The mother humming-bird hurried back" 96
_These stories first appeared in the American Press Association Service and the Western Newspaper Union._
_Many of the sketches in this volume are the work of Rebecca McCann, creator of the "Cheerful Cherub," etc._
OLD MR. OWL WRITES A BOOK
Old Mr. Owl Danced with the Rest.]
"Old Mr. Owl wanted to write a book and he asked the fairies how to setabout doing it," commenced daddy.
"'Well,' said the fairy queen, 'it makes a good deal of difference, oldMr. Owl, what you want to write about.'
"'What nonsense!' he said. 'It's just that I want to know how to startoff with my book. Just think what a marvelous book it will be--as for aslong as folks can remember I've been called the Wise Bird--the birdwho's awake at night and whose eyes are so very bright!'
"'Before I started saying what a fine book it would be, if Iwere you, I'd write it and give other people the chance to say so,'said the fairy queen.
"Mr. Owl began to write with his pen, made out of one of Mr. TurkeyGobbler's best feathers, on a large, flat stone, which he put in thehollow of his tree. Very late in the night, he awakened the fairies whohad been sleeping, and told them to listen to his book. Then he calledall the owls from the neighborhood with a loud hoot-hoot. But before hebegan to read, he said:
"'I've not enough light. I will hurt my eyes--my beautiful,wise, big eyes.'
"You see he had made a special arrangement to have his own lights, andwhen he said that he hadn't enough, from all over came countless littlefireflies. They sparkled and gave the most beautiful light all over thewoods, and Mr. Owl put his spectacles on his nose, and said:
"'Now I see to perfection--which means quite all right.' And Mr. Owlcommenced reading his book.
"It told about the parties, balls, and picnics in fairyland, and of thewild adventures and happenings in the woods. The fairies were absolutelydelighted that a book had been written with so much about them in it.
"And the fairy queen was more than happy, for the last chapter was allabout her.
"'Well,' said Mr. Owl, 'you made me ashamed of myself for boasting aboutmy book before I had written it, and so the only thing I could do was towrite a wise chapter all about you.'
"And the fairy queen smiled with pleasure and also with amusement--forMr. Owl had certainly thought he could write a wise book--though thenext time, perhaps, he wouldn't say so before he had written it.
"The fireflies had been sparkling and flashing lights all this time, andfinally they whispered:
"'Have a dance, all of you; we'll give you the light and dance too. Itis not well to read books all the time--you must dance.'
"So they all ended off with a fine dance, and old Mr. Owl, with his bookunder his wing, danced with the rest of the owls and fairies. But beforethe evening was over he presented to the fairy queen a copy of his book,which said on the cover, 'A BOOK, by Wise Mr. Owl.'"
THE WOODPECKERS START A BIRD BAND
The Woodpecker family were around on various trees drumming, drumming onthe bark. Mr. Hairy Woodpecker, Mr. Downy Woodpecker, and Mr. Red-HeadedWoodpecker were hard at work.
"Let's start a band," suggested Mr. Hairy Woodpecker.
"What's that you say?" asked Mr. Red-Headed Woodpecker, who had been sobusy at work that he had not heard what Mr. Hairy Woodpecker had beensuggesting.
"A band," repeated Mr. Hairy Woodpecker.
"What sort of
a band?" asked Mr. Red-Headed Woodpecker.
"In the first place," continued Mr. Hairy Woodpecker, "our bills are notonly fine tools for the work we have to do getting the insects from thetrees, and burrowing for our nests, but they would be splendid to usein beating the drums in a band."
"Where would we get the drums?" asked Mr. Red-Headed Woodpecker.
"The trees, of course, you silly!" said Mr. Hairy Woodpecker.
"Oh yes, yes," agreed Mr. Red-Headed Woodpecker.
And Mr. Downy Woodpecker said, "Of course, of course. The trees will beour drums."
"We'll get the other birds," said Mr. Hairy Woodpecker, "to help us. Weneed something in a band besides the drums. We will ask the goldfinches,the mocking-birds, the bobolinks, the phoebe and chickadee families, allof the warbler and vireo families, and the robins of course. Then Ithink we'll ask the orioles, the whippoorwills, the thrush family, andthe song sparrows."
"Oh," said Mr. Downy Woodpecker, "that will make a perfect band. We'dbetter get started right away." And the woodpeckers began to practise.They made such a noise that the birds came from far and near to see whatthey were doing. Mr. Sapsucker, Mr. Crested Woodpecker, and Mr. FlickerWoodpecker had all joined in beating the drums too!
"Why are you making so much noise?" asked the birds as they flew aroundto the nearby trees to talk to the woodpeckers.
"Oh," said Mr. Hairy Woodpecker, "we were just going to ask you all tojoin our band. We will beat the drums."
"And just what do you want us to do?" asked Mr. Robin Redbreast, who wasalways eager to help.
"You must all sing."
"But we all sing differently," chirped a song sparrow. "We knowdifferent tunes and different songs."
"Oh," said Mr. Hairy Woodpecker, "I never thought about that. But nevermind, you can have little parts to sing alone, and other choruses whereyou will all sing together. I'm sure it will be a very fine band afterwe have practised." And they began pounding the drums again.
"Well," said Mr. Robin Redbreast, "if the bird band isn't to be thefinest in the land, at least we'll make a cheerful noise!"
THE CARDINAL BIRD AND THE ROBIN
"The cardinal bird," said daddy, "is a very superior bird and will notcome down to the ground. The lowest he will come is to a bush, but henever hops along the woods or lawns, no, not he!
"One day Robin Redbreast was walking on a green lawn. He stopped severaltimes to pick up a worm from the ground, swallow it whole and then walkalong. In a tree nearby he spied the cardinal bird.
"'Hello,' he said cheerily. 'Won't you come and have a worm with me?There are a number in this lawn, and the good rain we had last night hasmade the ground so nice and soft. Do join me,' he ended with a brightchirp.
"'No, thank you,' said the cardinal bird. 'I wouldn't soil my feet onthat ground. I hate the ground, absolutely hate it.' And the cardinalbird looked very haughty and proud.
"'Come now,' said Robin Redbreast, 'you won't get your feet dirty. Andif you do,' he whispered knowingly, 'I can lead you to the nicest brookwhere you can wash them off with fresh rain water. Do come!'
"'I cannot,' said the cardinal bird. 'I do not like the earth. I want tobe flying in the air, or sitting on the branches of trees. Sometimes Iwill perch for a little while on a laurel bush--but come any lower? Dearme, no, I couldn't.'
"'It's a great shame,' said Robin Redbreast. 'Of course there is noaccounting for taste.'
"'Thank you for inviting me,' added the cardinal bird politely. For heprided himself on his good manners.
"Pretty soon some people came along. At once they noticed the beautifulcardinal bird. He wore his best red suit which he wears all thetime--except in the winter, when he adds gray to his wings. His collarand tie were of black and his feathers stuck up on top of his head so asto make him look very stylish and fine.
"'Oh, what a wonderful bird!' said the people. Mr. Cardinal Bird knewthey were admiring him, of course--and so did Robin Redbreast. No onehad noticed _him_, but he didn't care, for he knew Mr. Cardinal Bird wasby far the more beautiful, and a robin hasn't a mean disposition.
"Well, when the cardinal bird heard the praise he began to sing--aglorious high voice he had, and he sounded his clear notes overand over again. Then suddenly he stopped, cocked his head on oneside, as though to say,
"'And what do you think of me now?'
"From down on the ground Robin Redbreast had been listening. 'Oh, thatwas wonderful, wonderful!' he trilled.
"'Listen to that dear little robin,' said one of the people. 'I must gethim some bread crumbs.'
"When the bread crumbs were scattered over the ground, Robin Redbreastinvited the cardinal bird down again thinking they were for him! But thebeautiful, proud bird would not come down, and the people were saying,'After all there is nothing quite so nice as a dear little robin.'"
THE WINTER WRENS' DEW-DROP BATHS
"The winter wren is really with us during the summer too," said daddy."But he is too shy to be near us. We can only hear him sing sometimes.When winter comes, though, he goes to people for protection and picks upthe crumbs they give him.
"Yesterday he was sitting on a snow-berry bush with a tiny companion.The snow-berry bushes are full and leafy, and in the spring and summerare covered with very tiny pink blossoms. In the autumn and winter theyare covered with little berries which look as if they had been made outof snow.
"'Oh, how I dread the winter!' said the tiny wren. 'Just imagine howdreadful it would be if no one put any bread crumbs out for us, or nodog left us some of his dinner on a back porch.'
"'Now,' said Mr. Brown Wren, 'you mustn't think of such sad thoughts.You always do! Someone will look after us. And maybe we'll find a fewspiders now and then in the cracks, and then well have a regular feast.'
"The next day they were back again on the snow-berry bush, and the daywas much warmer. Now the wrens love to bathe above all things! Even inthe winter they will go through a little sheet of ice and get into thecold, cold water underneath. For they must get their baths! And in thespring, when the tiny wrens are brought forth from their mossy nests,the first lesson they have is of bathing in some nearby brook.
"But this day it was early in the morning, the snow-berry bush wascovered with dew-drops and the wrens were delighted.
"'The sun will drive them away soon. Let's take them while we get thechance,' whispered Mr. Brown Wren.
"'Yes, yes,' said his small companion. 'We will soon have to bathe whenit is so cold. Let us have a good warm bath first.'
"And then those two little brown wrens took the dew-drops in theirbeaks, and dropped each one in turn on their feathers. Then they gotunder some leaves full of dew-drops and shook them down over theirlittle feathered bodies.
"After they were well covered with the dew-drops they began to shake allover just as every bird does when he takes a bath. And back they went totake another bath when this one was over. For they seemed to enjoy theirlast warm bath so much!
"Finally they had bathed enough, and the sun appeared strong as couldbe, and shining very hard. They perched still on the branches of thesnow-berry bush and bathed now in the hot sun. Soon their littlefeathers were quite dry and they began to sing.
"And truly I think their song was one of gladness because of theirdew-drop baths!"
THE SEAGULLS MOVE TO BLUEY COVE
Mr. and Mrs. Seagull Flew Off with Bluey.]
"Mr. and Mrs. Seagull didn't really know what to do," said daddy. "Theyloved their home, which was in a big harbor, for they enjoyed seeing theboats pass and hearing the different whistles. All kinds of boatspassed--ferryboats, sailboats, old fishing-boats, great big boats thatwent across the ocean, and little tugboats.
"The seagulls would fly overhead, and then they'd land on top of thewater, but they never could stay there long, as the boats would comealong, and they would have to fly off. Of late Mr. and Mrs. Seagull,although they were still as fond of their home as ever, became ratherworried, for the little seagulls didn't seem to be able to
get out ofthe way of the boats as quickly as the old seagulls could. Mr. and Mrs.Seagull were afraid that one of them might get hurt by a boat.
"Of course the little seagulls were quite certain that nothing like thatwould ever happen, but one day it did.
"They were playing tag on the surface of the water and so interested intheir game that they didn't notice until too late that a great huge boatwas coming along. The captain of the boat had blown the whistle to scarethe seagulls away. They hadn't heard it at all, so busy were theyplaying, and it hit poor little Bluey Seagull. One of the others calledout:
"'Oh, fly up quickly, Bluey!' He was not badly hit, for the pilot of theboat had seen the seagulls and made the boat slow down.
"Bluey was frightened almost out of his wits, but with the encouragementof the other seagulls he managed to fly off.
"When Mr. and Mrs. Seagull saw what had happened to Bluey they werehorrified and quickly flew off with him, all the other little seagullsfollowing.
"They flew as far from the boats as they could, for, now that Bluey hadbeen hit, they didn't think life in the harbor where the boats passedwas so attractive. In fact, they decided they would never go back thereagain.
"They flew so far that they reached a little cove at the basin of theharbor, and when Mr. Seagull saw it he said:
"'This will be our new home.'
"Mrs. Seagull said:
"'We will never leave this home until all little seagulls are grown up,for then they will always be safe and can play all they want to withoutbeing afraid of getting hit by the big boats.'