SANDPIPER lives beside the water
With her little son and daughter;
Shows the cunning little brood
Exactly where to look for food.
(Least Sandpiper)
66
SAID STORMY PETREL: “This is fine!
I do enjoy the gale called ‘line’;
No matter how the storm may thicken
It just suits ‘Mother Carey’s Chicken.’”
67
SAID fussy MADAM COCKATOO:
“I always find enough to do;
I’m such a busy, useful dame,
I know these folks are glad I came.”
68
PARROT’S a very wise old bird,
She can speak English well, I’ve heard;
Laughs and says in manner jolly:
“Have you a cracker for Miss Polly? ”
(Gray Parrot)
69
A DREADFUL thief is old BLUE JAY,
He robs the other birds, they say;
He wears a handsome suit of blue,
And calls a gay “Good-day” to you.
70
SPARROW’S an Englishman, I’m told,
His manners are both rude and bold;
Other birds wish he’d go away,
But he says: “No, I’ve come to stay.”
71
AT EVENING, when the world is still,
Mournfully sings the WHIP-POOR-WILL
In his brown suit, all trimmed with white,
He slips so softly through the night.
72
EAVE SWALLOW, in his nest of clay,
Always has lots of things to say;
He and his brothers often race,
Catching the insects ’round the place.
73
SEA DOVE, sometimes called “Little Auk,”
Flies very little, likes to walk;
He wears a coat of feathers warm
And doesn’t seem to mind the storm.
74
LOON is a fearless diver bold,
He does n’t mind the heat or cold;
He dives and swims—oh, very far,
And then bobs up and laughs “Ha-Ha!”
75
MOCKING BIRD is very clever,
Uses her own notes hardly ever,
But saucily sings bits of song
Which to the other birds belong.
76
“O DEAR, dear me!” WOOD-PECKER said,
“The birds all shout at me, ‘Redhead’;
It makes me feel so very sad,
No wonder that my temper’s bad!”
77
TO SAVE his little home from harm,
CRESTED FLYCATCHER has a charm:
He finds and places in his nest
A piece of Mr. Snake’s old vest.
78
IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER SAID: “Dear me!
They’re cutting down my family tree;
Where can I live, I’d like to know,
If men will spoil the forest so?”
79
NIGHT HAWK is lazy, sleeps all day,
And then comes out at night to play;
He always wears his evening clothes
And when it’s daylight, home he goes.
80
BARN SWALLOW is a graceful thing,
Catches his food upon the wing;
Perhaps that’s why he is so fond
Of skimming lightly o ’er the pond.
81
LAUGHING GULL seems free from care,
He’s always laughing everywhere;
He never tells what it’s about
And no one yet has found it out.
82
STARLING’S a pretty little dear,
He lives in Europe, too, we hear;
The folks in Ireland, so we’re told,
Think that he’s worth his weight in gold.
83
SAID busy little JENNY WREN:
“I like to live where there are men;
I come each year to the same place
So I can see some friendly face.”
84
MOURNING DOVE is very sweet,
She likes nice grains and seeds to eat;
In her soft voice she calls: “Coo, coo,”
Which means in Dove talk, “I love you.”
85
RED-SHAFTED FLICKER hops around,
Eating the ants upon the ground;
He builds in any hollow tree
Where he’s as snug as snug can be.
86
GREEN JAY lives in Rio Grande,
A member of a robber band;
He’s very beautiful, but oh!
We wish he would n’t plunder so!
87
COW-BIRD is lazy, sad to say,
She lives in quite a selfish way;
She’s neither pretty nor polite
And never tries to do what’s right.
88
CUCKOO’S a quiet, useful bird,
He eats the naughty worms, I’ve heard,
And from the woods he calls to you
His simple song:—“ Cuckoo, cuckoo.”
89
THE SNOW BIRD said: “Let’s have some fun,
The storm is over—there’s the sun.”
He rolled and tumbled in the snow,
Like other little ones you know.
(Snow-Flake)
90
UNDER a bridge, where all day long
The brooklet sings its happy song,
PHOEBE BIRD builds her nest of clay
To which she comes each year to stay.
91
SCARLET FLAMINGO said: “Just think!
I really thought this gown was pink,
But when you see it in this light,
It’s red—I fear it’s rather bright.”
92
HERE is old MR. PELICAN,
He is a famous fisherman;
Said he: “I do not mind wet feet
If I catch fish enough to eat.”
93
PUFFIN walks better than he flies,
He has red feet and queer white eyes;
He’s such a funny little fellow
With his great beak of red and yellow.
(Sea Parrot)
94
LYRE BIRD’S an Australian child,
She lives in lonely places wild,
And builds upon the rocky ground
The queerest nest which can be found.
95
INDEX
| Albatross 61 | Magpie 34 |
| American Redstart 54 | Mallard Duck 18 |
| Baltimore Oriole 29 | Meadow Lark 30 |
| Barn Owl 57 | Mocking Bird 76 |
| Barn Swallow 81 | Mourning Dove 85 |
| Black-Bird 49 | Night Hawk 80 |
| Blue Heron 35 | Nightingale 26 |
| Blue Jay 70 | Orchard Oriole 28 |
| Bluebird 55 | Ostrich 59 |
| Bob-o-Link 36 | Parrakeet (Red Faced Love Bird) 62 |
| Brown Thrasher 46 | Partridge (Ruffed Grouse) 43 |
| Canary Bird 27 | Peacock 25 |
| Cardinal Bird 33 | Pelican 93 |
| Cassowary 58 | Penguin 60 |
| Catbird 52 | Phoebe Bird 91 |
| Chickadee 32 | Puffin 94 |
| Cockatoo 68 | Purple Martin 53 |
| Cow-Bird 88 | Quail 50 |
| Crested Flycatcher 78 | Red Paradise Bird 24 |
| Crow 31 | Red-Shafted Flicker 86 |
| Cuckoo 89 | Robin 48 |
| Duckling 16 | Rook 23 |
| Eave Swallow 73 | Rooster 11 |
| Golden Eagle 38 | Roseate Spoonbill 64 |
| Golden Pheasant 20 | Ruby-Throated Humming Bird 63 |
| Goldfinch 47 | Scarlet Flamingo 92 |
| Goose 15 | Scarlet Ibis 65 |
| Gosling 14 | Screech Owl 56 |
| Gray Parrot 69 | Sea Dove 74 |
| Green Jay 87 | Snow Bird (Snow Flake) 90 |
| Guinea Hen 13 | Snow Goose 17 |
| Hen 12 | Snowy Heron 44 |
| Indigo Bunting 37 | Sparrow 71 |
| Ivory-Billed Woodpecker 79 | Starling 83 |
| Jenny Wren 84 | Stork 22 |
| King Bird 51 | Stormy Petrel 67 |
| King Fisher 45 | Swan 19 |
| Laughing Gull 82 | Turkey 21 |
| Least Sandpiper 66 | Turkey Buzzard 39 |
| Long-Billed Curlew 42 | Vermilion Flycatcher 40 |
| Loon 75 | Whip-Poor-Will 72 |
| Lyre Bird 95 | Wood-Pecker 77 |
| Yellow Warbler 41 |