PREFACE ................................................................................................................................................2

CHAPTER I Jenny Wren Arrives. ..........................................................................................................2

CHAPTER II The Old Orchard Bully....................................................................................................5

CHAPTER III Jenny Has a Good Word for Some Sparrows.................................................................7

CHAPTER IV Chippy, Sweetvoice, and Dotty. .....................................................................................9

CHAPTER V Peter Learns Something He Hadn't Guessed.................................................................11

CHAPTER VI An Old Friend In a New Home....................................................................................14

CHAPTER VII The Watchman of the Old Orchard. ............................................................................16

CHAPTER VIII Old Clothes and Old Houses. .....................................................................................19

CHAPTER IX Longbill and Teeter......................................................................................................21

CHAPTER X Redwing and Yellow Wing. ...........................................................................................23

CHAPTER XI Drummers and Carpenters. ...........................................................................................26

CHAPTER XII Some Unlikely Relatives. ............................................................................................28

CHAPTER XIII More of the Blackbird Family...................................................................................30

CHAPTER XIV Bob White and Carol the Meadow Lark. ...................................................................33

CHAPTER XV A Swallow and One Who Isn't. ...................................................................................35

CHAPTER XVI A Robber in the Old Orchard....................................................................................38

CHAPTER XVII More Robbers. ..........................................................................................................40

CHAPTER XVIII Some Homes in the Green Forest...........................................................................43

CHAPTER XIX A Maker of Thunder and a Friend in Black. ..............................................................45

CHAPTER XX A Fisherman Robbed..................................................................................................48

CHAPTER XXI A Fishing Party. .........................................................................................................50

CHAPTER XXII Some Feathered Diggers..........................................................................................52

CHAPTER XXIII Some Big Mouths...................................................................................................55

CHAPTER XXIV The Warblers Arrive. ..............................................................................................58

CHAPTER XXV Three Cousins Quite Unlike. ....................................................................................60

CHAPTER XXVI Peter Gets a Lame Neck.........................................................................................62

CHAPTER XXVII A New Friend and an Old One. .............................................................................65

CHAPTER XXVIII Peter Sees Rosebreast and Finds Redcoat. ...........................................................68

CHAPTER XXIX The Constant Singers. .............................................................................................71

CHAPTER XXX Jenny Wren's Cousins..............................................................................................73

CHAPTER XXXI Voices of the Dusk. .................................................................................................76

CHAPTER XXXII Peter Saves a Friend and Learns Something.........................................................78

CHAPTER XXXIII A Royal Dresser and a Late Nester. .....................................................................81

CHAPTER XXXIV Mourner the Dove and Cuckoo. ...........................................................................83

CHAPTER XXXV A Butcher and a Hummer.....................................................................................86

CHAPTER XXXVI A Stranger and a Dandy. ......................................................................................88

CHAPTER XXXVII Farewells and Welcomes. ...................................................................................91

CHAPTER XXXVIII Honker and Dippy Arrive. .................................................................................93

CHAPTER XXXIX Peter Discovers Two Old Friends. .......................................................................95

CHAPTER XL Some Merry SeedEaters. ...........................................................................................98

CHAPTER XLI More Friends Come With the Snow........................................................................100

CHAPTER XLII Peter Learns Something About Spooky. .................................................................102

CHAPTER XLIII Queer Feet and a Queerer Bill. ..............................................................................104

CHAPTER XLIV More Folks in Red. ................................................................................................107

CHAPTER XLV Peter Sees Two Terrible Feathered Hunters. ..........................................................109

VII THE WATCHMAN OF THE OLD ORCHARD. The Kingbird and the Great Crested Flycatcher.

X REDWING AND YELLOW WING. The Redwinged Blackbird and the Goldenwinged Flicker.

XIV BOB WHITE AND CAROL THE MEADOW LARK. The Socalled Quail and the Meadow Lark.

XVIII SOME HOMES IN THE GREEN FOREST. The Crow, the Oven Bird and the Redtailed Hawk.

XXII SOME FEATHERED DIGGERS. The Bank Swallow, the Kingfisher and the Sparrow Hawk.

XXV THREE COUSINS QUITE UNLIKE. The Black and White Warbler, the Maryland YellowThroat.

XXVIII PETER SEES ROSEBREAST AND FINDS REDCOAT. The Rosebreasted Grosbeak and the

XXXII PETER SAVES A FRIEND AND LEARNS SOMETHING. The Towhee and the Indigo Bunting.

XXXIV MOURNER THE DOVE AND CUCKOO. The Mourning Dove and the Yellowbilled Cuckoo.

This book was written to supply a definite need. Its preparation was undertaken at the urgent request of

booksellers and others who have felt the lack of a satisfactory medium of introduction to bird life for little

children. As such, and in no sense whatever as a competitor with the many excellent books on this subject,

Its primary purpose is to interest the little child in, and to make him acquainted with, those feathered friends

he is most likely to see. Because there is no method of approach to the child mind equal to the story, this

method of conveying information has been adopted. So far as I am aware the book is unique in this respect.

In its preparation an earnest effort has been made to present as far as possible the important facts regarding

the appearance, habits and characteristics of our feathered neighbors. It is intended to be at once a story book

and an authoritative handbook. While it is intended for little children, it is hoped that children of larger

Mr. Louis Agassiz Fuertes, artist and naturalist, has marvelously supplemented such value as may be in the

text by his wonderful drawings in full color. They were made especially for this volume and are so accurate,

so true to life, that study of them will enable any one to identify the species shown. I am greatly indebted to

Mr. Fuertes for his cooperation in the endeavor to make this book of real assistance to the beginner in the

It is offered to the reader without apologies of any sort. It was written as a labor of lovelove for little

children and love for the birds. If as a result of it even a few children are led to a keener interest in and better

understanding of our feathered friends, its purpose will have been accomplished.

Lippertylippertylip scampered Peter Rabbit behind the tumbledown stone wall along one side of the Old

Orchard. It was early in the morning, very early in the morning. In fact, jolly, bright Mr. Sun had hardly

begun his daily climb up in the blue, blue sky. It was nothing unusual for Peter to see jolly Mr. Sun get up in

the morning. It would be more unusual for Peter not to see him, for you know Peter is a great hand to stay out

all night and not go back to the dear Old Briarpatch, where his home is, until the hour when most folks are

Peter had been out all night this time, but he wasn't sleepy, not the least teeny, weeny bit. You see, sweet

Mistress Spring had arrived, and there was so much happening on every side, and Peter was so afraid he

would miss something, that he wouldn't have slept at all if he could have helped it. Peter had come over to the

Old Orchard so early this morning to see if there had been any new arrivals the day before.

"Birds are funny creatures," said Peter, as he hopped over a low place in the old stone wall and was fairly in

"Tut, tut, tut, tut, tut!" cried a rather sharp scolding voice. "Tut, tut, tut, tut, tut! You don't know what you are

talking about, Peter Rabbit. They are not funny creatures at all. They are the most sensible folks in all the

Peter cut a long hop short right in the middle, to sit up with shining eyes. "Oh, Jenny Wren, I'm so glad to see

"Mr. Wren and I have just arrived, and thank goodness we are here at last," replied Jenny Wren, fussing

about, as only she can, in a branch above Peter. "I never was more thankful in my life to see a place than I am

right this minute to see the Old Orchard once more. It seems ages and ages since we left it."

"Well, if you are so fond of it what did you leave it for?" demanded Peter. "It is just as I said beforeyou

birds are funny creatures. You never stay put; at least a lot of you don't. Sammy Jay and Tommy Tit the

Chickadee and Drummer the Woodpecker and a few others have a little sense; they don't go off on long,

"Tut, tut, tut, tut, tut!" interrupted Jenny Wren. "You don't know what you are talking about, and no one

sounds so silly as one who tries to talk about something he knows nothing about."

Peter chuckled. "That tongue of yours is just as sharp as ever," said he. "But just the same it is good to hear it.

We certainly would miss it. I was beginning to be a little worried for fear something might have happened to

you so that you wouldn't be back here this summer. You know me well enough, Jenny Wren, to know that

you can't hurt me with your tongue, sharp as it is, so you may as well save your breath to tell me a few things

I want to know. Now if you are as fond of the Old Orchard as you pretend to be, why did you ever leave it?"

"No more silly than asking me why I leave the Old Orchard," replied Jenny. "Do give us birds credit for a

little common sense, Peter. We can't live without eating any more than you can, and in winter there is no food

at all here for most of us, so we go where there is food. Those who are lucky enough to eat the kinds of food

that can be found here in winter stay here. They are lucky. That's what they arelucky. Still" Jenny Wren

"I wonder sometimes if you folks who are at home all the time know just what a blessed place home is,"

replied Jenny. "It is only six months since we went south, but I said it seems ages, and it does. The best part

of going away is coming home. I don't care if that does sound rather mixed; it is true just the same. It isn't

home down there in the sunny South, even if we do spend as much time there as we do here. THIS is home,

and there's no place like it! What's that, Mr. Wren? I haven't seen all the Great World? Perhaps I haven't, but

I've seen enough of it, let me tell you that! Anyone who travels a thousand miles twice a year as we do has a

right to express an opinion, especially if they have used their eyes as I have mine. There is no place like

home, and you needn't try to tease me by pretending that there is. My dear, I know you; you are just as tickled

"He sings as if he were," said Peter, for all the time Mr. Wren was singing with all his might.

Jenny Wren looked over at Mr. Wren fondly. "Isn't he a dear to sing to me like that? And isn't it a perfectly

beautiful spring song?" said she. Then, without waiting for Peter to reply, her tongue rattled on. "I do wish he

would be careful. Sometimes I am afraid he will overdo. Just look at him now! He is singing so hard that he

is shaking all over. He always is that way. There is one thing true about us Wrens, and this is that when we do

things we do them with all our might. When we work we work with all our might. When Mr. Wren sings he

"And, when you scold you scold with all your might," interrupted Peter mischievously.

Jenny Wren opened her mouth for a sharp reply, but laughed instead. "I suppose I do scold a good deal," said

she, "but if I didn't goodness knows who wouldn't impose on us. I can't bear to be imposed on."

"Fairly pleasant," replied Jenny. "We took it rather easily, Some birds hurry right through without stopping,

but I should think they would be tired to death when they arrive. We rest whenever we are tired, and just

follow along behind Mistress Spring, keeping far enough behind so that if she has to turn back we will not get

caught by Jack Frost. It gives us time to get our new suits on the way. You know everybody expects you to

have new things when you return home. How do you like my new suit, Peter?" Jenny bobbed and twisted and

"Very much," replied Peter. "I am very fond of brown. Brown and gray are my favorite colors." You know

"That is one of the most sensible things I have heard you say," chattered Jenny Wren. The more I see of

bright colors the better I like brown. It always is in good taste. It goes well with almost everything. It is neat

and it is useful. If there is need of getting out of sight in a hurry you can do it if you wear brown. But if you

wear bright colors it isn't so easy. I never envy anybody who happens to have brighter clothes than mine. I've

"I'd rather not talk about them," declared Jenny in a very emphatic way. "'Way down where we spent the

winter some of the feathered folks who live there all the year round wear the brightest and most beautiful

suits I've ever seen. They are simply gorgeous. But I've noticed that in times of danger these are the folks

dreadful things happen to. You see they simply can't get out of sight. For my part I would far rather be simply

and neatly dressed and feel safe than to wear wonderful clothes and never know a minute's peace. Why, there

are some families I know of which, because of their beautiful suits, have been so hunted by men that hardly

any are left. But gracious, Peter Rabbit, I can't sit here all day talking to you! I must find out who else has

arrived in the Old Orchard and must look my old house over to see if it is fit to live in."

Peter Rabbit's eyes twinkled when Jenny Wren said that she must look her old house over to see if it was fit

"Only that our old house is already occupied," replied Peter. "Bully the English Sparrow has been living in it

"What?" screamed Jenny and Mr. Wren together. Then without even saying goodby to Peter, they flew in a

great rage to see if he had told them the truth. Presently he heard them scolding as fast as their tongues could

"Much good that will do them," chuckled Peter. "They will have to find a new house this year. All the sharp

tongues in the world couldn't budge Bully the English sparrow. My, my, my, my, just hear that racket! I think

So Peter hopped to a place where he could get a good view of Jenny Wren's old home and still not be too far

from the safety of the old stone wall. Jenny Wren's old home had been in a hole in one of the old appletrees.

Looking over to it, Peter could see Mrs. Bully sitting in the little round doorway and quite filling it. She was

shrieking excitedly. Hopping and flitting from twig to twig close by were Jenny and Mr. Wren, their tails

pointing almost straight up to the sky, and scolding as fast as they could make their tongues go. Flying

savagely at one and then at the other, and almost drowning their voices with his own harsh cries, was Bully

himself. He was perhaps one fourth larger than Mr. Wren, although he looked half again as big. But for the

fact that his new spring suit was very dirty, due to his fondness for taking dust baths and the fact that he cares

nothing about his personal appearance and takes no care of himself, he would have been a fairly

goodlooking fellow. His back was more or less of an ashy color with black and chestnut stripes. His wings

were brown with a white bar on each. His throat and breast were black, and below that he was of a dirty

By ruffling up his feathers and raising his wings slightly as he hopped about, he managed to make himself

appear much bigger than he really was. He looked like a regular little fighting savage. The noise had brought

all the other birds in the Old Orchard to see what was going on, and every one of them was screaming and

urging Jenny and Mr. Wren to stand up for their rights. Not one of them had a good word for Bully and his

Bully the English Sparrow is a born fighter. He never is happier than when he is in the midst of a fight or a

fuss of some kind. The fact that all his neighbors were against him didn't bother Bully in the least.

Jenny and Mr. Wren are no cowards, but the two together were no match for Bully. In fact, Bully did not

hesitate to fly fiercely at any of the onlookers who came near enough, not even when they were twice his own

size. They could have driven him from the Old Orchard had they set out to, but just by his boldness and

All the time Mrs. Bully sat in the little round doorway, encouraging him. She knew that as long as she sat

there it would be impossible for either Jenny or Mr. Wren to get in. Truth to tell, she was enjoying it all, for

"You're a sneak! You're a robber! That's my house, and the sooner you get out of it the better!" shrieked

Jenny Wren, jerking her tail with every word as she hopped about just out of reach of Bully.

"It may have been your house once, but it is mine now, you little snipofnothing!" cried Bully, rushing at

her like a little fury. "Just try to put us out if you dare! You didn't make this house in the first place, and you

deserted it when you went south last fall. It's mine now, and there isn't anybody in the Old Orchard who can

Peter Rabbit nodded. "He's right there," muttered Peter. "I don't like him and never will, but it is true that he

has a perfect right to that house. People who go off and leave things for half a year shouldn't expect to find

them just as they left them. My, my, my what a dreadful noise! Why don't they all get together and drive

Bully and Mrs. Bully out of the Old Orchard? If they don't I'm afraid he will drive them out. No one likes to

live with such quarrelsome neighbors. They don't belong over in this country, anyway, and we would be a lot

better off if they were not here. But I must say I do have to admire their spunk."

All the time Bully was darting savagely at this one and that one and having a thoroughly good time, which is

"I'll teach you folks to know that I am in the Old Orchard to stay!" shrieked Bully. "If you don't like it, why

don't you fight? I am not afraid of any of you or all of you together." This was boasting, plain boasting, but it

was effective. He actually made the other birds believe it. Not one of them dared stand up to him and fight.

They were content to call him a bully and all the bad names they could think of, but that did nothing to help

Jenny and Mr. Wren recover their house. Calling another bad names never hurts him. Brave deeds and not

How long that disgraceful squabble in the Old Orchard would have lasted had it not been for something

which happened, no one knows. Right in the midst of it some one discovered Black Pussy, the cat who lives

in Farmer Brown's house, stealing up through the Old Orchard, her tail twitching and her yellow eyes glaring

eagerly. She had heard that dreadful racket and suspected that in the midst of such excitement she might have

a chance to catch one of the feathered folks. You can always trust Black Pussy to be on hand at a time like

No sooner was she discovered than everything else was forgotten. With Bully in the lead, and Jenny and Mr.

Wren close behind him, all the birds turned their attention to Black Pussy. She was the enemy of all, and they

straightway forgot their own quarrel. Only Mrs. Bully remained where she was, in the little round doorway of

her house. She intended to take no chances, but she added her voice to the general racket. How those birds

did shriek and scream! They darted down almost into the face of Black Pussy, and none went nearer than

Now Black Pussy hates to be the center of so much attention. She knew that, now she had been discovered,

there wasn't a chance in the world for her to catch one of those Old Orchard folks. So, with tail still twitching

angrily, she turned and, with such dignity as she could, left the Old Orchard. Clear to the edge of it the birds

followed, shrieking, screaming, calling her bad names, and threatening to do all sorts of dreadful things to

When finally she disappeared towards Farmer Brown's barn, those angry voices changed. It was such a funny

change that Peter Rabbit laughed right out. Instead of anger there was triumph in every note as everybody

returned to attend to his own affairs. Jenny and Mr. Wren seemed to have forgotten all about Bully and his

wife in their old house. They flew to another part of the Old Orchard, there to talk it all over and rest and get

their breath. Peter Rabbit waited to see if they would not come over near enough to him for a little more

gossip. But they didn't, and finally Peter started for his home in the dear Old Briarpatch. All the way there

he chuckled as he thought of the spunky way in which Jenny and Mr. Wren had stood up for their rights.

The morning after the fight between Jenny and Mr. Wren and Bully the English Sparrow found Peter Rabbit

in the Old Orchard again. He was so curious to know what Jenny Wren would do for a house that nothing but

some very great danger could have kept him away from there. Truth to tell, Peter was afraid that not being

able to have their old house, Jenny and Mr. Wren would decide to leave the Old Orchard altogether. So it was

with a great deal of relief that as he hopped over a low place in the old stone wall he heard Mr. Wren singing

The song was coming from quite the other side of the Old Orchard from where Bully and Mrs. Bully had set

up housekeeping. Peter hurried over. He found Mr. Wren right away, but at first saw nothing of Jenny. He

was just about to ask after her when he caught sight of her with a tiny stick in her bill. She snapped her sharp

little eyes at him, but for once her tongue was still. You see, she couldn't talk and carry that stick at the same

time. Peter watched her and saw her disappear in a little hole in a big branch of one of the old appletrees.

Hardly had she popped in than she popped out again. This time her mouth was free, and so was her tongue.

"You'd better stop singing and help me," she said to Mr. Wren sharply. Mr. Wren obediently stopped singing

and began to hunt for a tiny little twig such as Jenny had taken into that hole.

"Certainly not," snapped Jenny "We can't afford to sit around wasting time like some folk I know."

Peter grinned and looked a little foolish, but he didn't resent it. You see he was quite used to that sort of thing.

"Aren't you afraid that Bully will try to drive you out of that house?" he ventured.

Jenny Wren's sharp little eyes snapped more than ever. "I'd like to see him try!" said she. "That doorway's too

small for him to get more than his head in. And if he tries putting his head in while I'm inside, I'll peck his

"I certainly would," she retorted. "Now I can't stop to talk to you, Peter Rabbit, because I'm too busy. Mr.

Wren, you ought to know that that stick is too big." Jenny snatched it out of Mr. Wren's mouth and dropped it

on the ground, while Mr. Wren meekly went to hunt for another. Jenny joined him, and as Peter watched

For some time Peter Rabbit watched Jenny and Mr. Wren carry sticks and straws into that little hole until it

seemed to him they were trying to fill the whole inside of the tree. Just watching them made Peter positively

tired. Mr. Wren would stop every now and then to sing, but Jenny didn't waste a minute. In spite of that she

Peter nodded. "Yes," said he. "I saw him only a day or two ago over by the Laughing Brook, and although he

Jenny Wren jerked her tail and nodded her head vigorously. "I suppose so," said she. "He doesn't have to

make as long a journey as we do, so he gets here sooner. Did you ever in your life see such a difference as

there is between Little Friend and his cousin, Bully? Everybody loves Little Friend."

Once more Peter nodded. "That's right," said he. "Everybody does love Little Friend. It makes me feel sort of

all glad inside just to hear him sing. I guess it makes everybody feel that way. I wonder why we so seldom

"Because he likes damp places with plenty of bushes better," replied Jenny Wren. "It wouldn't do for

everybody to like the same kind of a place. He isn't a tree bird, anyway. He likes to be on or near the ground.

You will never find his nest much above the ground, not more than a foot or two. Quite often it is on the

ground. Of course I prefer Mr. Wren's song, but I must admit that Little Friend has one of the happiest songs

Peter turned his head aside to hide a smile, for if there is anybody who delights in being both seen and heard

it is Jenny Wren, while Little Friend the Song Sparrow is shy and retiring, content to make all the world glad

Jenny chattered on as she hunted for some more material for her nest. "I suppose you've noticed, said she,

"that he and his wife dress very much alike. They don't go in for bright colors any more than we Wrens do.

They show good taste. I like the little brown caps they wear, and the way their breasts and sides are streaked

with brown. Then, too, they are such useful folks. It is a pity that that nuisance of a Bully doesn't learn

"Yes," replied Peter. "They don't go until Jack Frost makes them. I don't know of any one that we miss more

"Speaking of the sparrow family, did you see anything of Whitethroat?" asked Jenny Wren, as she rested for

Peter's face brightened. "I should say I did!" he exclaimed. "He stopped for a few days on his way north. I

only wish he would stay here all the time. But he seems to think there is no place like the Great Woods of the

North. I could listen all day to his song. Do you know what he always seems to be saying?"

"I live happily, happily, happily," replied Peter. "I guess he must too, because he makes other people

Jenny nodded in her usual emphatic way. "I don't know him as well as I do some of the others," said she, "but

when I have seen him down in the South he always has appeared to me to be a perfect gentleman. He is

"I've noticed that," said Peter. "He almost always has company when he passes through here. Some of those

Sparrows are so much alike that it is hard for me to tell them apart, but I can always tell Whitethroat because

he is one of the largest of the tribe and has such a lovely white throat. He really is handsome with his black

and white cap and that bright yellow spot before each eye. I am told that he is very dearly loved up in the

"I suppose Scratcher the Fox Sparrow has been along too," said Jenny. "He also started sometime before we

"Yes," replied Peter. "He spent one night in the dear Old Briarpatch. He is fine looking too, the biggest of

all the Sparrow tribe, and HOW he can sing. The only thing I've got against him is the color of his coat. It

always reminds me of Reddy Fox, and I don't like anything that reminds me of that fellow. When he visited

"That when he scratches among the leaves he uses both feet at once," cried Peter triumphantly. "It's funny to

"Pooh! I knew that," retorted Jenny Wren. "What do you suppose my eyes are make for? I thought you were

For a while Jenny Wren was too busy to talk save to scold Mr. Wren for spending so much time singing

instead of working. To Peter it seemed as if they were trying to fill that tree trunk with rubbish. "I should

think they had enough stuff in there for half a dozen nests," muttered Peter. "I do believe they are carrying it

in for the fun of working." Peter wasn't far wrong in this thought, as he was to discover a little later in the

Finding that for the time being he could get nothing more from Jenny Wren, Peter hopped over to visit

Johnny Chuck, whose home was between the roots of an old appletree in the far corner of the Old Orchard.

Peter was still thinking of the Sparrow family; what a big family it was, yet how seldom any of them,

"Hello, Johnny Chuck!" cried Peter, as he discovered Johnny sitting on his doorstep. "You've lived in the Old

Orchard a long time, so you ought to be able to tell me something I want to know. Why is it that none of the

Sparrow family excepting that noisy nuisance, Bully, build in the trees of the Old Orchard? Is it because

Johnny Chuck shook his head. "Peter," said he, "whatever is the matter with your ears? And whatever is the

"Nothing," replied Peter rather shortly. "They are as good as yours any day, Johnny Chuck."

Johnny grinned. "Listen!" said Johnny. Peter listened. From a tree just a little way off came a clear "Chip,

chip, chip, chip." Peter didn't need to be told to look. He knew without looking who was over there. He knew

that voice for that of one of his oldest and best friends in the Old Orchard, a little fellow with a redbrown

cap, brown back with feathers streaked with black, brownish wings and tail, a gray waistcoat and black bill,

and a little white line over each eyealtogether as trim a little gentleman as Peter was acquainted with. It

was Chippy, as everybody calls the Chipping Sparrow, the smallest of the family.

Peter looked a little foolish. "I forgot all about Chippy," said he. "Now I think of it, I have found Chippy here

in the Old Orchard ever since I can remember. I never have seen his nest because I never happened to think

Johnny Chuck laughed. "I should say not!" he exclaimed. "Twice Chippy and Mrs. Chippy have built their

nest in this very old appletree. There is no trash in their nest, I can tell you! It is just as dainty as they are,

and not a bit bigger than it has to be. It is made mostly of little fine, dry roots, and it is lined inside with

"What's that?" Peter's voice sounded as it he suspected that Johnny Chuck was trying to fool him.

"It's a fact," said Johnny, nodding his head gravely. "Goodness knows where they find it these days, but find

Chippy and Mrs. Chippy came flitting from tree to tree until they were on a branch right over Peter and

Johnny. "Hello!" cried Peter. "You folks seem very busy. Haven't you finished building your nest yet?"

"Nearly," replied Chippy. "It is all done but the horsehair. We are on our way up to Farmer Brown's barnyard

Peter and Johnny shook their heads, and Peter confessed that he wouldn't know horsehair if he saw it. He

often had found hair from the coats of Reddy Fox and Old Man Coyote and Digger the Badger and Lightfoot

"It isn't hair from the coat of a horse that we want," cried Chippy, as he prepared to fly after Mrs. Chippy. "It

is long hair form the tail or mane of a horse that we must have. It makes the very nicest kind of lining for a

Chippy and Mrs. Chippy were gone a long time, but when they did return each was carrying a long black

hair. They had found what they wanted, and Mrs. Chippy was in high spirits because, as she took pains to

explain to Peter, that little nest would not soon be ready for the four beautiful little blue eggs with black spots

"I just love Chippy and Mrs. Chippy," said Peter, as they watched their two little feathered friends putting the

finishing touches to the little nest far out on a branch of one of the appletrees.

"Everybody does," replied Johnny. "Everybody loves them as much as they hate Bully and his wife. Did you

know that they are sometimes called Tree Sparrows? I suppose it is because they so often build their nests in

"No," said Peter, "I didn't. Chippy shouldn't be called Tree Sparrow, because he has a cousin by that name."

Peter grinned. Here was a chance to tell Johnny Chuck something, and Peter never is happier than when he

can tell folks something they don't know. "You'd know him if you didn't sleep all winter," said Peter. "Dotty

the Tree Sparrow spends the winter here. He left for his home in the Far North about the time you took it into

"Because he has a little round black dot right in the middle of his breast," replied Peter. "I don't know why

they call him Tree Sparrow; he doesn't spend his time in the trees the way Chippy does, but I see him much

oftener in low bushes or on the ground. I think Chippy has much more right to the name of Tree Sparrow than

"Gracious, what a mixup!" exclaimed Johnny Chuck. "With Chippy being called a Tree Sparrow and a Tree

"Perhaps they would," replied Peter, "if both were here at the same time, but Chippy comes just as Dotty

goes, and Dotty comes as Chippy goes. That's a pretty good arrangement, especially as they look very much

alike, excepting that Dotty is quite a little bigger than Chippy and always has that black dot, which Chippy

does not have. Goodness gracious, it is time I was back in the dear Old Briarpatch! Goodby, Johnny

Away went Peter Rabbit, lippertylippertylip, heading for the dear Old Briarpatch. Out of the grass just

ahead of him flew a rather pale, streaked little brown bird, and as he spread his tail Peter saw two white

feathers on the outer edges. Those two white feathers were all Peter needed to recognize another little friend

of whom he is very fond. It was Sweetvoice the Vesper Sparrow, the only one of the Sparrow family with

Sweetvoice dropped down into the grass again, and when Peter came up, was very busy getting a mouthful of

dry grass. "Can't," mumbled Sweetvoice. "Can't do it now, Peter Rabbit. I'm too busy. It is high time our nest

was finished, and Mrs. Sweetvoice will lose her patience if I don't get this grass over there pretty quick."

"That's telling," declared Sweetvoice. "Not a living soul knows where that nest is, excepting Mrs. Sweetvoice

and myself. This much I will tell you, Peter: it isn't in a tree. And I'll tell you this much more: it is in a

"In a hoofprint of Bossy the Cow," repeated Sweetvoice, chuckling softly. "You know when the ground was

wet and soft early this spring, Bossy left deep footprints wherever she went. One of these makes the nicest

kind of a place for a nest. I think we have picked out the very best one on all the Green Meadows. Now run

along, Peter Rabbit, and don't bother me any more. I've got too much to do to sit here talking. Perhaps I'll

come over to the edge of the dear Old Briarpatch and sing to you a while just after jolly, round, red Mr. Sun

"I'll be watching for you," replied Peter. "You don't love to sing any better than I love to hear you. I think that

is the best time of all the day in which to sing. I mean, I think it's the best time to hear singing," for of course

That night, sure enough, just as the Black Shadows came creeping out over the Green Meadows, Sweetvoice,

perched on the top of a bramblebush over Peter's head, sang over and over again the sweetest little song and

kept on singing even after it was quite dark. Peter didn't know it, but it is this habit of singing in the evening

Running over to the Old Orchard very early in the morning for a little gossip with Jenny Wren and his other

friends there had become a regular thing with Peter Rabbit. He was learning a great many things, and some of

Now two of Peter's oldest and best friends in the Old Orchard were Winsome Bluebird and Welcome Robin.

Every spring they arrived pretty nearly together, though Winsome Bluebird usually was a few days ahead of

Welcome Robin. This year Winsome had arrived while the snow still lingered in patches. He was, as he

always is, the herald of sweet Mistress Spring. And when Peter had heard for the first time Winsome's soft,

sweet whistle, which seemed to come from nowhere in particular and from everywhere in general, he had

kicked up his long hind legs from pure joy. Then, when a few days later he had heard Welcome Robin's

joyous message of "Cheerup! Cheerup! Cheerup! Cheerup! Cheer!" from the tiptop of a tall tree, he had

Peter loves Winsome Bluebird and Welcome Robin, just as everybody else does, and he had known them so

long and so well that he thought he knew all there was to know about them. He would have been very

"Those cousins don't look much alike, do they?" remarked Jenny Wren, as she poked her head out of her

"What cousins?" demanded Peter, staring very hard in the direction in which Jenny Wren was looking.

"Those two sitting on the fence over there. Where are your eyes, Peter?" replied Jenny rather sharply.

Peter stared harder than ever. On one post sat Winsome Bluebird, and on another post sat Welcome Robin. "I

don't see anybody but Winsome and Welcome, and they are not even related," replied Peter with a little

"Tut, tut, tut, tut, tut, Peter!" exclaimed Jenny Wren. "Tut, tut, tut, tut, tut! Who told you any such nonsense

as that? Of course they are related. They are cousins. I thought everybody knew that. They belong to the same

family that Melody the Thrush and all the other Thrushes belong to. That makes them all cousins."

"What?" exclaimed Peter, looking as if he didn't believe a word of what Jenny Wren had said. Jenny repeated,

Then Jenny lost her temper, a thing she does very easily. "If you don't believe me, go ask one of them," she

snapped, and disappeared inside her house, where Peter could hear her scolding away to herself.

The more he thought of it, the more this struck Peter as good advice. So he hopped over to the foot of the

fence post on which Winsome Bluebird was sitting. "Jenny Wren says that you and Welcome Robin are

Winsome chuckled. It was a soft, gentle chuckle. "Yes," said he, nodding his head, "we are. You can trust

that little busybody to know what she is talking about, every time. I sometimes think she knows more about

other people's affairs than about her own. Welcome and I may not look much alike, but we are cousins just

"Not a bit finer than you are yourself, Winsome," replied Peter politely. "I just love that skyblue coat of

yours. What is the reason that Mrs. Bluebird doesn't wear as bright a coat as you do?"

"Go ask Jenny Wren," chuckled Winsome Bluebird, and before Peter could say another word he flew over to

Back scampered Peter to tell Jenny Wren that he was sorry he had doubted her and that he never would again.

Then he begged Jenny to tell him why it was that Mrs. Bluebird was not as brightly dressed as was Winsome.

"Mrs. Bluebird, like most mothers, is altogether too busy to spend much time taking care of her clothes; and

fine clothes need a lot of care," replied Jenny. "Besides, when Winsome is about he attracts all the attention

and that gives her a chance to slip in and out of her nest without being noticed. I don't believe you know,

Peter had to admit that he didn't, although he had tried his best to find out by watching Winsome. "I think it's

over in that little house put up by Farmer Brown's boy," he ventured. "I saw both Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird go in

it when they first came, and I've seen Winsome around it a great deal since, so I guess it is there."

"So you guess it is there!" mimicked Jenny Wren. "Well, your guess is quite wrong, Peter; quite wrong. As a

matter of fact, it is in one of those old fence posts. But just which one I am not going to tell you. I will leave

that for you to find out. Mrs. Bluebird certainly shows good sense. She knows a good house when she sees it.

The hole in that post is one of the best holes anywhere around here. If I had arrived here early enough I would

have taken it myself. But Mrs. Bluebird already had her nest built in it and four eggs there, so there was

nothing for me to do but come here. Just between you and me, Peter, I think the Bluebirds show more sense

in nest building than do their cousins the Robins. There is nothing like a house with stout walls and a

Peter nodded quite as if he understood all about the advantages of a house with walls. "That reminds me,"

said he. "The other day I saw Welcome Robin getting mud and carrying it away. Pretty soon he was joined by

Mrs. Robin, and she did the same thing. They kept it up till I got tired of watching them. What were they

"Building their nest, of course, stupid," retorted Jenny. "Welcome Robin, with that black head, beautiful

russet breast, black and white throat and yellow bill, not to mention the proud way in which he carries

himself, certainly is a handsome fellow, and Mrs. Robin is only a little less handsome. How they can be

content to build the kind of a home they do is more than I can understand. People think that Mr. Wren and I

use a lot of trash in our nest. Perhaps we do, but I can tell you one thing, and that is it is clean trash. It is just

sticks and clean straws, and before I lay my eggs I see to it that my nest is lined with feathers. More than this,

"Welcome Robin is a fine looker and a fine singer, and everybody loves him. But when it comes to

housekeeping, he and Mrs. Robin are just plain dirty. They make the foundation of their nest of mud,plain,

common, ordinary mud. They cover this with dead grass, and sometimes there is mighty little of this over the

inside walls of mud. I know because I've seen the inside of their nest often. Anybody with any eyes at all can

find their nest. More than once I've known them to have their nest washed away in a heavy rain, or have it

blown down in a high wind. Nothing like that ever happens to Winsome Bluebird or to me."

Jenny disappeared inside her house, and Peter waited for her to come out again. Welcome Robin flew down

on the ground, ran a few steps, and then stood still with his head on one side as if listening. Then he reached

down and tugged at something, and presently out of the ground came a long, wriggling angleworm. Welcome

gulped it down and ran on a few steps, then once more paused to listen. This time he turned and ran three or

"He acts as if he heard those worms in the ground," said Peter, speaking aloud without thinking.

"He does," said Jenny Wren, poking her head out of her doorway just as Peter spoke. "How do you suppose

"I've never tried, and I don't intend to waste my time trying," retorted Jenny. "Welcome Robin may enjoy

eating them, but for my part I want something smaller and daintier, young grasshoppers, tender young

Peter had to turn his head aside to hide the wry face he just had to make at the mention of such things as food.

"I should say not," laughed Jenny. "He eats a lot of other kinds of worms, and he just dearly loves fruit like

strawberries and cherries and all sorts of small berries. Well, I can't stop here talking any longer. I'm going to

Of course Peter promised, and Jenny leaned so far down that Peter wondered how she could keep from falling

as she whispered, "I've got seven eggs in my nest, so if you don't see much of me for the next week or more,

Every day brought newcomers to the Old Orchard, and early in the morning there were so many voices to be

heard that perhaps it is no wonder if for some time Peter Rabbit failed to miss that of one of his very good

friends. Most unexpectedly he was reminded of this as very early one morning he scampered, lipperty

"Dear me! Dear me! Dear me!" cried rather a plaintive voice. Peter stopped so suddenly that he all but fell

heels over head. Sitting on the top of a tall, dead, mullein stalk was a very soberly dressed but rather trim

little fellow, a very little larger than Bully the English Sparrow. Above, his coat was of a dull olivebrown,

while underneath he was of a grayishwhite, with faint tinges of yellow in places. His head was dark, and his

bill black. The feathers on his head were lifted just enough to make the tiniest kind of crest. His wings and

tail were dusky, little bars of white showing very faintly on his wings, while the outer edges of his tail were

distinctly white. He sat with his tail hanging straight down, as if he hadn't strength enough to hold it up.

"Hello, Dear Me!" cried Peter joyously. "What are you doing way down here? I haven't seen you since you

first arrived, just after Winsome Bluebird got here." Peter started to say that he had wondered what had

become of Dear Me, but checked himself, for Peter is very honest and he realized now that in the excitement

Dear Me the Phoebe did not reply at once, but darted out into the air, and Peter heard a sharp click of that

little black bill. Making a short circle, Dear Me alighted on the mullein stalk again.

"Dear me! Dear me! Of course I did," was the prompt reply. And with each word there was a jerk of that long

hanging tail. Peter almost wondered if in some way Dear Me's tongue and tail were connected. "I suppose,"

said he, "that it is the habit of catching flies and bugs in the air that has given your family the name of

Dear Me nodded and almost at once started into the air again. Once more Peter heard the click of that little

black bill, then Dear Me was back on his perch. Peter asked again what he was doing down there.

"Mrs. Phoebe and I are living down here," replied Dear Me. "We've made our home down here and we like it

Peter looked all around, this way, that way, every way, with the funniest expression on his face. He didn't see

anything of Mrs. Phoebe and he didn't see any place in which he could imagine Mr. and Mrs. Phoebe building

"For Mrs. Phoebe and your home, declared Peter quite frankly. "I didn't suppose you and Mrs. Phoebe ever

built a nest on the ground, and I don't see any other place around here for one."

Dear Me chuckled. "I wouldn't tell any one but you, Peter," said he, "but I've known you so long that I'm

going to let you into a little secret. Mrs. Phoebe and our home are under the very bridge you are sitting on."

But Dear Me knew from the way Peter said it that he really didn't mean that. "Look and see for yourself," said

So Peter lay flat on his stomach and tried to stretch his head over the edge of the bridge so as to see under it.

But his neck wasn't long enough, or else he was afraid to lean over as far as he might have. Finally he gave

up and at Mr. Phoebe's suggestion crept down the bank to the very edge of the Laughing Brook. Dear Me

darted out to catch another fly, then flew right in under the bridge and alighted on a little ledge of stone just

beneath the floor. There, sure enough, was a nest, and Peter could see Mrs. Phoebe's bill and the top of her

head above the edge of it. It was a nest with a foundation of mud covered with moss and lined with feathers.

"That's perfectly splendid!" cried Peter, as Dear Me resumed his perch on the old mullein stalk. "How did you

ever come to think of such a place? And why did you leave the shed up at Farmer Brown's where you have

"Oh," replied Dear Me, "we Phoebes always have been fond of building under bridges. You see a place like

this is quite safe. Then, too, we like to be near water. Always there are many insects flying around where

there is water, so it is an easy matter to get plenty to eat. I left the shed at Farmer Brown's because that pesky

cat up there discovered our nest last year, and we had a dreadful time keeping our babies out of her clutches.

She hasn't found us down here, and she wouldn't be able to trouble us if she should find us."

"I suppose," said Peter, "that as usual you were the first of your family to arrive."

"Certainly. Of course," replied Dear Me. "We always are the first. Mrs. Phoebe and I don't go as far south in

winter as the other members of the family do. They go clear down into the Tropics, but we manage to pick up

a pretty good living without going as far as that. So we get back here before the rest of them, and usually

have begun housekeeping by the time they arrive. My cousin, Chebec the Least Flycatcher, should be here by

"No," replied Peter, "but to tell the truth I haven't looked for him. I'm on my way to the Old Orchard now,

and I certainly shall keep my ears and eyes open for Chebec. I'll tell you if I find him. Goodby."

"Dear me! Dear me! Goodby Peter. Dear me!" replied Mr. Phoebe as Peter started off for the Old Orchard.

Perhaps it was because Peter was thinking of him that almost the first voice he heard when he reached the

Old Orchard was that of Chebec, repeating his own name over and over as if he loved the sound of it. It didn't

take Peter long to find him. He was sitting out on the up of one of the upper branches of an appletree where

he could watch for flies and other winged insects. He looked so much like Mr. Phoebe, save that he was

smaller, that any one would have know they were cousins. "Chebec! Chebec! Chebec!" he repeated over and

over, and with every note jerked his tail. Now and then he would dart out into the air and snap up something

"Hello, Chebec!" cried Peter. "I'm glad to see you back again. Are you going to build in the Old Orchard this

"Of course I am," replied Chebec promptly. "Mrs. Chebec and I have built here for the last two or three years,

and we wouldn't think of going anywhere else. Mrs. Chebec is looking for a place now. I suppose I ought to

be helping her, but I learned a long time ago, Peter Rabbit, that in matters of this kind it is just as well not to

have any opinion at all. When Mrs. Chebec has picked out just the place she wants, I'll help her build the

nest. It certainly is good to be back here in the Old Orchard and planning a home once more. We've made a

"I just saw your cousins, Mr. and Mrs. Phoebe, and they already have a nest and eggs," said Peter.

"The Phoebes are a funny lot," replied Chebec. "They are the only members of the family that can stand cold

weather. What pleasure they get out of it I don't understand. They are queer anyway, for they never build

"Are you the smallest in the family?" asked Peter, for it had suddenly struck him that Chebec was a very little

Chebec nodded. "I'm the smallest," said he. "That's why they call me Least Flycatcher. I may be least in size,

but I can tell you one thing, Peter Rabbit, and that is that I can catch just as many bugs and flies as any of

them." Suiting action to the word, he darted out into the air. His little bill snapped and with a quick turn he

was back on his former perch, jerking his tail and uttering his sharp little cry of, "Chebec! Chebec! Chebec!"

until Peter began to wonder which he was the most fond of, catching flies, or the sound of his own voice.

Presently they both heard Mrs. Chebec calling from somewhere in the middle of the Old Orchard. "Excuse

me, Peter," said Chebec, "I must go at once. Mrs. Chebec says she has found just the place for our nest, and

now we've got a busy time ahead of us. We are very particular how we build a nest."

"Do you start it with mud the way Welcome Robin and your cousins, the Phoebes, do?" asked Peter.

"Mud!" cried Chebec scornfully. "Mud! I should say not! I would have you understand, Peter, that we are

very particular about what we use in our nest. We use only the finest of rootlets, strips of soft bark, fibers of

plants, the brown cotton that grows on ferns, and perhaps a little hair when we can find it. We make a dainty

nest, if I do say it, and we fasten it securely in the fork made by two or three upright little branches. Now I

must go because Mrs. Chebec is getting impatient. Come see me when I'm not so busy Peter."

A few days after Chebec and his wife started building their nest in the Old Orchard Peter dropped around as

usual for a very early call. He found Chebec very busy hunting for materials for that nest, because, as he

explained to Peter, Mrs. Chebec is very particular indeed about what her nest is made of. But he had time to

"My fighting cousin and my handsomest cousin arrived together yesterday, and now our family is very well

Slowly Peter reached over his back with his long left hind foot and thoughtfully scratched his long right ear.

He didn't like to admit that he couldn't recall those two cousins of Chebec's. "Did you say your fighting

"That's what I said," replied Chebec. "He is Scrapper the Kingbird, as of course you know. The rest of us

At that very instant a great racket broke out on the other side of the Old Orchard and in no time at all the

feathered folks were hurrying from every direction, screaming at the top of their voices. Of course, Peter

couldn't be left out of anything like that, and he scampered for the scene of trouble as fast as his legs could

take him. When he got there he saw Redtail the Hawk flying up and down and this way and that way, as if

For a minute Peter couldn't think what was the trouble with Redtail, and then he saw. A whitethroated,

whitebreasted bird, having a black cap and back, and a broad white band across the end of his tail, was

darting at Redtail as if he meant to pull out every feather in the latter's coat.

He was just a little smaller than Welcome Robin, and in comparison with him Redtail was a perfect giant. But

this seemed to make no difference to Scrapper, for that is who it was. He wasn't afraid, and he intended that

everybody should know it, especially Redtail. It is because of his fearlessness that he is called Kingbird. All

the time he was screaming at the top of his lungs, calling Redtail a robber and every other bad name he could

think of. All the other birds joined him in calling Redtail bad names. But none, not even Bully the English

When he had succeeded in driving Redtail far enough from the Old Orchard to suit him, Scrapper flew back

and perched on a dead branch of one of the trees, where he received the congratulations of all his feathered

neighbors. He took them quite modestly, assuring them that he had done nothing, nothing at all, but that he

didn't intend to have any of the Hawk family around the Old Orchard while he lived there. Peter couldn't help

As Peter looked up at Scrapper he saw that, like all the rest of the flycatchers, there was just the tiniest of

hooks on the end of his bill. Scrapper's slightly raised cap seemed all black, but if Peter could have gotten

close enough, he would have found that hidden in it was a patch of orangered. While Peter sat staring up at

him Scrapper suddenly darted out into the air, and his bill snapped in quite the same way Chebec's did when

he caught a fly. But it wasn't a fly that Scrapper had. It was a bee. Peter saw it very distinctly just as Scrapper

snapped it up. It reminded Peter that he had often heard Scrapper called the Bee Martin, and now he

"Bless your heart, Peter, no," replied Scrapper with a chuckle. "There wouldn't be any honey if I did. I like

bees. I like them first rate. But they form only a very small part of my food. Those that I do catch are mostly

drones, and you know the drones are useless. They do no work at all. It is only by accident that I now and

then catch a worker. I eat all kinds of insects that fly and some that don't. I'm one of Farmer Brown's best

friends, if he did but know it. You can talk all you please about the wonderful eyesight of the members of the

Hawk family, but if any one of them has better eyesight than I have, I'd like to know who it is. There's a fly

Peter knew better than to waste any effort trying to see that fly. He knew that he couldn't have seen it had it

been only one fourth that distance away. But if he couldn't see the fly he could hear the sharp click of

Scrapper's bill, and he knew by the way Scrapper kept opening and shutting his mouth after his return that he

Just then he spied Blacky the Crow and dashed out to meet him. Blacky saw him coming and was wise

enough to suddenly appear to have no interest whatever in the Old Orchard, turning away toward the Green

Peter didn't wait for Scrapper to return. It was getting high time for him to scamper home to the dear Old

Briarpatch and so he started along, lippertylippertylip. Just as he was leaving the far corner of the Old

Orchard some one called him. "Peter! Oh, Peter Rabbit!" called the voice. Peter stopped abruptly, sat up very

straight, looked this way, looked that way and looked the other way, every way but the right way.

"Look up over your head," cried the voice, rather a harsh voice. Peter looked, then all in a flash it came to

him who it was Chebec had meant by the handsomest member of his family. It was Cresty the Great Crested

Flycatcher. He was a wee bit bigger than Scrapper the Kingbird, yet not quite so big as Welcome Robin, and

more slender. His throat and breast were gray, shading into bright yellow underneath. His back and head were

of a grayishbrown with a tint of olivegreen. A pointed cap was all that was needed to make him quite

distinguished looking. He certainly was the handsomest as well as the largest of the Flycatcher family.

"You seem to be in a hurry, so don't let me detain you, Peter," said Cresty, before Peter could find his tongue.

"If in your roaming about you run across an old castoff suit of Mr. Black Snake, or of any other member of

the Snake family, I wish you would remember me and let me know. Will you, Peter?" said Cresty.

"A castoff suit of clothes from any member of the Snake family," replied Cresty somewhat impatiently.

"Now don't forget, Peter. I've got to go house hunting, but you'll find me there or hereabouts, if it happens

Before Peter could say another word Cresty had flown away. Peter hesitated, looking first towards the dear

Old Briarpatch and then towards Jenny Wren's house. He just couldn't understand about those castoff suits

of the Snake family, and he felt sure that Jenny Wren could tell him. Finally curiosity got the best of him, and

back he scampered, lippertylippertylip, to the foot of the tree in which Jenny Wren had her home.

"Jenny!" called Peter. "Jenny Wren! Jenny Wren!" No one answered him. He could hear Mr. Wren singing in

another tree, but he couldn't see him. "Jenny! Jenny Wren! Jenny Wren!" called Peter again. This time Jenny

popped her head out, and her little eyes fairly snapped. "Didn't I tell you the other day, Peter Rabbit, that I'm

not to be disturbed? Didn't I tell you that I've got seven eggs in here, and that I can't spend any time

"You certainly did, Jenny. You certainly did, and I'm sorry to disturb you," replied Peter meekly. "I wouldn't

"Snake skins! Snake skins!" shrieked Jenny Wren. "What are you talking about, Peter Rabbit? I never have

anything to do with Snake skins and don't want to. Ugh! It makes me shiver just to think of it."

"You don't understand," cried Peter hurriedly. "What I want to know is, why should Cresty the Flycatcher ask

me to please let him know if I found any castoff suits of the Snake family? He flew away before I could ask

him why he wants them, and so I came to you, because I know you know everything, especially everything

Jenny Wren looked as if she didn't know whether to feel flattered or provoked. But Peter looked so innocent

"I can't stop to talk to you any longer now, Peter Rabbit," said Jenny Wren, "but if you will come over here

bright and early tomorrow morning, while I am out to get my breakfast, I will tell you about Cresty the

Flycatcher and why he wants the castoff clothes of some of the Snake family. Perhaps I should say WHAT

he wants of them instead of WHY he wants them, for why any one should want anything to do with Snakes is

With this Jenny Wren disappeared inside her house, and there was nothing for Peter to do but once more start

for the dear Old Briarpatch. On his way he couldn't resist the temptation to run over to the Green Forest,

which was just beyond the Old Orchard. He just HAD to find out if there was anything new over there.

Hardly had he reached it when he heard a plaintive voice crying, "Peewee! Peewee! Peewee!" Peter

chuckled happily. "I declare, there's Peewee," he cried. "He usually is one of the last of the Flycatcher

family to arrive. I didn't expect to find him yet. I wonder what has brought him up so early."

It didn't take Peter long to find Pewee. He just followed the sound of that voice and presently saw Pewee fly

out and make the same kind of a little circle as the other members of the family make when they are hunting

flies. It ended just where it had started, on a dead twig of a tree in a shady, rather lonely part of the Green

Forest. Almost at once he began to call his name in a rather sad, plaintive tone, "Peewee! Peewee!

Peewee!" But he wasn't sad, as Peter well knew. It was his way of expressing how happy he felt. He was a

little bigger than his cousin, Chebec, but looked very much like him. There was a little notch in the end of his

tail. The upper half of his bill was black, but the lower half was light. Peter could see on each wing two

whitish bars, and he noticed that Pewee's wings were longer than his tail, which wasn't the case with Chebec.

But no one could ever mistake Pewee for any of his relatives, for the simple reason that he keeps repeating

Pewee nodded. "Yes," said he. "It has been unusually warm this spring, so I hurried a little and came up with

Pewee chuckled happily. "It must be," said he, "because I am so very fond of the Green Forest. It is so quiet

and restful that I love it. Mrs. Pewee and I are very retiring. We do not like too many near neighbors."

"You won't mind if I come to see you once in a while, will you?" asked Peter as he prepared to start on again

Back in the Old Briarpatch Peter thought over all he had learned about the Flycatcher family, and as he

recalled how they were forever catching all sorts of flying insects it suddenly struck him that they must be

very useful little people in helping Old Mother Nature take care of her trees and other growing things which

But most of all Peter thought about that queer request of Cresty's, and a dozen times that day he found

himself peeping under old logs in the hope of finding a castoff coat of Mr. Black Snake. It was such a funny

thing for Cresty to ask for that Peter's curiosity would allow him no peace, and the next morning he was up in

Jenny Wren was as good as her word. While she flitted and hopped about this way and that way in that fussy

way of hers, getting her breakfast, she talked. Jenny couldn't keep her tongue still if she wanted to.

"Did you find any old clothes of the Snake family?" she demanded. Then as Peter shook his head her tongue

ran on without waiting for him to reply. "Cresty and his wife always insist upon having a piece of Snake skin

in their nest," said she. "Why they want it, goodness knows! But they do want it and never can seem to settle

down to housekeeping unless they have it. Perhaps they think it will scare robbers away. As for me, I should

have a cold chill every time I got into my nest if I had to sit on anything like that. I have to admit that Cresty

and his wife are a handsome couple, and they certainly have good sense in choosing a house, more sense than

"In a hole in a tree, like the rest of us sensible people," retorted Jenny Wren promptly.

Peter looked quite as surprised as he felt. "Does Cresty make the hole?" he asked.

"Goodness gracious, no!" exclaimed Jenny Wren. "Where are your eyes, Peter? Did you ever see a Flycatcher

with a bill that looked as if it could cut wood?" She didn't wait for a reply, but rattled on. "It is a good thing

for a lot of us that the Woodpecker family are so fond of new houses. Look! There is Downy the Woodpecker

hard at work on a new house this very minute. That's good. I like to see that. It means that next year there will

be one more house for some one here in the Old Orchard. For myself I prefer old houses. I've noticed there

are a number of my neighbors who feel the same way about it. There is something settled about an old house.

It doesn't attract attention the way a new one does. So long as it has got reasonably good walls, and the rain

and the wind can't get in, the older it is the better it suits me. But the Woodpeckers seem to like new houses

"Who is there besides you and Cresty and Bully the English Sparrow who uses these old Woodpecker

Peter grinned and looked foolish. "Of course," said he. "I forgot all about Winsome."

"That's so; I ought to have remembered him," exclaimed Peter. "I've noticed that he is very fond of the same

Again Jenny Wren nodded. "YankYank the Nuthatch uses an old house, I'm told, but he usually goes up

North for his nesting," said she. "Tommy Tit the Chickadee sometimes uses an old house. Then again he and

Mrs. Chickadee get fussy and make a house for themselves. Yellow Wing the flicker, who really is a

Woodpecker, often uses an old house, but quite often makes a new one. Then there are Killy the Sparrow

Peter looked surprised. "I didn't suppose THEY nested in holes in trees!" he exclaimed.

"They certainly do, more's the pity!" snapped Jenny. "It would be a good thing for the rest of us if they didn't

nest at all. But they do, and an old house of Yellow Wing the Flicker suits either of them. Killy always uses

one that is high up, and comes back to it year after year. Spooky isn't particular so long as the house is big

enough to be comfortable. He lives in it more or less the year around. Now I must get back to those eggs of

Jenny paused and jerked her tail impatiently. "Well, what is it now?" she demanded.

"Goodness gracious, no!" exclaimed Jenny. "What do you suppose I want of two homes? One is all I can take

"Then why," demanded Peter triumphantly, "does Mr. Wren work all day carrying sticks and straws into a

hole in another tree? It seems to me that he has carried enough in there to build two or three nests."

Jenny Wren's eyes twinkled, and she laughed softly. "Mr. Wren just has to be busy about something, bless his

heart," said she. "He hasn't a lazy feather on him. He's building that nest to take up his time and keep out of

mischief. Besides, if he fills that hollow up nobody else will take it, and you know we might want to move

some time. Goodby, Peter." With a final jerk of her tail Jenny Wren flew to the little round doorway of her

From the decided way in which Jenny Wren had popped into the little round doorway of her home, Peter

knew that to wait in the hope of more gossip with her would be a waste of time. He wasn't ready to go back

home to the dear Old Briarpatch, yet there seemed nothing else to do, for everybody in the Old Orchard was

too busy for idle gossip. Peter scratched a long ear with a long hind foot, trying to think of some place to go.

Just then he heard the clear "peep, peep, peep" of the Hylas, the sweet singers of the Smiling Pool.

"That's where I'll go!" exclaimed Peter. "I haven't been to the Smiling Pool for some time. I'll just run over

and pay my respects to Grandfather Frog, and to Redwing the Blackbird. Redwing was one of the first birds

When Peter thinks of something to do he wastes no time. Off he started, lippertylippertylip, for the Smiling

Pool. He kept close to the edge of the Green Forest until he reached the place where the Laughing Brook

comes out of the Green Forest on its way to the Smiling Pool in the Green Meadows. Bushes and young trees

grow along the banks of the Laughing Brook at this point. The ground was soft in places, quite muddy. Peter

doesn't mind getting his feet damp, so he hopped along carelessly. From right under his very nose something

shot up into the air with a whistling sound. It startled Peter so that he stopped short with his eyes popping out

of his head. He had just a glimpse of a brown form disappearing over the tops of some tall bushes. Then Peter

chuckled. "I declare," said he, "I had forgotten all about my old friend, Longbill the W.. He scared me

"Then you are even," said a voice close at hand. "You scared him. I saw you coming, but Longbill didn't."

Peter turned quickly. There was Mrs. W. peeping at him from behind a tussock of grass.

"I didn't mean to scare him," apologized Peter. "I really didn't mean to. Do you think he was really very much

"Not too scared to come back, anyway," said Longbill himself, dropping down just in front of Peter. "I

recognized you just as I was disappearing over the tops of the bushes, so I came right back. I learned when I

was very young that when startled it is best to fly first and find out afterwards whether or not there is real

danger. I am glad it is no one but you, Peter, for I was having a splendid meal here, and I should have hated

to leave it. You'll excuse me while I go on eating, I hope. We can talk between bites."

"Certainly I'll excuse you," replied Peter, staring around very hard to see what it could be Longbill was

making such a good meal of. But Peter couldn't se a thing that looked good to eat. There wasn't even a bug or

a worm crawling on the ground. Longbill took two or three steps in rather a stately fashion. Peter had to hide

a smile, for Longbill had such an air of importance, yet at the same time was such an odd looking fellow. He

was quite a little bigger than Welcome Robin, his tail was short, his legs were short, and his neck was short.

But his bill was long enough to make up. His back was a mixture of gray, brown, black and buff, while his

breast and under parts were a beautiful reddishbuff. It was his head that made him look queer. His eyes were

very big and they were set so far back that Peter wondered if it wasn't easier for him to look behind him than

Suddenly Longbill plunged his bill into the ground. He plunged it in for the whole length. Then he pulled it

out and Peter caught a glimpse of the tail end of a worm disappearing down Longbill's throat. Where that

long bill had gone into the ground was a neat little round hole. For the first time Peter noticed that there were

many such little round holes all about. "Did you make all those little round holes?" exclaimed Peter.

"And was there a worm in every one?" asked Peter, his eyes very wide with interest.

Longbill nodded. "Of course," said he. "You don't suppose we would take the trouble to bore one of them if

Peter remembered how he had watched Welcome Robin listen and then suddenly plunge his bill into the

ground and pull out a worm. But the worms Welcome Robin got were always close to the surface, while these

worms were so deep in the earth that Peter couldn't understand how it was possible for any one to know that

they were there. Welcome Robin could see when he got hold of a worm, but Longbill couldn't. "Even if you

know there is a worm down there in the ground, how do you know when you've reached him? And how is it

Longbill chuckled. "That's easy," said he. "I've got the handiest bill that ever was. See here!" Longbill

suddenly thrust his bill straight out in front of him and to Peter's astonishment he lifted the end of the upper

half without opening the rest of his bill at all. "That's the way I get them," said he. "I can feel them when I

reach them, and then I just open the top of my bill and grab them. I think there is one right under my feet

now; watch me get him." Longbill bored into the ground until his head was almost against it. When he pulled

his bill out, sure enough, there was a worm. "Of course," explained Longbill, "it is only in soft ground that I

can do this. That is why I have to fly away south as soon as the ground freezes at all."

"It's wonderful," sighed Peter. "I don't suppose any one else can find hidden worms that way."

"My cousin, Jack Snipe, can," replied Longbill promptly. "He feeds the same way I do, only he likes marshy

Peter nodded. "I do," said he. "Now you speak of it, there is a strong family resemblance, although I hadn't

thought of him as a relative of yours before. Now I must be running along. I'm ever so glad to have seen you,

So Peter said goodby and kept on down the Laughing Brook to the Smiling Pool. Right where the Laughing

Brook entered the Smiling Pool there was a little pebbly beach. Running along the very edge of the water was

a slim, trim little bird with fairly long legs, a long slender bill, brownishgray back with black spots and

markings, and a white waistcoat neatly spotted with black. Every few steps he would stop to pick up

something, then stand for a second bobbing up and down in the funniest way, as if his body was so nicely

balanced on his legs that it teetered back and forth like a seesaw. It was Teeter the Spotted Sandpiper, an old

"Peetweet! Peetweet!" cried Teeter, turning towards Peter and bobbing and bowing as only Teeter can.

Before Peter could say another word Teeter came running towards him, and it was plain to see that Teeter

was very anxious about something. "Don't move, Peter Rabbit! Don't move!" he cried.

"Why not?" demanded Peter, for he could see no danger and could think of no reason why he shouldn't move.

Just then Mrs. Teeter came hurrying up and squatted down in the sand right in front of Peter.

"Thank goodness!" exclaimed Teeter, still bobbing and bowing. "If you had taken another step, Peter Rabbit,

Peter was puzzled. He showed it as he stared down at Mrs. Teeter just in front of him. "I don't see any nest or

Mrs. Teeter stood up and stepped aside. Then Peter saw right in a little hollow in the sand, with just a few bits

of grass for a lining, four white eggs with big dark blotches on them. They looked so much like the

surrounding pebbles that he never would have seen them in the world but for Mrs. Teeter. Peter hastily

backed away a few steps. Mrs. Teeter slipped back on the eggs and settled herself comfortably. It suddenly

struck Peter that if he hadn't seen her do it, he wouldn't have known she was there. You see she looked so

"My!" he exclaimed. "I certainly would have stepped on those eggs if you hadn't warned me," said he. "I'm so

Mrs. Teeter chuckled softly. "It's the safest place in the world, Peter," said she. "They look so much like these

pebbles around here that no one sees them. The only time they are in danger is when somebody comes along,

as you did, and is likely to step on them without seeing them. But that doesn't happen often."

Peter had come over to the Smiling Pool especially to pay his respects to Redwing the Blackbird, so as soon

as he could, without being impolite, he left Mrs. Teeter sitting on her eggs, and Teeter himself bobbing and

bowing in the friendliest way, and hurried over to where the bulrushes grow. In the very top of the Big

Hickorytree, a little farther along on the bank of the Smiling Pool, sat some one who at that distance

appeared to be dressed all in black. He was singing as if there were nothing but joy in all the great world.

"Quongkareee! Quongkareee! Quongkareee!" he sang. Peter would have known from this song alone

As soon as Peter appeared in sight Redwing left his high perch and flew down to light among the

brokendown bulrushes. As he flew, Peter saw the beautiful red patch on the bend of each wing, from which

Redwing gets his name. "No one could ever mistake him for anybody else," thought Peter, "For there isn't

"What's the news, Peter Rabbit?" cried Redwing, coming over to sit very near Peter.

"There isn't much," replied Peter, "excepting that Teeter the Sandpiper has four eggs just a little way from

Redwing chuckled. "That is no news, Peter," said he. "Do you suppose that I live neighbor to Teeter and don't

know where his nest is and all about his affairs? There isn't much going on around the Smiling Pool that I

Peter looked a little disappointed, because there is nothing he likes better than to be the bearer of news. "I

suppose," said he politely, "that you will be building a nest pretty soon yourself, Redwing."

Redwing chuckled softly. It was a happy, contented sort of chuckle. "No, Peter," said he. "I am not going to

"What?" exclaimed Peter, and his two long ears stood straight up with astonishment.

"No," replied Redwing, still chuckling. "I'm not going to build a nest, and if you want to know a little secret,

Peter fairly bubbled over with interest and curiosity. "How splendid!" he cried. "Where is your nest,

Redwing? I would just love to see it. I suppose it is because she is sitting on those eggs that I haven't seen

Mrs. Redwing. It was very stupid of me not to guess that folks who come as early as you do would be among

Redwing's eyes twinkled. "A secret which is known by three Full soon will not a secret be," said he. "It isn't

that I don't trust you, Peter. I know that you wouldn't intentionally let my secret slip out. But you might do it

"That's right, Redwing. I am glad you have so much sense," said another voice, and Mrs. Redwing alighted

Peter couldn't help thinking that Old Mother Nature had been very unfair indeed in dressing Mrs. Redwing.

She was, if anything, a little bit smaller than her handsome husband, and such a plain, not to say homely,

little body that it was hard work to realize that she was a Blackbird at all. In the first place she wasn't black.

She was dressed all over in grayishbrown with streaks of darker brown which in places were almost black.

She wore no brightcolored shoulder patches. In fact, there wasn't a bright feather on her anywhere. Peter

wanted to ask why it was that she was so plainly dressed, but he was too polite and decided to wait until he

should see Jenny Wren. She would be sure to know. Instead, he exclaimed, "How do you do, Mrs. Redwing?

I'm ever so glad to see you. I was wondering where you were. Where did you come from?"

"Straight from my home," replied Mrs. Redwing demurely. "And if I do say it, it is the best home we've ever

Redwing chuckled. He was full of chuckles. You see, he had noticed how eagerly Peter was looking

"This much I will tell you, Peter," said Redwing; "our nest is somewhere in these bulrushes, and if you can

Then Redwing chuckled again and Mrs. Redwing chuckled with him. You see, they knew that Peter doesn't

like water, and that nest was hidden in a certain clump of brown, brokendown rushes, with water all around.

Suddenly Redwing flew up in the air with a harsh cry. "Run, Peter! Run!" he screamed. "Here comes Reddy

Peter didn't wait for a second warning. He knew by the sound of Redwing's voice that Redwing wasn't joking.

There was just one place of safety, and that was an old hole of Grandfather Chuck's between the roots of the

Big Hickorytree. Peter didn't waste any time getting there, and he was none too soon, for Reddy was so

close at his heels that he pulled some white hairs out of Peter's tail as Peter plunged headfirst down that hole.

It was a lucky thing for Peter that that hole was too small for Reddy to follow and the roots prevented Reddy

For a long time Peter sat in Grandfather Chuck's old house, wondering how soon it would be safe for him to

come out. For a while he heard Mr. and Mrs. Redwing scolding sharply, and by this he knew that Reddy Fox

was still about. By and by they stopped scolding, and a few minutes later he heard Redwing's happy song.

"That means," thought Peter, "that Reddy Fox has gone away, but I think I'll sit here a while longer to make

Now Peter was sitting right under the Big Hickorytree. After a while he began to hear faint little sounds,

little taps, and scratching sounds as of claws. They seemed to come from right over his head, but he knew that

Finally Peter decided it would be safe to peek outside. Very carefully he poked his head out. Just as he did so,

a little chip struck him right on the nose. Peter pulled his head back hurriedly and stared at the little chip

which lay just in front of the hole. Then two or three more little chips fell. Peter knew that they must come

from up in the Big Hickorytree, and right away his curiosity was aroused. Redwing was singing so happily

that Peter felt sure no danger was near, so he hopped outside and looked up to find out where those little

chips had come from. Just a few feet above his head he saw a round hole in the trunk of the Big

Hickorytree. While he was looking at it, a head with a long stout bill was thrust out and in that bill were two

The chips were dropped and the head was thrust farther out. The sides and throat were a soft reddishtan and

on each side at the beginning of the bill was a black patch. The top of the head was gray and just at the back

was a little band of bright red. There was no mistaking that head. It belonged to Yellow Wing the Flicker

"Hello, Peter!" exclaimed Yellow Wing, his eyes twinkling. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing," replied Peter, "but I want to know what you are doing. What are all those chips?"

"I'm fixing up this old house of mine," replied Yellow Wing promptly. "It wasn't quite deep enough to suit

me, so I am making it a little deeper. Mrs. Yellow Wing and I haven't been able to find another house to suit

us, so we have decided to live here again this year." He came wholly out and flew down on the ground near

Peter. When his wings were spread, Peter saw that on the under sides they were a beautiful goldenyellow, as

were the under sides of his tail feathers. Around his throat was a broad, black collar. From this, clear to his

tail, were black dots. When his wings were spread, the upper part of his body just above the tail was pure

"My," exclaimed Peter, "you are a handsome fellow! I never realized before how handsome you are."

Yellow Wing looked pleased. Perhaps he felt a little flattered. "I am glad you think so, Peter," said he. "I am

rather proud of my suit, myself. I don't know of any member of my family with whom I would change coats."

A sudden thought struck Peter. "What family do you belong to?" He asked abruptly.

Peter Rabbit was so full of questions that he hardly knew which one to ask first. But Yellow Wing the Flicker

didn't give him a chance to ask any. From the edge of the Green forest there came a clear, loud call of,

"Excuse me, Peter, there's Mrs. Yellow Wing calling me," exclaimed Yellow Wing, and away he went. Peter

noticed that as he flew he went up and down. It seemed very much as if he bounded through the air just as

Peter bounds over the ground. "I would know him by the way he flies just as far as I could see him," thought

Peter, as he started for home in the dear Old Briarpatch. "Somehow he doesn't seem like a Woodpecker

It was two or three days before Peter had a chance for a bit of gossip with Jenny Wren. When he did the first

"Certainly he is," replied Jenny Wren. "Of course he is. Why under the sun should you think he isn't?"

"Because it seems to me he is on the ground more than he's in the trees," retorted Peter. "I don't know any

"Tut, tut, tut, tut!" scolded Jenny. "Think a minute, Peter! Think a minute! Haven't you ever seen Redhead on

Peter blinked his eyes. "Yees," he said slowly. "Come to think of it, I have. I've seen him picking up

beechnuts in the fall. The Woodpeckers are a funny family. I don't understand them."

Just then a long, rolling ratatattat rang out just over their heads. "There's another one of them," chuckled

Jenny. "That's Downy, the smallest of the whole family. He certainly makes an awful racket for such a little

fellow. He is a splendid drummer and he's just as good a carpenter. He made the very house I am occupying

Peter was sitting with his head tipped back trying to see Downy. At first he couldn't make him out. Then he

caught a little movement on top of a dead limb. It was Downy's head flying back and forth as he beat his long

roll. He was dressed all in black and white. On the back of his head was a little scarlet patch. He was making

a tremendous racket for such a little chap, only a little bigger than one of the Sparrow family.

"Gracious, Peter, what a question! What a perfectly silly question!" exclaimed Jenny Wren scornfully. "Do

give us birds credit for a little common sense. If he were cutting a hole for a nest, everybody within hearing

would know just where to look for it. Downy has too much sense in that little head of his to do such a silly

thing as that. When he cuts a hole for a nest he doesn't make any more noise than is absolutely necessary.

"Noo," replied Peter slowly. "Now you speak of it, I don't. Is is he hunting for worms in the wood?"

Jenny laughed right out. "Hardly, Peter, hardly," said she. "He's just drumming, that's all. That hollow limb

makes the best kind of a drum and Downy is making the most of it. Just listen to that! There isn't a better

But Peter wasn't satisfied. Finally he ventured another question. "What's he doing it for?"

"Good land, Peter!" cried Jenny. "What do you run and jump for in the spring? What is Mr. Wren singing for

over there? Downy is drumming for precisely the same reasonhappiness. He can't run and jump and he

can't sing, but he can drum. By the way, do you know that Downy is one of the most useful birds in the Old

Just then Downy flew away, but hardly had he disappeared when another drummer took his place. At first

Peter thought Downy had returned until he noticed that the newcomer was just a bit bigger than Downy.

"Hello!" she exclaimed. "There's Hairy. Did you ever see two cousins look more alike? If it were not that

Hairy is bigger than Downy it would be hard work to tell them apart. Do you see any other difference, Peter?"

Peter stared and blinked and stared again, then slowly shook his head. "No," he confessed, "I don't."

"That shows you haven't learned to use your eyes, Peter," said Jenny rather sharply. "Look at the outside

feathers of his tail; they are all white. Downy's outside tail feathers have little bars of black. Hairy is just as

good a carpenter as is Downy, but for that matter I don't know of a member of the Woodpecker family who

isn't a good carpenter. Where did you say Yellow Wing the Flicker is making his home this year?"

"Over in the Big Hickorytree by the Smiling Pool," replied Peter. "I don't understand yet why Yellow Wing

"Ants," replied Jenny Wren. "Just ants. He's as fond of ants as is Old Mr. Toad, and that is saying a great

deal. If Yellow Wing keeps on he'll become a ground bird instead of a tree bird. He gets more than half his

living on the ground now. Speaking of drumming, did you ever hear Yellow Wing drum on a tin roof?"

"Well, if there's a tin roof anywhere around, and Yellow Wing can find it, he will be perfectly happy. He

Just then Jenny was interrupted by the arrival, on the trunk of the very next tree to the one on which she was

sitting, of a bird about the size of Sammy Jay. His whole head and neck were a beautiful, deep red. His breast

was pure white, and his back was black to nearly the beginning of his tail, where it was white.

"Hello, Redhead!" exclaimed Jenny Wren. "How did you know we were talking about your family?"

"Hello, chatterbox," retorted Redhead with a twinkle in his eyes. "I didn't know you were talking about my

family, but I could have guessed that you were talking about some one's family. Does your tongue ever stop,

Jenny Wren started to become indignant and scold, then thought better of it. "I was talking for Peter's

benefit," said she, trying to look dignified, a thing quite impossible for any member of the Wren family to do.

"Peter has always had the idea that true Woodpeckers never go down on the ground. I was explaining to him

Redhead nodded. "It's all on account of ants," said he. "I don't know of any one quite so fond of ants unless it

is Old Mr. Toad. I like a few of them myself, but Yellow Wing just about lives on them when he can. You

may have noticed that I go down on the ground myself once in a while. I am rather fond of beetles, and an

occasional grasshopper tastes very good to me. I like a variety. Yes, sir, I certainly do like a

varietycherries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, grapes. In fact most kinds of fruit taste good to me,

Jenny Wren tossed her head. "You didn't mention the eggs of some of your neighbors," said she sharply.

Redhead did his best to look innocent, but Peter noticed that he gave a guilty start and very abruptly changed

Jenny bobbed her head rapidly and jerked her tail. "So I an told," said she. "I've never seen him do it, but I

know others who have. They say he is no better than Sammy Jay or Blacky the Crow. But gracious,

goodness! I can't sit here gossiping forever." Jenny twitched her funny little tail, snapped her bright eyes at

Having other things to attend to, or rather having other things to arouse his curiosity, Peter Rabbit did not

visit the Old Orchard for several days. When he did it was to find the entire neighborhood quite upset. There

was an indignation meeting in progress in and around the tree in which Chebec and his modest little wife had

their home. How the tongues did clatter! Peter knew that something had happened, but though he listened

Finally Peter managed to get the attention of Jenny Wren. "What's happened?" demanded Peter. "What's all

Jenny Wren was so excited that she couldn't keep still an instant. Her sharp little eyes snapped and her tail

was carried higher than ever. "It's a disgrace! It's a disgrace to the whole feathered race, and something ought

to be done about it!" sputtered Jenny. "I'm ashamed to think that such a contemptible creature wears feathers!

"But what's it all about?" demanded Peter impatiently. "Do keep still long enough to tell me. Who is this

"Sally Sly," snapped Jenny Wren. "Sally Sly the Cowbird. I hoped she wouldn't disgrace the Old Orchard this

year, but she has. When Mr. and Mrs. Chebec returned from getting their breakfast this morning they found

one of Sally Sly's eggs in their nest. They are terribly upset, and I don't blame them. If I were in their place I

Peter was puzzled. He blinked his eyes and stroked his whiskers as he tried to understand what it all meant.

"For goodness' sake, Peter Rabbit, do you mean to tell me you don't know who Sally Sly is?" Then without

waiting for Peter to reply, Jenny rattled on. "She's a member of the Blackbird family and she's the laziest,

most goodfornothing, sneakiest, most unfeeling and most selfish wretch I know of!" Jenny paused long

enough to get her breath. "She laid that egg in Chebec's nest because she is too lazy to build a nest of her own

and too selfish to take care of her own children. Do you know what will happen, Peter Rabbit? Do you know

Peter shook his head and confessed that he didn't. "When that egg hatches out, that young Cowbird will be

about twice as big as Chebec's own children," sputtered Jenny. "He'll be so big that he'll get most of the food.

He'll just rob those little Chebecs in spite of all their mother and father can do. And Chebec and his wife will

be just softhearted enough to work themselves to skin and bone to feed the young wretch because he is an

orphan and hasn't anybody to look after him. The worst of it is, Sally Sly is likely to play the same trick on

others. She always chooses the nest of some one smaller than herself. She's terribly sly. No one has seen her

about. She just sneaked into the Old Orchard this morning when everybody was busy, laid that egg and

Jenny Wren nodded vigorously. "That's what she is," said she. "Thank goodness, she isn't a member of MY

family. If she were I never would be able to hold my head up. Just listen to Goldy the Oriole over in that big

elm. I don't see how he can sing like that, knowing that one of his relatives has just done such a shameful

deed. It's a queer thing that there can be two members of the same family so unlike. Mrs. Goldy builds one of

the most wonderful nests of any one I know, and Sally Sly is too lazy to build any. If I were in Goldy's place

"Hold on!" cried Peter. "I thought you said Sally Sly is a member of the Blackbird family. I don't see what

"You don't, eh?" exclaimed Jenny. "Well, for one who pokes into other people's affairs as you do, you don't

know much. The Orioles and the Meadow Larks and the Grackles and the Bobolinks all belong to the

Blackbird family. They're all related to Redwing the Blackbird, and Sally Sly the Cowbird belongs in the

Peter gasped. "II hadn't the least idea that any of these folks were related," stammered Peter.

Peter caught a glimpse of a brownishgray bird who reminded him somewhat of Mrs. Redwing. She was

about the same size and looked very much like her. It was plain that she was trying to keep out of sight, and

the instant she knew that she had been discovered she flew away in the direction of the Old Pasture. It

happened that late that afternoon Peter visited the Old Pasture and saw her again. She and some of her friends

were busily walking about close to the feet of the cows, where they seemed to be picking up food. One had a

brown head, neck and breast; the rest of his coat was glossy black. Peter rightly guessed that this must be Mr.

Cowbird. Seeing them on such good terms with the cows he understood why they are called Cowbirds.

Sure that Sally Sly had left the Old Orchard, the feathered folks settled down to their personal affairs and

household cares, Jenny Wren among them. Having no one to talk to, Peter found a shady place close to the

old stone wall and there sat down to think over the surprising things he had learned. Presently Goldy the

Baltimore Oriole alighted in the nearest appletree, and it seemed to Peter that never had he seen any one

more beautifully dressed. His head, neck, throat and upper part of his back were black. The lower part of his

back and his breast were a beautiful deep orange color. There was a dash of orange on his shoulders, but the

rest of his wings were black with an edging of white. His tail was black and orange. Peter had heard him

called the Firebird, and now he understood why. His song was quite as rich and beautiful as his coat.

Shortly he was joined by Mrs. Goldy. Compared with her handsome husband she was very modestly dressed.

She wore more brown than black, and where the orange color appeared it was rather dull. She wasted no time

in singing. Almost instantly her sharp eyes spied a piece of string caught in the bushes almost over Peter's

head. With a little cry of delight she flew down and seized it. But the string was caught, and though she

tugged and pulled with all her might she couldn't get it free. Goldy saw the trouble she was having and

cutting his song short, flew down to help her. Together they pulled and tugged and tugged and pulled, until

"We simply must have this piece of string," said Mrs. Goldy. "I've been hunting everywhere for a piece, and

this is the first I've found. It is just what we need to bind our nest fast to the twigs. With this I won't have the

least bit of fear that that nest will ever tear loose, no matter how hard the wind blows."

Once more they tugged and pulled and pulled and tugged until at last they got it free, and Mrs. Goldy flew

away in triumph with the string in her bill. Goldy himself followed. Peter watched them fly to the top of a

long, swaying branch of a big elmtree up near Farmer Brown's house. He could see something which looked

"Gracious!" said Peter. "They must get terribly tossed about when the wind blows. I should think their babies

Peter looked up to find Welcome Robin just over him. "Mrs. Goldy makes one of the most wonderful nests I

know of," continued Welcome Robin. "It is like a deep pocket made of grass, string, hair and bark, all woven

together like a piece of cloth. It is so deep that it is quite safe for the babies, and they seem to enjoy being

rocked by the wind. I shouldn't care for it myself because I like a solid foundation for my home, but the

Goldies like it. It looks dangerous but it really is one of the safest nests I know of. Snakes and cats never get

'way up there and there are few feathered nestrobbers who can get at those eggs so deep down in the nest.

Goldy is sometimes called Golden Robin. He isn't a Robin at all, but I would feel very proud if he were a

member of my family. He's just as useful as he is handsome, and that's saying a great deal. He just dotes on

With this Welcome Robin flew away and Peter once more settled himself to think over all he had learned.

Peter Rabbit was dozing. Yes, sir, Peter was dozing. He didn't mean to doze, but whenever Peter sits still for

a long time and tries to think, he is pretty sure to go to sleep. By and by he wakened with a start. At first he

didn't know what had wakened him, but as he sat there blinking his eyes, he heard a few rich notes from the

top of the nearest appletree. "It's Goldy the Oriole," thought Peter, and peeped out to see.

But though he looked and looked he couldn't see Goldy anywhere, but he did see a stranger. It was some one

of about Goldy's size and shape. In fact he was so like Goldy, but for the color of his suit, that at first Peter

almost thought Goldy had somehow changed his clothes. Of course he knew that this couldn't be, but it

seemed as if it must be, for the song the stranger was singing was something like that of Goldy. The stranger's

head and throat and back were black, just like Goldy's, and his wings were trimmed with white in just the

same way. But the rest of his suit, instead of being the beautiful orange of which Goldy is so proud, was a

Peter blinked and stared very hard. "Now who can this be?" said he, speaking aloud without thinking.

"Don't you know him?" asked a sharp voice so close to Peter that it made him jump. Peter whirled around.

There sat Striped Chipmunk grinning at him from the top of the old stone wall. "That's Weaver the Orchard

Oriole," Striped Chipmunk rattled on. "If you don't know him you ought to, because he is one of the very

"Of course," retorted Striped Chipmunk. "I shouldn't think you would have to look at him more than once to

know that. He's first cousin to Goldy. There comes Mrs. Weaver. I do hope they've decided to build in the

"I'm glad you told me who she is because I never would have guessed it," confessed Peter as he studied the

newcomer. She did not look at all like Weaver. She was dressed in olivegreen and dull yellow, with white

Peter couldn't help thinking how much easier it must be for her than for her handsome husband to hide among

As he watched she flew down to the ground and picked up a long piece of grass. "They are building here, as

sure as you live!" cried Striped Chipmunk. "I'm glad of that. Did you ever see their nest, Peter? Of course you

haven't, because you said you had never seen them before. Their nest is a wonder, Peter. It really is. It is

made almost wholly of fine grass and they weave it together in the most wonderful way."

"Not such a deep one," replied Striped Chipmunk. "They hang it between the twigs near the end of a branch,

but they bind it more closely to the branch and it isn't deep enough to swing as Goldy's does."

Peter had just opened his mouth to ask another question when there was a loud sniffing sound farther up

along the old stone wall. He didn't wait to hear it again. He knew that Bowser the Hound was coming.

"Goodby, Striped Chipmunk! This is no place for me," whispered Peter and started for the dear Old

Briarpatch. He was in such a hurry to get there that on his way across the Green Meadows he almost ran

"Bowser the Hound almost found me up in the Old Orchard," panted Peter. "It's a wonder he hasn't found my

tracks. I expect he will any minute. I'm glad to see you, Jimmy, but I guess I'd better be moving along."

"Don't be in such a hurry, Peter. Don't be in such a hurry," replied Jimmy, who himself never hurries. "Stop

Peter hesitated. He wanted to gossip, but he still felt nervous about Bowser the Hound. However, as he heard

nothing of Bowser's great voice, telling all the world that he had found Peter's tracks, he decided to stop a few

Jimmy grinned. "I'm looking for grasshoppers and grubs, if you must know," said he. "And I've just got a

notion I may find some fresh eggs. I don't often eat them, but once in a while one tastes good."

"If you ask me, it's a funny place to be looking for eggs down here on the Green Meadows," replied Peter.

"Just so, Peter; just so," retorted Jimmy Skunk, nodding his head with approval. "That's why I am here."

Peter looked puzzled. He was puzzled. But before he could ask another question a rollicking song caused

both of them to look up. There on quivering wings in midair was the singer. He was dressed very much like

Jimmy Skunk himself, in black and white, save that in places the white had a tinge of yellow, especially on

the back of his neck. It was Bubbling Bob the Bobolink. And how he did sing! It seemed as if the notes fairly

Jimmy Skunk raised himself on his hindlegs a little to see just where Bubbling Bob dropped down in the

grass. Then Jimmy began to move in that direction. Suddenly Peter understood. He remembered that

Bubbling Bob's nest is always on the ground. It was his eggs that Jimmy Skunk was looking for.

"You don't happen to have seen Mrs. Bob anywhere around here, do you, Peter?" asked Jimmy, trying to

"No," replied Peter. "If I had I wouldn't tell you where. You ought to be ashamed, Jimmy Skunk, to think of

"Pooh!" retorted Jimmy. "What's the harm? If I find those eggs he and Mrs. Bob could simply build another

nest and lay some more. They won't be any the worse off, and I will have had a good breakfast."

"But think of all the work they would have to do to build another nest," replied Peter.

"I should worry," retorted Jimmy Skunk. "Any one who can spend so much time singing can afford to do a

"You're horrid, Jimmy Skunk. You're just horrid," said Peter. "I hope you won't find a single egg, so there!"

With this, Peter once more headed for the dear Old Briarpatch, while Jimmy Skunk continued toward the

place where Bubbling Bob had disappeared in the long grass. Peter went only a short distance and then sat up

to watch Jimmy Skunk. Just before Jimmy reached the place where Bubbling Bob had disappeared, the latter

mounted into the air again, pouring out his rollicking song as if there were no room in his heart for anything

but happiness. Then he saw Jimmy Shrunk and became very much excited. He flew down in the grass a little

It looked very much as if he had gone down in the grass to warn Mrs. Bob. Evidently Jimmy thought so, for

he at once headed that way. When Bubbling Bob did the same thing all over again. Peter grew anxious. He

knew just how patient Jimmy Skunk could be, and he very much feared that Jimmy would find that nest.

Presently he grew tired of watching and started on for the dear Old Briarpatch. Just before he reached it a

brown bird, who reminded him somewhat of Mrs. Redwing and Sally Sly the Cowbird, though she was

smaller, ran across the path in front of him and then flew up to the top of a last year's mullein stalk. It was

"Oh!" cried Peter. "What are you doing here? Don't you know that Jimmy Skunk, is hunting for your nest

Mrs. Bob chuckled. "Isn't he a dear? And isn't he smart?" said she, meaning Bubbling Bob, of course, and not

Peter stared at her for a full minute. "Do you mean to say," said he "that your nest isn't over there at all?"

"That's telling," replied Mrs. Bob. "It isn't over there, and it isn't anywhere near there. But where it is is Bob's

secret and mine, and we mean to keep it. Now I must go get something to eat," and with a hasty farewell Mrs.

Peter remembered that he had seen Mrs. Bob running along the ground before she flew up to the old mullein

stalk. He went back to the spot where he had first seen her and hunted all around in the grass, but without

success. You see, Mrs. Bobolink had been quite as clever in fooling Peter as Bubbling Bob had been in

"BobBob White! BobBob White! BobBob White!" clear and sweet, that call floated over to the dear

Old Briarpatch until Peter could stand it no longer. He felt that he just had to go over and pay an early

morning call on one of his very best friends, who at this season of the year delights in whistling his own

"I suppose," muttered Peter, "that Bob White has got a nest. I wish he would show it to me. He's terribly

secretive about it. Last year I hunted for his nest until my feet were sore, but it wasn't the least bit of use.

Then one morning I met Mrs. Bob White with fifteen babies out for a walk. How she could hide a nest with

Peter left the Old Briarpatch and started off over the Green Meadows towards the Old Pasture. As he drew

near the fence between the Green Meadows and the Old Pasture he saw Bob White sitting on one of the posts,

whistling with all his might. On another post near him sat another bird very near the size of Welcome Robin.

He also was telling all the world of his happiness. It was Carol the Meadow Lark.

Peter was so intent watching these two friends of his that he took no heed to his footsteps. Suddenly there

was a whirr from almost under his very nose and he stopped short, so startled that he almost squealed right

out. In a second he recognized Mrs. Meadow Lark. He watched her fly over to where Carol was singing. Her

stout little wings moved swiftly for a moment or two, then she sailed on without moving them at all. Then

they fluttered rapidly again until she was flying fast enough to once more sail on them outstretched. The

white outer feathers of her tail showed clearly and reminded Peter of the tail of Sweetvoice the Vesper

Peter sat still until Mrs. Meadow Lark had alighted on the fence near Carol. Then he prepared to hurry on, for

he was anxious for a bit of gossip with these good friends of his. But just before he did this he just happened

to glance down and there, almost at his very feet, he caught sight of something that made him squeal right

out. It was a nest with four of the prettiest eggs Peter ever had seen. They were white with brown spots all

over them. Had it not been for the eggs he never would have seen that nest, never in the world. It was made

of dry, brown grass and was cunningly hidden is a little clump of dead grass which fell over it so as to almost

completely hide it. But the thing that surprised Peter most was the clever way in which the approach to it was

"Oh!" cried Peter, and his eyes sparkled with pleasure. "This must be the nest of Mrs. Meadow Lark. No

wonder I have never been able to find it, when I have looked for it. It is just luck and nothing else that I have

found it this time. I think it is perfectly wonderful that Mrs. Meadow Lark can hide her home in such a way. I

Peter sat up straight and anxiously looked this way and that way. Jimmy Skunk was nowhere to be seen and

Peter gave a little sigh of relief. Very carefully he walked around that nest and its little tunnel, then hurried

"It's perfectly beautiful, Carol!" he cried, just as soon as he was near enough. "And I won't tell a single soul!"

"I hope not. I certainly hope not," cried Mrs. Meadow Lark in an anxious tone. "I never would have another

single easy minute if I thought you would tell a living soul about my nest. Promise that you won't, Peter.

Peter promptly crossed his heart and promised that he wouldn't tell a single soul. Mrs. Meadow Lark seemed

to feel better. Right away she flew back and Peter turned to watch her. He saw her disappear in the grass, but

it wasn't where he had found the nest. Peter waited a few minutes, thinking that he would see her rise into the

air again and fly over to the nest. But he waited in vain. Then with a puzzled look on his face, he turned to

Carol's eyes twinkled. "I know what you're thinking, Peter," he chuckled. "You are thinking that it is funny

Mrs. Meadow Lark didn't go straight hack to our nest when she seemed so anxious about it. I would have you

to know that she is too clever to do anything so foolish as that. She knows well enough that somebody might

see her and so find our secret. She has walked there from the place where yon saw her disappear in the grass.

That is the way we always do when we go to our nest. One never can be too careful these days."

Then Carol began to pour out his happiness once more, quite as if nothing had interrupted his song.

Somehow Peter never before had realized how handsome Carol the Meadow Lark was. As he faced Peter, the

latter saw a beautiful yellow throat and waistcoat, with a broad black crescent on his breast. There was a

yellow line above each eye. His back was of brown with black markings. His sides were whitish, with spats

and streaks of black. The outer edges of his tail were white. Altogether he was really handsome, far

Having found out Carol's secret, Peter was doubly anxious to find Bob White's home, so he hurried over to

the post where Bob was whistling with all his might. "Bob!" cried Peter. "I've just found Carol's nest and I've

promised to keep it a secret. Won't you show me your nest, too, if I'll promise to keep THAT a secret?"

Rob threw back his head and laughed joyously. "You ought to know, Peter, by this time," said he, "that there

are secrets never to be told to anybody. My nest is one of these. If you find it, all right; but I wouldn't show it

to my very best friend, and I guess I haven't any better friend than you, Peter." Then from sheer happiness he

Peter was disappointed and a little put out. "I guess", said he, "I could find it if I wanted to. I guess it isn't any

better hidden than Mrs. Meadow Lark's, and I found that. Some folks aren't as smart as they think they are."

Bob White, who is sometimes called Quail and sometimes called Partridge, and who is neither, chuckled

heartily. "Go ahead, old Mr. Curiosity, go ahead and hunt all you please," said he. "It's funny to me how some

folks think themselves smart when the truth is they simply have been lucky. You know well enough that you

just happened to find Carol's nest. If you happen to find mine, I won't have a word to say."

Bob White took a long breath, tipped his head back until his bill was pointing right up in the blue, blue sky,

As Peter looked at him it came over him that Bob White was the plumpest bird of his acquaintance. He was

so plump that his body seemed almost round. The shortness of his tail added to this effect, for Bob has a very

short tail. The upper part of his coat was a handsome reddishbrown with dark streaks and light edgings. His

sides and the upper part of his breast were of the same handsome reddishbrown, while underneath he was

whitish with little bars of black. His throat was white, and above each eye was a broad white stripe. His white

throat was bordered with black, and a band of black divided the throat from the white line above each eye.

The top of his head was mixed black and brown. Altogether he was a handsome little fellow in a modest way.

Suddenly Bob White stopped whistling and looked down at Peter with a twinkle in his eye. "Why don't you

"I'm going," replied Peter rather shortly, for he knew that Bob knew that he hadn't the least idea where to

look. It might be somewhere on the Green Meadows or it might be in the Old Pasture; Bob hadn't given the

least hint. Peter had a feeling that the nest wasn't far away and that it was on the Green Meadows, so he began

to hunt, running aimlessly this way and that way, all the time feeling very foolish, for of course he knew that

It was very warm down there on the Green Meadows, and Peter grew hot and tired. He decided to run up in

the Old Pasture in the shade of an old brambletangle there. Just the other side of the fence was a path made

by the cows and often used by Farmer Brown's boy and Reddy Fox and others who visited the Old Pasture.

Along this Peter scampered, lippertylippertylip, on his way to the brambletangle. He didn't look either to

right or left. It didn't occur to him that there would be any use at all, for of course no one would build a nest

And so it was that in his happygolucky way Peter scampered right past a clump of tall weeds close beside

the path without the least suspicion that cleverly hidden in it was the very thing he was looking for. With

laughter in her eyes, shrewd little Mrs. Bob White, with sixteen white eggs under her, watched him pass. She

had chosen that very place for her nest because she knew that it was the last place anyone would expect to

find it. The very fact that it seemed the most dangerous place she could have chosen made it the safest.

Johnny and Polly Chuck had made their home between the roots of an old appletree in the far corner of the

Old Orchard. You know they have their bedroom way down in the ground, and it is reached by a long hall.

They had dug their home between the roots of that old appletree because they had discovered that there was

just room enough between those spreading roots for them to pass in and out, and there wasn't room to dig the

entrance any larger. So they felt quite safe from Reddy Fox; and Bowser the Hound, either of whom would

Right in front of their doorway was a very nice doorstep of shining sand where Johnny Chuck delighted to sit

when he had a full stomach and nothing else to do. Johnny's nearest neighbors had made their home only

about five feet above Johnny's head when he sat up on his doorstep. They were Skimmer the Tree Swallow

and his trim little wife, and the doorway of their home was a little round hole in the trunk of that appletree, a

Johnny and Skimmer were the best of friends. Johnny used to delight in watching Skimmer dart out from

beneath the branches of the trees and wheel and turn and glide, now sometimes high in the blue, blue sky, and

again just skimming the tops of the grass, on wings which seemed never to tire. But he liked still better the

bits of gossip when Skimmer would sit in his doorway and chat about his neighbors of the Old Orchard and

his adventures out in the Great World during his long journeys to and from the faraway South.

To Johnny Chuck's way of thinking, there was no one quite so trim and neat appearing as Skimmer with his

snowy white breast and bluegreen back and wings. Two things Johnny always used to wonder at, Skimmer's

"Gracious, Johnny!" exclaimed Skimmer. "I wouldn't have a big bill for anything. I wouldn't know what to do

with it; it would be in the way. You see, I get nearly all my food in the air when I am flying, mosquitoes and

flies and all sorts of small insects with wings. I don't have to pick them off trees and bushes or from the

ground and so I don't need any more of a bill than I have. It's the same way with my legs. Have you ever seen

"And have you ever seen me hopping about in the branches of a tree?" persisted Skimmer.

"The only use I have for feet," continued Skimmer, "is for perching while I rest. I don't need long legs for

walking or hopping about, so Mother Nature has made my legs very short. You see I spend most of my time

"I suppose it's the same with your cousin; Sooty the Chimney Swallow," said Johnny.

"That shows just how much some people know!" twittered Skimmer indignantly. "The idea of calling Sooty a

Swallow! The very idea! I'd leave you to know, Johnny Chuck, that Sooty isn't even related to me. He's a

"He doesn't either. You just think he does because he happens to spend most of his time in the air the way we

Swallows do," sputtered Skimmer. "The Swallow family never would admit such a homely looking fellow as

"Tut, tut, tut, tut! I do believe Skimmer is jealous," cried Jenny Wren, who had happened along just in time to

"Nothing of the sort," declared Skimmer, growing still more indignant. "I'd like to know what there is about

Jenny Wren cocked her tail up in that saucy way of hers and winked at Johnny Chuck. "The way he can fly,"

"The way he can fly!" sputtered Skimmer, "The way he can fly! Why, there never was a day in his life that he

could fly like a Swallow. There isn't any one more graceful on the wing than I am, if I do say so. And there

Just then there was a shrill chatter overhead and all looked up to see Sooty the Chimney Swift racing through

the sky as if having the very best time in the world. His wings would beat furiously and then he would glide

very much as you or I would on skates. It was quite true that he wasn't graceful. But he could twist and turn

"He can use first one wing and then the other, while you have to use both wings at once," persisted Jenny

Wren. "You couldn't, to save your life, go straight down into a chimney, and you know it, Skimmer. He can

"That may be true, but just the same I'm not the least teeny weeny bit jealous of him," said Skimmer, and

"Is it really true that he and Sooty are not related?" asked Johnny Chuck, as they watched Skimmer cutting

Jenny nodded. "It's quite true, Johnny," said site. "Sooty belongs to another family altogether. He's a funny

fellow. Did yon ever in your life see such narrow wings? And his tail is hardly worth calling a tail."

Johnny Chuck laughed. "Way up there in the air he looks almost alike at both ends," said he. "Is he all

"He isn't black at all," declared Jenny. "He is sootybrown, rather grayish on the throat and breast. Speaking

of that tail of his, the feathers end in little, sharp, stiff points. He uses them in the same way that Downy the

Woodpecker uses his tail feathers when he braces himself with them on the trunk of a tree."

"But I've never seen Sooty on the trunk of a tree," protested Johnny Chuck. "In fact, I've never seen him

"And you never will," snapped Jenny. "The only place he ever alights is inside a chimney or inside a hollow

tree. There he clings to the side just as Downy the Woodpecker clings to the trunk of a tree."

Johnny looked as if he didn't quite believe this. "If that's the case where does he nest?" he demanded. "And

"In a chimney, stupid. In a chimney, of course," retorted Jenny Wren. "He fastens his nest right to the inside

of a chimney. He makes a regular little basket of twigs and fastens it to the side of the chimney."

"Are you trying to stuff me with nonsense?" asked Johnny Chuck indignantly. "How can he fasten his nest to

the side of a chimney unless there's a little shelf to put it on? And if be never alights, how does he get the

little sticks to make a nest of? I'd just like to know how you expect me to believe any such story as that."

Jenny Wren's sharp little eyes snapped. "If you half used your eyes you wouldn't have to ask me how he gets

those little sticks," she sputtered. "If you had watched him when he was flying close to the tree tops you

would have seen him clutch little dead twigs in his claws and snap them off without stopping. That's the way

he gets his little sticks, Mr. Smarty, He fastens them together with a sticky substance he has in his mouth, and

he fastens the nest to the side of the chimney in the same way. You can believe it or not, but it's so."

"I believe it, Jenny, I believe it," replied Johnny Chuck very humbly. "If you please, Jenny, does Sooty get all

"Of course," replied Jenny tartly. "He eats nothing but insects, and he catches them flying. Now I must get

"Just tell me one more thing," cried Johnny Chuck hastily. "Hasn't Sooty any near relatives as most birds

"He hasn't any one nearer than some sort of second cousins, Boomer the Nighthawk, Whippoorwill, and

"What?" cried Johnny Chuck, quite as if he couldn't believe he had heard aright. "Did you say Hummer the

"I don't believe it," muttered Johnny Chuck out loud. "I don't believe Jenny Wren knows what she's talking

"What is it Jenny Wren has said that you don't believe?" demanded Skimmer the Tree Swallow, as he once

"She said that Hummer the Hummingbird is a sort of second cousin to Sooty the Chimney Swift," replied

"Well, it's so, if you don't believe it," declared Skimmer. "I don't see that that is any harder to believe than

that you are cousin to Striped Chipmunk and Nappy Jack the Gray Squirrel. To look at you no one would

ever think you are a member of the Squirrel family, but you must admit that you are."

Johnny Chuck nodded his head thoughtfully. "Yes," said he, "I am, even if I don't look it. This is a funny

world, isn't it? You can't always tell by a person's looks who he may be related to. Now that I've found out

that Sooty isn't related to you and is related to Hummer, I'll never dare guess again about anybody's relatives.

I always supposed Twitter the Martin to be a relative of yours, but now that I've learned that Sooty isn't, I

"Oh, yes, he is," replied Skimmer promptly. "He's the largest of the Swallow family, and we all feel very

"Is he as black as he looks, flying round up in the air?" asked Johnny Chuck. "He never comes down here as

"Yes," replied Skimmer, "he dresses all in black, but it is a beautiful blueblack, and when the sun shines on

his back it seems to be almost purple. That is why some folks call him the Purple Martin. He is one of the

most social fellows I know of. I like a home by myself, such as I've got here, but Twitter loves company. He

likes to live in an apartment house with a lot of his own kind. That is why he always looks for one of those

houses with a lot of rooms in it, such as Farmer Brown's boy has put up on the top of that tall pole out in his

back yard. He pays for all the trouble Farmer Brown's boy took to put that house up. If there is anybody who

"How about me?" demanded a new voice, as a graceful form skimmed over Johnny Chuck's head, and turning

like a flash, came back. It was Forktail the Barn Swallow, the handsomest and one of the most graceful of all

the Swallow family. He passed so close to Johnny that the latter had a splendid chance to see and admire his

glistening steelblue back and the beautiful chestnutbrown of his forehead and throat with its narrow black

collar, and the brown to buff color of his under parts. But the thing that was most striking about him was his

"I would know him as far as I could see him just by his tail alone," exclaimed Johnny. "I don't know of any

"There isn't any other like it," declared Skimmer. "If Twitter the Martin is the largest of our family, Forktail is

"How about my usefulness?" demanded Forktail, as he came skimming past again. "Cousin Twitter certainly

does catch a lot of flies and insects but I'm willing to go against him any day to see who can catch the most."

With this he darted away. Watching him they saw him alight on the top of Farmer Brown's barn. "It's funny,"

remarked Johnny Chuck, "but as long as I've known Forktail, and I've known him ever since I was big

enough to know anybody, I've never found out how he builds his nest. I've seen him skimming over the

Green Meadows times without number, and often he comes here to the Old Orchard as he did just now, but

"What?" cried Johnny Chuck. "Do you mean to say he nests on Farmer Brown's barn?"

"No," replied Skimmer. "He nests in it. That's why he is called the Barn Swallow, and why you never have

seen his nest. If you'll just go over to Farmer Brown's barn and look up in the roof, you'll see Forktail's nest

"Me go over to Farmer Brown's barn!" exclaimed Johnny Chuck. "Do you think I'm crazy?"

Skimmer chuckled. "Forktail isn't crazy," said he, "and he goes in and out of that barn all day long. I must say

I wouldn't care to build in such a place myself, but he seems to like it. There's one thing about it, his home is

warm and dry and comfortable, no matter what the weather is. I wouldn't trade with him, though. No, sir, I

wouldn't trade with him for anything. Give me a hollow in a tree well lined with feathers to a nest made of

"Do you mean that such a neatlooking, handsome fellow as Forktail uses mud in his nest?" cried Johnny.

Skimmer bobbed his head. "He does just that," said he. "He's something like Welcome Robin in this respect.

But Johnny Chuck never knew what Skimmer was going to say next, for Skimmer happened at that instant to

glance up. For an instant he sat motionless with horror, then with a shriek he darted out into the air. At the

sound of that shriek Mrs. Skimmer, who all the time had been sitting on her eggs inside the hollow of the

tree, darted out of her doorway, also shrieking. For a moment Johnny Chuck couldn't imagine what could be

the trouble. Then a slight rustling drew his eyes to a crotch in the tree a little above the doorway of Skimmer's

home. There, partly coiled around a branch, with head swaying to and fro, eyes glittering and forked tongue

darting out and in, as he tried to look down into Skimmer's nest, was Mr. Blacksnake.

It seemed to Johnny as if in a minute every bird in the Old Orchard had arrived on the scene. Such a shrieking

and screaming as there was! First one and then another would dart at Mr. Blacksnake, only to lose courage at

the last second and turn aside. Poor Skimmer and his little wife were frantic. They did their utmost to distract

Mr. Blacksnake's attention, darting almost into his very face and then away again before he could strike. But

Mr. Blacksnake knew that they were powerless to hurt him, and he knew that there were eggs in that nest.

There is nothing he loves better than eggs unless it is a meal of baby birds. Beyond hissing angrily two or

three times he paid no attention to Skimmer or his friends, but continued to creep nearer the entrance to that

At last he reached a position where he could put his head in the doorway. As he did so, Skimmer and Mrs.

Skimmer each gave a little cry of hopelessness and despair. But no sooner had his head disappeared in the

hole in the old appletree than Scrapper the Kingbird struck him savagely. Instantly Mr. Blacksnake

withdrew his head, hissing fiercely, and struck savagely at the birds nearest him. Several times the same thing

happened. No sooner would his head disappear in that hole than Scrapper or one or the other of Skimmer's

friends, braver than the rest, would dart in and peck at him viciously, and all the time all the birds were

screaming as only excited feathered folk can. Johnny Chuck was quite as excited as his feathered friends, and

so intent watching the hated black robber that he had eyes for nothing else. Suddenly he heard a step just

behind him. He turned his head and then frantically dived head first down into his hole. He had looked right

"Ha, ha!" cried Farmer Brown's boy, "I thought as much!" And with a long switch he struck Mr. Blacksnake

just as the latter had put his head in that doorway, resolved to get those eggs this time. But when he felt that

switch and heard the voice of Farmer Brown's boy he changed his mind in a flash. He simply let go his hold

on that tree and dropped. The instant he touched the ground he was off like a shot for the safety of the old

stone wall, Farmer Brown's boy after him. Farmer Brown's boy didn't intend to kill Mr. Blacksnake, but he

did want to give him such a fright that he wouldn't visit the Old Orchard again in a hurry, and this he quite

No sooner had Mr. Blacksnake disappeared than all the birds set up such a rejoicing that you would have

thought they, and not Farmer Brown's boy, had saved the eggs of Mr. and Mrs. Skimmer. Listening to them,

By the sounds of rejoicing among the feathered folks of the Old Orchard Johnny Chuck knew that it was

quite safe for him to come out. He was eager to tell Skimmer the Tree Swallow how glad he was that Mr.

Blacksnake had been driven away before he could get Skimmer's eggs. As he poked his head out of his

doorway he became aware that something was still wrong in the Old Orchard. Into the glad chorus there

broke a note of distress and sorrow. Johnny instantly recognized the voices of Welcome Robin and Mrs.

Robin. There is not one among his feathered neighbors who can so express worry and sorrow as can the

Johnny was just in time to see all the birds hurrying over to that part of the Old Orchard where the Robins

had built their home. The rejoicing suddenly gave way to cries of indignation and anger, and Johnny caught

the words, "Robber! Thief! Wretch!" It appeared that there was just as much excitement over there as there

had been when Mr. Blacksnake had been discovered trying to rob Skimmer and Mrs. Skimmer. It couldn't be

Mr. Blacksnake again, because Farmer Brown's boy had chased him in quite another direction.

"What is it now?" asked Johnny of Skimmer, who was still excitedly discussing with Mrs. Skimmer their

Johnny Chuck waited patiently. The excitement among the birds seemed to increase, and the chattering and

angry cries grew louder. Only the voices of Welcome and Mrs. Robin were not angry. They were mournful,

as if Welcome and Mrs. Robin were heartbroken. Presently Skimmer came back to tell Mrs. Skimmer the

"The Robins have lost their eggs!" he cried excitedly. "All four have been broken and eaten. Mrs. Robin left

them to come over here to help drive away Mr. Blacksnake, and while she was here some one ate those eggs.

Nobody knows who it could have been, because all the birds of the Old Orchard were over here at that time.

It might leave been Chatterer the Red Squirrel, or it might have been Sammy Jay, or it might have been

Creaker the Grackle, or it might have been Blacky the Crow. Whoever it was just took that chance to sneak

Just then from over towards the Green Forest sounded a mocking "Caw, caw, caw!" Instantly the noise in the

Old Orchard ceased for a moment. Then it broke out afresh. There wasn't a doubt now in any one's mind.

Blacky the Crow was the robber. How those tongues did go! There was nothing too bad to say about Blacky.

And such dreadful things as those birds promised to do to Blacky the Crow if ever they should catch him in

"Caw, caw, caw!" shouted Blacky from the distance, and his voice sounded very much as if he thought he

had done something very smart. It was quite clear that at least he was not sorry for what he had done.

All the birds were so excited and so angry, as they gathered around Welcome and Mrs. Robin trying to

comfort them, that it was some time before their indignation meeting broke up and they returned to their own

homes and duties. Almost at once there was another cry of distress. Mr. and Mrs. Chebec had been robbed of

their eggs! While they had been attending the indignation meeting at the home of the Robins, a thief had

Of course right away all the birds hurried over to sympathize with the Chebecs and to repeat against the

unknown thief all the threats they had made against Blacky the Crow. They knew it couldn't have been

Blacky this time because they had heard Blacky cawing over on the edge of the Green Forest. In the midst of

the excited discussion as to who the thief was, Weaver the Orchard Oriole spied a blue and white feather on

At the sight of that telltale feather all the birds knew that Weaver was right, and led by Scrapper the Kingbird

they began a noisy search of the Old Orchard for the sly robber. But Sammy wasn't to be found, and they

soon gave up the search, none daring to stay longer away from his own home lest something should happen

there. Welcome and Mrs. Robin continued to cry mournfully, but little Mr. and Mrs. Chebec bore their

"There is one thing about it," said Mr. Chebec to his sorrowful little wife, "that egg of Sally Sly's went with

"That's true," said she. "There is no use crying over what can't be helped. It is a waste of time to sit around

crying. Come on, Chebec, let's look for a place to build another nest. Next time I won't leave the eggs

Meanwhile Jenny Wren's tongue was fairly flying as she chattered to Peter Rabbit, who had come up in the

"Blacky the Crow has a heart as black as his coat, and his cousin Sammy Jay isn't much better," declared

"Wait a minute," cried Peter. "Do you mean to say that Blacky the Crow and Sammy Jay are cousins?"

"For goodness' sake, Peter!" exclaimed Jenny, "do you mean to say that you don't know that? Of course

they're cousins. They don't look much alike, but they belong to the same family. I would expect almost

anything bad of any one as black as Blacky the Crow. But how such a handsome fellow as Sammy Jay can do

such dreadful things I don't understand. He isn't as bad as Blacky, because he does do a lot of good. He

"There are no sharper eyes anywhere than those of Sammy Jay, and I'll have to say this for him, that

whenever he discovers any danger he always gives us warning. He has saved the lives of a good many of us

feathered folks in this way. If it wasn't for this habit of stealing our eggs I wouldn't have a word to say against

him, but at that, he isn't as bad as Blacky the Crow. They say Blacky does some good by destroying white

grubs and some other harmful pests, but he's a regular cannibal, for he is just as fond of young birds as he is

of eggs, and the harm he does in this way is more than the good he does in other ways. He's bold, black, and

Remembering her household duties, Jenny Wren disappeared inside her house in her usual abrupt fashion.

Peter hung around for a while but finding no one who would take the time to talk to him he suddenly decided

to go over to the Green Forest to look for some of his friends there. He had gone but a little way in the Green

Forest when he caught a glimpse of a blue form stealing away through the trees. He knew it in an instant, for

there is no one with such a coat but Sammy Jay. Peter glanced up in the tree from which Sammy had flown

and there he saw a nest in a crotch halfway up. "I wonder," thought Peter, "if Sammy was stealing eggs there,

or if that is his own nest." Then he started after Sammy as fast as he could go, lippertylippertylip. As he

ran he happened to look back and was just in time to see Mrs. Jay slip on to the nest. Then Peter knew that he

"I've found out your secret, Sammy Jay!" cried Peter when at last he caught up with Sammy.

"Then I hope you'll be gentleman enough to keep it," grumbled Sammy, looking not at all pleased.

"Certainly," replied Peter with dignity. "I wouldn't think of telling any one. My, what a handsome fellow you

Sammy looked pleased. He is a little bit vain, is Sammy Jay. There is no denying that he is handsome. He is

just a bit bigger than Welcome Robin. His back is grayishblue. His tail is a bright blue crossed with little

black bars and edged with white. His wings are blue with white and black bars. His throat and breast are a

soft grayishwhite, and he wears a collar of black. On his head he wears a pointed cap, a very convenient

Sammy didn't look the least bit put out. "Because I like eggs," he replied promptly. "If people will leave their

eggs unguarded they must expect to lose them. How did you know I took those eggs?"

"Never mind, Sammy; never mind. A little bird told me," retorted Peter mischievously.

Sammy opened his mouth for a sharp reply, but instead he uttered a cry of warning. "Run, Peter! Run! Here

Peter dived headlong under a great pile of brush. There he was quite safe. While he waited for Reddy Fox to

go away he thought about Sammy Jay. "It's funny," he mused, "how so much good and so much bad can be

mixed together. Sammy Jay stole Chebec's eggs, and then he saved my life. I just know he would have done

as much for Mr. and Mrs. Chebec, or for any other feathered neighbor. He can only steal eggs for a little

while in the spring. I guess on the whole he does more good than harm. I'm going to think so anyway."

Reddy Fox wasted very little time waiting for Peter Rabbit to come out from under that pile of brush where

he had hidden at Sammy Jay's warning. After making some terrible threats just to try to frighten Peter, he

trotted away to look for some Mice. Peter didn't mind those threats at all. He was used to them. He knew that

he was safe where he was, and all he had to do was to stay there until Reddy should be so far away that it

Just to pass away the time Peter took a little nap. When he awoke he sat for a few minutes trying to make up

his mind where to go and what to do next. From 'way over in the direction of the Old Pasture the voice of

"Reddy Fox has gone back to the Old Pasture and Blacky has discovered him there," he thought happily. You

see, he understood what Blacky was saying. To you or me Blacky would have been saying simply, "Caw!

Caw!" But to all the little people of the Green Forest and Green Meadows within hearing he was shouting,

"I wonder," thought Peter, "where Blacky is nesting this year. Last year his nest was in a tall pinetree not far

from the edge of the Green Forest. I believe I'll run over there and see if he has a new nest near the old one."

So Peter scampered over to the tall pine in which was Blacky's old nest. As he sat with his head tipped back,

staring up at it, it struck him that that nest didn't look so old, after all. In fact, it looked as if it had recently

been fixed up quite like new. He was wondering about this and trying to guess what it meant, when Blacky

There was something in his bill, though what it was Peter couldn't see. Almost at once a black head appeared

above the edge of the nest and a black bill seized the thing which Blacky had brought. Then the head

"As sure as I live," thought Peter, "that was Mrs. Blacky, and Blacky brought her some food so that she

would not have to leave those eggs she must have up there. He may be the blackhearted robber every one

says he is, but he certainly is a good husband. He's a better husband than some others I know, of whom

nothing but good is said. It just goes to show that there is some good in the very worst folks. Blacky is a sly

old rascal. Usually he is as noisy as any one I know, but he came and went without making a sound. Now I

think of it, I haven't once heard his voice near here this spring. I guess if Farmer Brown's boy could find this

nest he would get even with Blacky for pulling up his corn. I know a lot of clever people, but no one quite so

Twice, while Peter watched, Blacky returned with food for Mrs. Blacky. Then, tired of keeping still so long,

Peter decided to run over to a certain place farther in the Green Forest which was seldom visited by any one.

It was a place Peter usually kept away from. It was pure curiosity which led him to go there now. The

discovery that Blacky the Crow was using his old nest had reminded Peter that Redtail the Hawk uses his old

nest year after year, and he wanted to find out if Redtail had come back to it this year.

Halfway over to that lonesome place in the Green Forest a trim little bird flew up from the ground, hopped

from branch to branch of a tree, walked along a limb, then from pure happiness threw back his head and

cried, "Teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher! " each time a little louder than before. It was Teacher the

In his delight at seeing this old friend, Peter quite forgot Redtail the Hawk. "Oh, Teacher!" cried Peter. "I'm

Teacher stopped singing and looked down at Peter. "If you are so glad why haven't you been over to see me

Peter looked a little foolish. "The truth is, Teacher," said he very humbly, "I have been visiting the Old

Orchard so much and learning so many things that this is the first chance I have had to come 'way over here

in the Green Forest. You see, I have been learning a lot of things about you feathered folks, things I hadn't

"That depends on what it is," replied Teacher, eyeing Peter a little suspiciously.

"Is that all?" asked Teacher. Then without waiting for a reply he added, "It is because of the way Mrs.

Teacher and I build our nest. Some people think it is like an oven and so they call us Oven Birds. I think that

is a silly name myself, quite as silly as Golden Crowned Thrush, which is what some people call me. I'm not

a Thrush. I'm not even related to the Thrush family. I'm a Warbler, a Wood Warbler."

"I suppose," said Peter, looking at Teacher thoughtfully, "they've given you that name because you are

dressed something like the Thrushes. That olivegreen coat, and white waistcoat all streaked and spotted with

black, certainly does remind me of the Thrush family. If you were not so much smaller than any of the

Thrushes I should almost think you were one myself. Why, you are not very much bigger than Chippy the

Chipping Sparrow, only you've got longer legs. I suppose that's because you spend so much time on the

ground. I think that just Teacher is the best name for you. No one who has once heard you could ever mistake

Teacher's eyes twinkled. "I guess it won't do any harm to tell you that much," said he. "No, it isn't in a tree. It

is on the ground and, if I do say it, it is as well hidden a nest as anybody can build. Oh, Peter, watch your

Peter, who had just started to hop off to his right, stopped short in sheer astonishment. Just in front of him

was a tiny mound of dead leaves, and a few feet beyond Mrs. Teacher was fluttering about on the ground as if

badly hurt. Peter simply didn't know what to make of it. Once more he made a movement as if to hop.

"It's under that little mound of leaves right in front of your feet!" cried Teacher. "I wasn't going to tell you,

Very carefully Peter walked around the little bunch of leaves and peered under them from the other side.

There, sure enough, was a nest beneath them, and in it four speckled eggs. "I won't tell a soul, Teacher. I

promise you I won't tell a soul," declared Peter very earnestly. "I understand now why you are called Oven

Feeling that Mr. and Mrs. Teacher would feel easier in their minds if he left them, Peter said goodby and

started on for the lonesome place in the Green Forest where he knew the old nest of Redtail the Hawk had

been. As he drew near the place he kept sharp watch through the treetops for a glimpse of Redtail. Presently

he saw him high in the blue sky, sailing lazily in big circles. Then Peter became very, very cautious. He

tiptoed forward, keeping under cover as much as possible. At last, peeping out from beneath a little

hemlocktree, he could see Redtail's old nest. He saw right away that it was bigger than it had been when he

saw it last. Suddenly there was a chorus of hungry cries and Peter saw Mrs. Redtail approaching with a

Mouse in her claws. From where he sat he could see four funny heads stretched above the edge of the nest.

"Redtail is using his old nest again and has got a family already," exclaimed Peter. "I guess this is no place

Just then Redtail himself dropped down out of the blue, blue sky and alighted on a tree close at hand. Peter

decided that the best thing he could do was to sit perfectly still where he was. He had a splendid view of

Redtail, and he couldn't help but admire this big member of the Hawk family. The upper parts of his coat

were a dark grayishbrown mixed with touches of chestnut color. The upper part of his breast was streaked

with grayishbrown and buff, the lower part having but few streaks. Below this were black spots and bars

ending in white. But it was the tail which Peter noticed most of all. It was a rich reddishbrown with a

narrow black band near its end and a white tip. Peter understood at once why this big Hawk is called Redtail.

It was not until Mr. and Mrs. Redtail had gone in quest of more food for their hungry youngsters that Peter

dared steal away. As soon as he felt it safe to do so, he headed for home as fast as he could go,

lippertylippertylip. He knew that he wouldn't feel safe until that lonesome place in the Green Forest was

Yet if the truth be known, Peter had less cause to worry than would have been the case had it been some other

member of the Hawk family instead of Redtail. And while Redtail and his wife do sometimes catch some of

their feathered and furred neighbors, and once in a while a chicken, they do vastly more good than harm.

Peter Rabbit's intentions were of the best. Once safely away from that lonesome part of the Green Forest

where was the home of Redtail the Hawk, he intended to go straight back to the dear Old Briarpatch. But he

was not halfway there when from another direction in the Green Forest there came a sound that caused him to

stop short and quite forget all about home. It was a sound very like distant thunder. It began slowly at first

Peter laughed right out. "That's Strutter the Stuffed Grouse!" he cried joyously. "I had forgotten all about him.

I certainly must go over and pay him a call and find out where Mrs. Grouse is. My, how Strutter can drum!"

Peter promptly headed towards that distant thunder. As he drew nearer to it, it sounded louder and louder.

Presently Peter stopped to try to locate exactly the place where that sound, which now was more than ever

like thunder, was coming from. Suddenly Peter remembered something. "I know just where he is," said he to

himself. "There's a big, mossy, hollow log over yonder, and I remember that Mrs. Grouse once told me that

Very, very carefully Peter stole forward, making no sound at all. At last he reached a place where he could

peep out and see that big, mossy, hollow log. Sure enough, there was Strutter the Ruffed Grouse. When Peter

first saw him he was crouched on one end of the log, a fluffy ball of reddishbrown, black and gray feathers.

He was resting. Suddenly he straightened up to his full height, raised his tail and spread it until it was like an

open fan above his back. The outer edge was gray, then came a broad band of black, followed by bands of

gray, brown and black. Around his neck was a wonderful ruff of black. His reddishbrown wings were

dropped until the tips nearly touched the log. His full breast rounded out and was buff color with black

markings. He was of about the size of the little Bantam hens Peter had seen in Farmer Brown's henyard.

In the most stately way you can imagine Strutter walked the length of that mossy log. He was a perfect

picture of pride as he strutted very much like Tom Gobbler the big Turkey cock. When he reached the end of

the log he suddenly dropped his tail, stretched himself to his full height and his wings began to beat, first

slowly then faster and faster, until they were just a blur. They seemed to touch above his back but when they

came down they didn't quite strike his sides. It was those fast moving wings that made the thunder. It was so

loud that Peter almost wanted to stop his ears. When it ended Strutter settled down to rest and once more

Peter watched him thunder several times and then ventured to show himself. "Strutter, you are wonderful!

Strutter threw out his chest proudly. "That is just what Mrs. Grouse says," he replied. "I don't know of any

"Attending to her household affairs, as a good housewife should," retorted Strutter promptly.

"I suppose," said Peter artfully, "her nest is somewhere near here on the ground."

"It's on the ground, Peter, but as to where it is I am not saying a word. It may or it may not be near here. Do

Of course Peter said he did, and that was sufficient excuse for Strutter to show off. Peter stayed a while

longer to gossip, but finding Strutter more interested in thundering than in talking, he once more started for

"I really would like to know where that nest is," said he to himself as he scampered along. "I suppose Mrs.

On his way he passed a certain big tree. All around the ground was carpeted with brown, dead leaves. There

were no bushes or young trees there. Peter never once thought of looking for a nest. It was the last place in

the world he would expect to find one. When he was well past the big tree there was a soft chuckle and from

among the brown leaves right at the foot of that big tree a head with a pair of the brightest eyes was raised a

"He didn't see me at all," chuckled Mrs. Grouse, as she settled down once more. "That is what comes of

having a cloak so like the color of these nice brown leaves. He isn't the first one who has passed me without

seeing me at all. It is better than trying to hide a nest, and I certainly am thankful to Old Mother Nature for

the cloak she gave me. I wonder if every one of these twelve eggs will hatch. If they do, I certainly will have

Meanwhile Peter hurried on in his usual happygolucky fashion until he came to the edge of the Green

Forest. Out on the Green Meadows just beyond he caught sight of a black form walking about in a stately

way and now and then picking up something. It reminded him of Blacky the Crow, but he knew right away

that it wasn't Blacky, because it was so much smaller, being not more than half as big.

"It's Creaker the Grackle. He was one of the first to arrive this spring and I'm ashamed of myself for not

having called on him," thought Peter, as he hopped out and started across the Green Meadows towards

Creaker. "What a splendid long tail he has. I believe Jenny Wren told me that he belongs to the Blackbird

family. He looks so much like Blacky the Crow that I suppose this is why they call him Crow Blackbird."

Just then Creaker turned in such a way that the sun fell full on his head and back. "Why! Whyee!"

exclaimed Peter, rubbing his eyes with astonishment. "He isn't just black! He's beautiful, simply beautiful,

It was true. Creaker the Grackle with the sun shining on him was truly beautiful. His head and neck, his throat

and upper breast, were a shining blueblack, while his back was a rich, shining brassygreen. His wings and

tail were much like his head and neck. As Peter watched it seemed as if the colors were constantly changing.

This changing of colors is called iridescence. One other thing Peter noticed and this was that Creaker's eyes

were yellow. Just at the moment Peter couldn't remember any other bird with yellow eyes.

"I'm glad you think so," replied Creaker. "I'm not at all vain, but there are mighty few birds I would change

"IsisMrs. Creaker dressed as handsomely as you are?" asked Peter rather timidly.

Creaker shook his head. "Not quite," said he. "She likes plain black better. Some of the feathers on her back

shine like mine, but she says that she has no time to show off in the sun and to take care of fine feathers."

"Over home," replied Creaker, pulling a white grub out of the roots of the grass. "We've got a nest over there

in one of those pinetrees on the edge of the Green Forest and I expect any day now we will have four

hungry babies to feed. I shall have to get busy then. You know I am one of those who believe that every

"I'm glad to hear you say it," declared Peter, nodding his head with approval quite as if he was himself the

"Ask as many questions as you like. I don't have to answer them unless I want to," retorted Creaker.

"Is it true that you steal the eggs of other birds?" Peter blurted the question out rather hurriedly.

Creaker's yellow eyes began to twinkle. "That is a very personal question," said he. "I won't go so far as to

say I steal eggs, but I've found that eggs are very good for my constitution and if I find a nest with nobody

around I sometimes help myself to the eggs. You see the owner might not come back and then those eggs

"That's no excuse at all," declared Peter. "I believe you're no better than Sammy Jay and Blacky the Crow."

Creaker chuckled, but he did not seem to be at all offended. Just then he heard Mrs. Creaker calling him and

with a hasty farewell he spread his wings and headed for the Green Forest. Once in the air he seemed just

plain black. Peter watched him out of sight and then once more headed for the dear Old Briarpatch.

Just out of curiosity, and because he possesses what is called the wandering foot, which means that he

delights to roam about, Peter Rabbit had run over to the bank of the Big River. There were plenty of bushes,

clumps of tall grass, weeds and tangles of vines along the bank of the Big River, so that Peter felt quite safe

there. He liked to sit gazing out over the water and wonder where it all came from and where it was going and

He was doing this very thing on this particular morning when he happened to glance up in the blue, blue sky.

There he saw a broadwinged bird sailing in wide, graceful circles. Instantly Peter crouched a little lower in

his hidingplace, for he knew this for a member of the Hawk family and Peter has learned by experience that

the only way to keep perfectly safe when one of these hookclawed, hookbilled birds is about is to keep out

So now he crouched very close to the ground and kept his eyes fixed on the big bird sailing so gracefully high

up in the blue, blue sky over the Big River. Suddenly the stranger paused in his flight and for a moment

appeared to remain in one place, his great wings heating rapidly to hold him there. Then those wings were

closed and with a rush he shot down straight for the water, disappearing with a great splash. Instantly Peter

"It's Plunger the Osprey fishing, and I've nothing to fear from him," he cried happily.

Out of the water, his great wings flapping, rose Plunger. Peter looked eagerly to see if he had caught a fish,

but there was nothing in Plunger's great, curved claws. Either that fish had been too deep or had seen Plunger

and darted away just in the nick of time. Peter had a splendid view of Plunger. He was just a little bigger than

Redtail the Hawk. Above he was dark brown, his head and neck marked with white. His tail was grayish,

crossed by several narrow dark bands and tipped with white. His under parts were white with some light

brown spots on his breast. Peter could see clearly the great, curved claws which are Plunger's fishhooks.

Up, up, up he rose, going round and round in a spiral. When he was well up in the blue, blue sky, he began to

sail again in wide circles as when Peter had first seen him. It wasn't long before he again paused and then shot

down towards the water. This time he abruptly spread his great wings just before reaching the water so that

he no more than wet his feet. Once more a fish had escaped him. But Plunger seemed not in the least

discouraged. He is a true fisherman and every true fisherman possesses patience. Up again he spiraled until

he was so high that Peter wondered how he could possibly see a fish so far below. You see, Peter didn't know

that it is easier to see down into the water from high above it than from close to it. Then, too, there are no

more wonderful eyes than those possessed by the members of the Hawk family. And Plunger the Osprey is a

A third time Plunger shot down and this time, as in his first attempt, he struck the water with a great splash

and disappeared. In an instant he reappeared, shaking the water from him in a silver spray and flapping

heavily. This time Fetes could gee a great shining fish in his claws. It was heavy, as Peter could tell by the

way in which Plunger flew. He headed towards a tall tree on the other bank of the Big River, there to enjoy

his breakfast. He was not more than halfway there when Peter was startled by a harsh scream.

He looked up to see a great bird, with wonderful broad wings, swinging in short circles about Plunger. His

body and wings were dark brown, and his head was snowy white, as was his tail. His great hooked beak was

yellow and his legs were yellow. Peter knew in an instant who it was. There could be no mistake. It was King

Peter's eyes looked as if they would pop out of his head, for it was quite plain to him that King Eagle was

after Plunger, and Peter didn't understand this at all. You see, he didn't understand what King Eagle was

screaming. But Plunger did. King Eagle was screaming, "Drop that fish! Drop that fish!"

Plunger didn't intend to drop that fish if he could help himself. It was his fish. Hadn't he caught it himself? He

didn't intend to give it up to any robber of the air, even though that robber was King Eagle himself, unless he

was actually forced to. So Plunger began to dodge and twist and turn in the air, all the time mounting higher

and higher, and all the time screaming harshly, "Robber! Thief! I won't drop this fish! It's mine! It's mine!"

Now the fish was heavy, so of course Plunger couldn't fly as easily and swiftly as if he were carrying nothing.

Up, up he went, but all the time King Eagle went up with him, circling round him, screaming harshly, and

threatening to strike him with those great cruel, curved claws. Peter watched them, so excited that he fairly

danced. "O, I do hope Plunger will get away from that big robber," cried Peter. "He may be king of the air,

Plunger and King Eagle were now high in the air above the Big River. Suddenly King Eagle swung above

Plunger and for an instant seemed to hold himself still there, just as Plunger had done before he had shot

down into the water after that fish. There was a still harsher note in King Eagle's scream. If Peter had been

near enough he would have seen a look of anger and determination in King Eagle's fierce, yellow eyes.

Plunger saw it and knew what it meant. He knew that King Eagle would stand for no more fooling. With a

Down, down, dropped the fish, shining in the sun like a bar of silver. King Eagle's wings half closed and he

shot down like a thunderbolt. Just before the fish reached the water King Eagle struck it with his great claws,

checked himself by spreading his broad wings and tail, and then in triumph flew over to the very tree towards

which Plunger had started when he had caught the fish. There he Hisurely made his breakfast, apparently

As for poor Plunger, he shook himself, screamed angrily once or twice, then appeared to think that it was

wisest to make the best of a bad matter and that there were more fish where that one had come from, for he

once more began to sail in circles over the Big River, searching for a fish near the surface. Peter watched him

until he saw him catch another fish and fly away with it in triumph. King Eagle watched him, too, but having

had a good breakfast he was quite willing to let Plunger enjoy his catch in peace.

Late that afternoon Peter visited the Old Orchard, for he just had to tell Jenny Wren all about what he had

"King Eagle is king simply because he is so big and fierce and strong," sputtered Jenny. "He isn't kingly in

his habits, not the least bit. He never hesitates to rob those smaller than himself, just as you saw him rob

Plunger. He is very fond of fish, and once in a while he catches one for himself when Plunger isn't around to

be robbed, but he isn't a very good fisherman, and he isn't the least bit fussy about his fish. Plunger eats only

fresh fish which he catches himself, but King Eagle will eat dead fish which he finds on the shore. He doesn't

"Well," retorted Jenny Wren, her eyes twinkling, "I wouldn't advise you to run across the Green Meadows in

sight of King Eagle. I am told he is very fond of Rabbit. In fact he is very fond of fresh meat of any kind. He

even catches the babies of Lightfoot the Deer when he gets a chance. He is so swift of wing that even the

members of the Duck family fear him, for he is especially fond of fat Duck. Even Honker the Goose is not

safe from him. King he may he, but he rules only through fear. He is a whiteheaded old robber. The best

thing I can say of him is that he takes a mate for life and is loyal and true to her as long as she lives, and that

is a great many years. By the way, Peter, did you know that she is bigger than he is, and that the young during

the first year after leaving their nest, are bigger than their parents and do not have white heads? By the time

"It is queer, but it is true just the same, whether you believe it or not," retorted Jenny Wren, and whisked out

Peter Rabbit sat on the edge of the Old Briarpatch trying to make up his mind whether to stay at home,

which was the wise and proper thing to do, or to go call on some of the friends he had not yet visited. A

sharp, harsh rattle caused him to look up to see a bird about a third larger than Welcome Robin, and with a

head out of all proportion to the size of his body. He was flying straight towards the Smiling Pool, rattling

harshly as he flew. The mere sound of his voice settled the matter for Peter. "It's Rattles the Kingfisher," he

So Peter started for the Smiling Pool as fast as his long legs could take him, lippertylippertylip. He had lost

sight of Rattles the Kingfisher, and when he reached the back of the Smiling Pool he was in doubt which way

to turn. It was very early in the morning and there was not so much as a ripple on the surface of the Smiling

Pool. As Peter sat there trying to make up his mind which way to go, he saw coming from the direction of the

Big River a great, broadwinged bird, flying slowly. He seemed to have no neck at all, but carried straight

"Longlegs the Great Blue Heron! I wonder if he is coming here," exclaimed Peter. "I do hope so."

Peter stayed right where he was and waited. Nearer and nearer came Longlegs. When he was right opposite

Peter he suddenly dropped his long legs, folded his great wings, and alighted right on the edge of the Smiling

Pool across from where Peter was sitting. If he seemed to have no neck at all when he was flying, now he

seemed to be all neck as he stretched it to its full length. The fact is, his neck was so long that when he was

flying he carried it folded back on his shoulders. Never before had Peter had such an opportunity to see

He stood quite four feet high. The top of his head and throat were white. From the base of his great bill and

over his eye was a black stripe which ended in two long, slender, black feathers hanging from the back of his

head. His bill was longer than his head, stout and sharp like a spear and yellow in color. His long neck was a

light brownishgray. His back and wings were of a bluish color. The bend of each wing and the feathered

parts of his legs were a rustyred. The remainder of his legs and his feet were black. Hanging down over his

breast were beautiful long pearlygray feathers quite unlike any Peter had seen on any of his other feathered

friends. In spite of the length of his legs and the length of his neck he was both graceful and handsome.

He didn't have to wait long to find out. After standing perfectly still with his neck stretched to its full height

until he was sure that no danger was near, Longlegs waded into the water a few steps, folded his neck back on

his shoulders until his long bill seemed to rest on his breast, and then remained as motionless as if there were

no life in him. Peter also sat perfectly still. By and by he began to wonder if Longlegs had gone to sleep. His

own patience was reaching an end and he was just about to go on in search of Rattles the Kingfisher when

like a flash the daggerlike bill of Longlegs shot out and down into the water. When he withdrew it Peter saw

that Longlegs had caught a little fish which he at once proceeded to swallow headfirst. Peter almost laughed

right out as he watched the funny efforts of Longlegs to gulp that fish down his long throat. Then Longlegs

It was no trouble now for Peter to sit still, for he was too interested in watching this lone fisherman to think

of leaving. It wasn't long before Longlegs made another catch and this time it was a fat Pollywog. Peter

thought of how he had watched Plunger the Osprey fishing in the Big River and the difference in the ways of

"Plunger hunts for his fish while Longlegs waits for his fish to come to him," thought Peter. "I wonder if

As if in answer to Peter's thought Longlegs seemed to conclude that no more fish were coming his way. He

stretched himself up to his full height, looked sharply this way and that way to make sure that all was safe,

then began to walk along the edge of the Smiling Pool. He put each foot down slowly and carefully so as to

make no noise. He had gone but a few steps when that great bill darted down like a flash, and Peter saw that

he had caught a careless young Frog. A few steps farther on he caught another Pollywog. Then coming to a

Peter was suddenly reminded of Rattles the Kingfisher, whom he had quite forgotten. From the Big

Hickorytree on the bank, Rattles flew out over the Smiling Pool, hovered for an instant, then plunged down

headfirst. There was a splash, and a second later Rattles was in the air again, shaking the water from him in

a silver spray. In his long, stout, black bill was a little fish. He flew back to a branch of the Big Hickorytree

that hung out over the water and thumped the fish against the branch until it was dead. Then he turned it

about so he could swallow it headfirst. It was a big fish for the size of the fisherman and he had a dreadful

time getting it down. But at last it was down, and Rattles set himself to watch for another. The sun shone full

"I never knew before how handsome Rattles is," thought Peter. He was about the size of Yellow Wing the

Flicker, but his head made him look bigger than he really was. You see, the feathers on top of his head stood

up in a crest, as if they had been brushed the wrong way. His head, back, wings and tail were a bluishgray.

His throat was white and he wore a white collar. In front of each eye was a little white spot. Across his breast

was a belt of bluishgray, and underneath he was white. There were tiny spots of white on his wings, and his

tail was spotted with white. His bill was black and, like that of Longlegs, was long, and stout, and sharp. It

Presently Rattles flew out and plunged into the Smiling Pool again, this time, very near to where Longlegs

was patiently waiting. He caught a fish, for it is not often that Rattles misses. It was smaller than the first one

Peter had seen him catch, and this time as soon as he got back to the Big Hickorytree, he swallowed it

without thumping it against the branch. As for Longlegs, he looked thoroughly put out. For a moment or two

he stood glaring angrily up at Rattles. You see, when Rattles had plunged so close to Longlegs he had

frightened all the fish. Finally Longlegs seemed to make up his mind that there was room for but one

fisherman at a time at the Smiling Pool. Spreading his great wings, folding his long neck back on his

shoulders, and dragging his long legs out behind him, he flew heavily away in the direction of the Big River.

Rattles remained long enough to catch another little fish, and then with a harsh rattle flew off down the

Laughing Brook. "I would know him anywhere by that rattle," thought Peter. "There isn't any one who can

make a noise anything like it. I wonder where he has gone to now. He must have a nest, but I haven't the least

idea what kind of a nest he builds. Hello! There's Grandfather Frog over on his green lily pad. Perhaps he can

So Peter hopped along until he was near enough to talk to Grandfather Frog. "What kind of a nest does

Rattles the Kingfisher build?" repeated Grandfather Frog. "Chugarum, Peter Rabbit! I thought everybody

knew that Rattles doesn't build a nest. At least I wouldn't call it a nest. He lives in a hole in the ground."

Grandfather Frog grinned and his goggly eyes twinkled. "Yes," said he, "Rattles lives in a hole in the

"Just plain hole," retorted Grandfather Frog, grinning more broadly than ever. Then seeing how perplexed

and puzzled Peter looked, he went on to explain. "He usually picks out a high gravelly bank close to the water

and digs a hole straight in just a little way from the top. He makes it just big enough for himself and Mrs.

Rattles to go in and out of comfortably, and he digs it straight in for several feet. I'm told that at the end of it

Grandfather Frog nodded. "If he doesn't, Mrs. Kingfisher does," he replied. "Those big bills of theirs are

picks as well as fish spears. They loosen the sand with those and scoop it out with their feet. I've never seen

the inside of their home myself, but I'm told that their bedroom is lined with fish bones. Perhaps you may call

"I'm going straight down the Laughing Brook to look for that hole," declared Peter, and left in such a hurry

Peter Rabbit scampered along down one bank of the Laughing Brook, eagerly watching for a high, gravelly

bank such as Grandfather Frog had said that Rattles the Kingfisher likes to make his home in. If Peter had

stopped to do a little thinking, he would have known that he was simply wasting time. You see, the Laughing

Brook was flowing through the Green Meadows, so of course there would be no high, gravelly bank, because

the Green Meadows are low. But Peter Rabbit, in his usual heedless way, did no thinking. He had seen

Rattles fly down the Laughing Brook, and so he had just taken it for granted that the home of Rattles must be

At last Peter reached the place where the Laughing Brook entered the Big River. Of course he hadn't found

the home of Rattles. But now he did find something that for the time being made him quite forget Rattles and

his home. Just before it reached the Big River the Laughing Brook wound through a swamp in which were

many tall trees and a great number of young trees. A great many big ferns grew there and were splendid to

He had stopped to rest in a clump of ferns when he was startled by seeing a great bird alight in a tree just a

little way from him. His first thought was that it was a Hawk, so you can imagine how surprised and pleased

he was to discover that it was Mrs. Longlegs. Somehow Peter had always thought of Longlegs the Blue

Heron as never alighting anywhere except on the ground. But here was Mrs. Longlegs in a tree. Having

nothing to fear, Peter crept out from his hiding place that he might see better.

In the tree in which Mrs. Longlegs was perched and just below her he saw a little platform of sticks. He didn't

suspect that it was a nest, because it looked too rough and loosely put together to be a nest. Probably he

wouldn't have thought about it at all had not Mrs. Longlegs settled herself on it right while Peter was

"As I live," thought Peter, "I've found the nest of Longlegs! He and Mrs. Longlegs may be good fishermen

but they certainly are mighty poor nestbuilders. I don't see how under the sun Mrs. Longlegs ever gets on

Peter sat around for a while, but as he didn't care to let his presence be known, and as there was no one to talk

to, he presently made up his mind that being so near the Big River he would go over there to see if Plunger

When he reached the Big River, Plunger was not in sight. Peter was disappointed. He had just about made up

his mind to return the way he had come, when from beyond the swamp, farther up the Big River, he heard the

harsh, rattling cry of Rattles the Kingfisher. It reminded him of what he had come for, and he at once began

Peter came out of the swamp on a little sandy beach. There he squatted for a moment, blinking his eyes, for

out there the sun was very bright. Then a little way beyond him he discovered something that in his eager

curiosity made him quite forget that he was out in the open where it was anything but safe for a Rabbit to be.

What he saw was a high sandy bank. With a hasty glance this way and that way to make sure that no enemy

was in sight, Peter scampered along the edge of the water till he was right at the foot of that sandy bank. Then

he squatted down and looked eagerly for a hole such as he imagined Rattles the Kingfisher might make.

Instead of one hole he saw a lot of holes, but they were very small holes. He knew right away that Rattles

couldn't possibly get in or out of a single one of those holes. In fact, those holes in the bank were no bigger

than the holes Downy the Woodpecker makes in trees. Peter couldn't imagine who or what had made them.

As Peter sat there staring and wondering a trim little head appeared at the entrance to one of those holes. It

was a trim little head with a very small bill and a snowy white throat. At first glance Peter thought it was his

old friend, Skimmer the Tree Swallow, and he was just on the point of asking what under the sun Skimmer

was doing in such a place as that, when with a lively twitter of greeting the owner of that little hole in the

bank flew out and circled over Peter's head. It wasn't Skimmer at all. It was Banker the Bank Swallow, own

cousin to Skimmer the Tree Swallow. Peter recognized him the instant he got a full view of him.

In the first place Banker was a little smaller than Skimmer. Then too, he was not nearly so handsome. His

back, instead of being that beautiful rich steelblue which makes Skimmer so handsome, was a sober

grayishbrown. He was a little darker on his wings and tail. His breast, instead of being all snowy white, was

crossed with a brownish band. His tail was more nearly square across the end than is the case with other

"Whawhawhat were you doing there?" stuttered Peter, his eyes popping right out with curiosity and

"Certainly; why not?" twittered Banker as he snapped up a fly just over Peter's head.

"I don't know any reason why you shouldn't," confessed Peter. "But somehow it is hard for me to think of

birds as living in holes in the ground. I've only just found out that Rattles the Kingfisher does. But I didn't

"Of course," replied Banker. "That is, I helped make it. Mrs. Banker did her share. 'Way in at the end of it

we've got the nicest little nest of straw and feathers. What is more, we've got four white eggs in there, and

By this time the air seemed to be full of Banker's friends, skimming and circling this way and that, and going

"I am like my big cousin, Twitter the Purple Martin, fond of society," explained Banker. "We Bank Swallows

like our homes close together. You said that you had just learned that Rattles the Kingfisher has his home in a

"No, replied Peter. "I was looking for it when I discovered your home. Can you tell me where it is?"

He darted some distance up along the bank and hovered for an instant close to the top. Peter scampered over

there and looked up. There, just a few inches below the top, was another hole, a very much larger hole than

those he had just left. As he was staring up at it a head with a long sharp bill and a crest which looked as if all

the feathers on the top of his head had been brushed the wrong way, was thrust out. It was Rattles himself. He

didn't seem at all glad to see Peter. In fact, he came out and darted at Peter angrily. Peter didn't wait to feel

that sharp daggerlike bill. He took to his heels. He had seen what he started out to find and he was quite

Peter took a short cut across the Green Meadows. It took him past a certain tall, dead tree. A sharp cry of

"Killee, killee, killee!" caused Peter to look up just in time to see a trim, handsome bird whose body was

about the size of Sammy Jay's but whose longer wings and longer tail made him look bigger. One glance was

enough to tell Peter that this was a member of the Hawk family, the smallest of the family. It was Killy the

Sparrow Hawk. He is too small for Peter to fear him, so now Peter was possessed of nothing more than a very

Out over the meadow grass Killy sailed. Suddenly, with beating wings, he kept himself in one place in the air

and then dropped down into the grass. He was up again in an instant, and Peter could see that he had a fat

grasshopper in his claws. Back to the top of the tall, dead tree he flew and there ate the grasshopper. When it

was finished he sat up straight and still, so still that he seemed a part of the tree itself. With those wonderful

eyes of his he was watching for another grasshopper or for a careless Meadow Mouse.

Very trim and handsome was Killy. His back was reddishbrown crossed by bars of black. His tail was

reddishbrown with a band of black near its end and a white tip. His wings were slatyblue with little bars of

black, the longest feathers leaving white bars. Underneath he was a beautiful buff, spotted with black. His

head was bluish with a reddish patch right on top. Before and behind each ear was a black mark. His rather

As Peter sat there admiring Killy, for he was handsome enough for any one to admire, he noticed for the first

time a hole high up in the trunk of the tree, such a hole as Yellow Wing the Flicker might have made and

probably did make. Right away Peter remembered what Jenny Wren had told him about Killy's making his

Just then Killy flew over and dropped in the grass just in front of Peter, where he caught another fat

"It certainly is, Peter," replied Killy. "This is the third summer Mrs. Killy and I have had our home there."

"I am," replied Killy. "They are very fine eating when one can get enough of them."

Killy laughed. It was a shrill laugh. "I should say not," said he. "I eat spiders and worms and all sorts of

insects big enough to give a fellow a decent bite. But for real good eating give me a fat Meadow Mouse. I

don't object to a Sparrow or some other small bird now and then, especially when I have a family of hungry

youngsters to feed. But take it the season through, I live mostly on grasshoppers and insects and Meadow

Peter said that he supposed that this was so, but all the time he kept thinking what a pity it was that Killy ever

killed his feathered neighbors. As soon as he conveniently could he politely bade Killy goodby and hurried

home to the dear Old Briarpatch, there to think over how queer it seemed that a member of the hawk family

should nest in a hollow tree and a member of the Swallow family should dig a hole in the ground.

Boom! Peter Rabbit jumped as if he had been shot. It was all so sudden and unexpected that Peter jumped

before he had time to think. Then he looked foolish. He felt foolish. He had been scared when there was

"Ha, ha, ha, ha" tittered Jenny Wren. "What are you jumping for, Peter Rabbit? That was only Boomer the

"I know it just as well as you do, Jenny Wren," retorted Peter rather crossly. "You know being suddenly

startled is apt to make people feel cross. If I had seen him anywhere about he wouldn't have made me jump. It

was the unexpectedness of it. I don't see what he is out now for, anyway, It isn't even dusk yet, and I thought

"So he is," retorted Jenny Wren. "Anyway, he is a bird of the evening, and that amounts to the same thing.

But just because he likes the evening best isn't any reason why he shouldn't come out in the daylight, is it?"

"Of course it isn't," declared Jenny Wren. "I see Boomer late in the afternoon nearly every day. On cloudy

days I often see him early in the afternoon. He's a queer fellow, is Boomer. Such a mouth as he has! I suppose

it is very handy to have a big mouth if one must catch all one's food in the air, but it certainly isn't pretty

"I never saw a mouth yet that was pretty when it was wide open," retorted Peter, who was still feeling a little

"Well he has, whether you've noticed it or not," retorted Jenny Wren sharply. "He's got a little bit of a bill, but

a great big mouth. I don't see what folks call him a Hawk for when he isn't a Hawk at all. He is no more of a

"I believe you told me the other day that Boomer is related to Sooty the Chimney Swift," said Peter.

Jenny nodded vigorously. "So I did, Peter," she replied. "I'm glad you have such a good memory. Boomer

and Sooty are sort of second cousins. There is Boomer now, way up in the sky. I do wish he'd dive and scare

Peter tipped his head 'way back. High up in the blue, blue sky was a bird which at that distance looked

something like a much overgrown Swallow. He was circling and darting about this way and that. Even while

Peter watched he half closed his wings and shot down with such speed that Peter actually held his breath. It

looked very, very much as if Boomer would dash himself to pieces. Just before he reached the earth he

suddenly opened those wings and turned upward. At the instant he turned, the booming sound which had so

startled Peter was heard. It was made by the rushing of the wind through the larger feathers of his wings as he

In this dive Boomer had come near enough for Peter to get a good look at him. His coat seemed to be a

mixture of brown and gray, very soft looking. His wings were brown with a patch of white on each. There

"He certainly is," replied Peter. "Do you happen to know what kind of a nest the Nighthawks build, Jenny?"

"They don't build any." Jenny Wren was a picture of scorn as she said this. "They don't built any nests at all.

It can't be because they are lazy for I don't know of any birds that hunt harder for their living than do Boomer

"But if there isn't any nest where does Mrs. Boomer lay her eggs?" cried Peter. "I think you must be

"Didn't I say they don't have a nest?" sputtered Jenny. "Mrs. Nighthawk doesn't lay but two eggs, anyway.

Perhaps she thinks it isn't worth while building a nest for just two eggs. Anyway, she lays them on the ground

or on a flat rock and lets it go at that. She isn't quite as bad as Sally Sly the Cowbird, for she does sit on those

eggs and she is a good mother. But just think of those Nighthawk children never having any home! It doesn't

Peter shook his head. "I've seen him on the ground," said he, "but I never have seen him in a tree. Why did

"To find out how well you have used your eyes," snapped Jenny. "I just wanted to see if you had noticed

anything peculiar about the way he sits in a tree. But as long as you haven't seen him in a tree I may as well

tell you that he doesn't sit as most birds do. He sits lengthwise of a branch. He never sits across it as the rest

"How funny!" exclaimed Peter. "I suppose that is Boomer making that queer noise we hear."

"Yes," replied Jenny. "He certainly does like to use his voice. They tell me that some folks call him Bullbat,

though why they should call him either Bat or Hawk is beyond me. I suppose you know his cousin,

"I should say I do," replied Peter. "He's enough to drive one crazy when he begins to shout 'Whip poor Will'

close at hand. That voice of his goes through me so that I want to stop both ears. There isn't a person of my

acquaintance who can say a thing over and over, over and over, so many times without stopping for breath.

"He is a sort of second cousin, the same as Sooty the Chimney Swift," explained Jenny Wren. "They look

enough alike to be own cousins. Whippoorwill has just the same kind of a big mouth and he is dressed

"So you noticed that much, did you?" cried Jenny. "It does you credit, Peter. It does you credit. I wonder if

"Whiskers!" cried Peter. "Who ever heard of a bird having whiskers? You can stuff a lot down me, Jenny

Wren, but there are some things I cannot swallow, and bird whiskers is one of them."

"Nobody asked you to swallow them. Nobody wants you to swallow them," snapped Jenny. "I don't know

why a bird shouldn't have whiskers just as well as you, Peter Rabbit. Anyway, Whippoorwill has them and

that is all there is to it. It doesn't make any difference whether you believe in them or not, they are there. And

I guess Whippoorwill finds them just as useful as you find yours, and a little more so. I know this much,

that if I had to catch all my food in the air I'd want whiskers and lots of them so that the insects would get

"I beg your pardon, Jenny Wren," said Peter very humbly. "Of course Whippoorwill has whiskers if you

say so. By the way, do the Whippoorwills do any better in the matter of a nest than the Nighthawks?"

"Not a bit," replied Jenny Wren. "Mrs. Whippoorwill lays her eggs right on the ground, but usually in the

Green Forest where it is dark and lonesome. Like Mrs. Nighthawk, she lays only two. It's the same way with

"Chuckwill'swidow," Jenny Wren fairly shouted it. "Don't you know Chuckwill'swidow?"

"That's what comes of never having traveled," retorted Jenny Wren. "If you'd ever been in the South the way

I have you would know Chuckwill'swidow. He looks a whole lot like the other two we've been talking

about, but has even a bigger mouth. What's more, he has whiskers with branches. Now you needn't look as if

you doubted that, Peter Rabbit; it's so. In his habits he's just like his cousins, no nest and only two eggs. I

never saw people so afraid to raise a real family. If the Wrens didn't do better than that, I don't know what

If there is one family of feathered friends which perplexes Peter Rabbit more than another, it is the Warbler

"So many of them come together and they move about so constantly that a fellow doesn't have a chance to

look at one long enough to recognize him," complained Peter to Jenny Wren one morning when the Old

They were not still an instant, flitting from tree to tree, twig to twig, darting out into the air and all the time

keeping up an endless chattering mingled with little snatches of song. Peter would no sooner fix his eyes on

one than another entirely different in appearance would take its place. Occasionally he would see one whom

he recognized, one who would stay for the nesting season. But the majority of them would stop only for a day

Apparently, Jenny Wren did not look upon them altogether with favor. Perhaps Jenny was a little bit envious,

for compared with the bright colors of some of them Jenny was a very homely small person indeed. Then,

too, there were so many of them and they were so busy catching all kinds of small insects that it may be

Jenny was a little fearful they would not leave enough for her to get her own meals easily.

"I don't see what they have to stop here for," scolded Jenny. "They could just as well go somewhere else

where they would not be taking the food out of the mouths of honest folk who are here to stay all summer.

Did you ever in your life see such uneasy people? They don't keep still an instant. It positively makes me

Peter couldn't help but chuckle, for Jenny Wren herself is a very restless and uneasy person. As for Peter, he

was thoroughly enjoying this visit of the Warblers, despite the fact that he was having no end of trouble

trying to tell who was who. Suddenly one darted down and snapped up a fly almost under Peter's very nose

and was back up in a tree before Peter could get his breath. "It's Zee Zee the Redstart!" cried Peter joyously.

"Goldy the Oriole," replied Peter promptly. "Only of course he's ever and ever so much smaller. He's all

black and orangered and white something as Goldy is, only there isn't quite so much orange on him."

For just an instant Zee Zee sat still with his tail spread. His head, throat and back were black and there was a

black band across the end of his tail and a black stripe down the middle of it. The rest was bright orangered.

On each wing was a band of orangered and his sides were the same color. Underneath he was white tinged

It was only for an instant that Zee Zee sat still; then he was in the air, darting, diving, whirling, going through

all sorts of antics as he caught tiny insects too small for Peter to see. Peter began to wonder how he kept still

long enough to sleep at night. And his voice was quite as busy as his wings. "Zee, zee, zee, zee!" he would

cry. But this was only one of many notes. At times he would sing a beautiful little song and then again it

"I do hope Zee Zee is going to stay here," said Peter. "I just love to watch him."

"He'll stay fast enough," retorted Jenny Wren. "I don't imagine he'll stay in the Old Orchard and I hope he

won't, because if he does it will make it just that much harder for me to catch enough to feed my big family.

Probably he and Mrs. Redstart will make their home on the edge of the Green Forest. They like it better over

there, for which I am thankful. There's Mrs Redstart now. Just notice that where Zee Zee is bright orangey

red she is yellow, and instead of a black head she has a gray head and her back is olivegreen with a grayish

tinge. She isn't nearly as handsome as Zee Zee, but then, that's not to be expected. She lets Zee Zee do the

singing and the showing off and she does the work. I expect she'll build that nest with almost no help at all

from him. But Zee Zee is a good father, I'll say that much for him. He'll do his share in feeding their babies."

Just then Peter caught sight of a bird all in yellow. He was about the same size as Zee Zee and was flitting

about among the bushes along the old stone wall. "There's Sunshine!" cried Peter, and without being polite

enough to even bid Jenny Wren farewell, he scampered over to where he could see the one he called

"Oh, Sunshine!" he cried, as he came within speaking distance, "I'm ever and ever so glad to see you back. I

do hope you and Mrs. Sunshine are going to make your home somewhere near here where I can see you

"Hello, Peter! I am just as glad to see you as you are to see me," cried Sunshine the Yellow Warbler. "Yes,

indeed, we certainly intend to stay here if we can find just the right place for our nest. It is lovely to be back

here again. We've journeyed so far that we don't want to go a bit farther if we can help it. Have you seen

"I'm sorry to hear it," declared Sunshine. "She made us a lot of trouble last year. But we fooled her."

Sunshine paused to pick a tiny worm from a leaf. "Well," said he, "she found our nest just after we had

finished it and before Mrs. Sunshine had had a chance to lay an egg. Of course you know what she did."

Sunshine stopped to pick two or three more worms from the leaves. "Yes," said he. "She did just that, the lazy

goodfornothing creature! But it didn't do her a bit of good, not a bit. That egg never hatched. We fooled

"No," replied Sunshine. "Our nest was too deep for us to get that egg out. We just made a second bottom in

our nest right over that egg and built the sides of the nest a little higher. Then we took good care that she

"Then you had a regular twostory nest, didn't you?" cried Peter, opening his eyes very wide.

Sunshine nodded. "Yes, sir," said he, "and it was a mighty fine nest, if I do say it. If there's anything Mrs.

Sunshine and I pride ourselves on it is our nest. There are no babies who have a softer, cozier home than

"Fine grasses and soft fibers from plants, some hair when we can find it, and a few feathers. But we always

use a lot of that nice soft ferncotton. There is nothing softer or nicer that I know of."

All the time Peter had been admiring Sunshine and thinking how wonderfully well he was named. At first

glance he seemed to be all yellow, as if somehow he had managed to catch and hold the sunshine in his

feathers. There wasn't a white feather on him. When he came very close Peter could see that on his breast and

underneath were little streaks of reddish brown and his wings and tail were a little blackish. Otherwise he was

Presently he was joined by Mrs. Sunshine. She was not such a bright yellow as was Sunshine, having an

olivegreen tint on her back. But underneath she was almost clear yellow without the reddishbrown streaks.

She too was glad to see Peter but couldn't stop to gossip, for already, as she informed Sunshine, she had

found just the place for their nest. Of course Peter begged to be told where it was. But the two little folks in

yellow snapped their bright eyes at him and told him that that was their secret and they didn't propose to tell a

Perhaps if Peter had not been so curious and eager to get acquainted with other members of the Warbler

family he would have stayed and done a little spying. As it was, he promised himself to come back to look

for that nest after it had been built; then he scurried back among the trees of the Old Orchard to look for other

friends among the busy little Warblers who were making the Old Orchard such a lively place that morning.

"There's one thing about it," cried Peter. "Any one can tell Zee Zee the Redstart by his black and flame

colored suit. There is no other like it. And any one can tell Sunshine the Yellow Warbler because there isn't

anybody else who seems to be all yellow. My, what a lively, lovely lot these Warblers are!"

As Peter Rabbit passed one of the appletrees in the Old Orchard, a thin, wiry voice hailed him. "It's a

wonder you wouldn't at least say you're glad to see me back, Peter Rabbit," said the voice.

Peter, who had been hopping along rather fast, stopped abruptly to look up. Running along a limb just over

his head, now on top and now underneath, was a little bird with a black and white striped coat and a white

waistcoat. Just as Peter looked it flew down to near the base of the tree and began to run straight up the trunk,

picking things from the bark here and there as it ran. Its way of going up that tree trunk reminded Peter of one

"It strikes me that this is a mighty poor welcome for one who has just come all the way from South America,"

"Oh, Creeper, I didn't know you were here!" cried Peter. "You know I'm glad to see you. I'm just as glad as

glad can be. You are such a quiet fellow I'm afraid I shouldn't have seen you at all if you hadn't spoken. You

know it's always been hard work for me to believe that you are really and truly a Warbler."

"Why so?" demanded Creeper the Black and White Warbler, for that is the name by which he is commonly

"Well," replied Peter, "all the rest of the Warblers are the uneasiest folks I know of. They can't seem to keep

still a minute. They are everlastingly flitting about this way and that way and the other way. I actually get

tired watching them. But you are not a bit that way. Then the way you run up tree trunks and along the limbs

"I don't have to," said he. "I'm going to let you into a little secret, Peter. The rest of them get their living from

the leaves and twigs and in the air, but I've discovered an easier way. I've found out that there are lots of little

worms and insects and eggs on the trunks and big limbs of the trees and that I can get the best kind of a living

there without flitting about everlastingly. I don't have to share them with anybody but the Woodpeckers,

"That reminds me," said Peter. "Those folks you have mentioned nest in holes in trees; do you?"

"I should say not," retorted Creeper. "I don't know of any Warbler who does. I build on the ground, if you

want to know. I nest in the Green Forest. Sometimes I make my nest in a little hollow at the base of a tree;

sometimes I put it under a stump or rock or tuck it in under the roots of a tree that has been blown over. But

there, Peter Rabbit, I've talked enough. I'm glad you're glad that I'm back, and I'm glad I'm back too."

Creeper continued on up the trunk of the tree, picking here and picking there. Just then Peter caught sight of

another friend whom he could always tell by the black mask he wore. It was Mummer the Yellowthroat. He

had just darted into the thicket of bushes along the old stone wall. Peter promptly hurried over there to look

When Peter reached the place where he had caught a glimpse of Mummer, no one was to be seen. Peter sat

down, uncertain which way to go. Suddenly Mummer popped out right in front of Peter, seemingly from

nowhere at all. His throat and breast were bright yellow and his back wings and tail a soft olivegreen. But

the most remarkable thing about him was the mask of black right across his cheeks, eyes and forehead. At

"Hello yourself, Peter Rabbit!" retorted Mummer and then disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared.

"Looking for some one?" asked Mummer, suddenly popping into view where Peter least expected him.

"For goodness' sake, can't you sit still a minute?" cried Peter. "How do you expect a fellow can talk to you

"Who asked you to talk to me?" responded Mummer, and popped out of sight. Two seconds later he was back

again and his bright little eyes fairly shone with mischief. Then before Peter could say a word Mummer burst

into a pleasant little song. He was so full of happiness that Peter couldn't be cross with him.

"There's one thing I like about you, Mummer," declared Peter, "and that is that I never get you mixed up with

anybody else. I should know you just as far as I could see you because of that black mask across your face.

"Certainly," replied another voice, and Mrs. Yellowthroat flitted across right in front of Peter. For just a

second she sat still, long enough for him to have one good look at her. She was dressed very like Mummer

Peter was just about to say something polite and pleasant when from just back of him there sounded a loud,

very emphatic, "Chut! Chut!" Peter whirled about to find another old friend. It was ChutChut the

Yellowbreasted Chat, the largest of the Warbler family. He was so much bigger than Mummer that it was

hard to believe that they were own cousins. But Peter knew they were, and he also knew that he could never

mistake ChutChut for any other member of the family because of his big size, which was that of some of the

members of the Sparrow family. His back was a dark olivegreen, but his throat and breast were a beautiful

bright yellow. There was a broad white line above each eye and a little white line underneath. Below his

To have seen him you would have thought that he suspected Peter might do him some harm. He acted that

way. If Peter hadn't known him so well he might have been offended. But Peter knew that there is no one

among his feathered friends more cautious than ChutChut the Chat. He never takes anything for granted. He

appears to be always on the watch for danger, even to the extent of suspecting his very best friends.

When he had decided in his own mind that there was no danger, ChutChut came out for a little gossip. But

like all the rest of the Warblers he couldn't keep still. Right in the middle of the story of his travels from

faraway Mexico he flew to the top of a little tree, began to sing, then flew out into the air with his legs

dangling and his tail wagging up and down in the funniest way, and there continued his song as he slowly

dropped down into the thicket again. It was a beautiful song and Peter hastened to tell him so.

ChutChut was pleased. He showed it by giving a little concert all by himself. It seemed to Peter that he

never had heard such a variety of whistles and calls and songs as came from that yellow throat. When it was

over ChutChut abruptly said goodby and disappeared. Peter could hear his sharp "Chut! Chut!" farther

"I wonder," said Peter, speaking out loud without thinking, "where he builds his nest. I wonder if he builds it

"No," declared Mummer, who all the time had been darting about close at hand. "He doesn't, but I do.

ChutChut puts his nest near the ground, however, usually within two or three feet. He builds it in bushes or

briars. Sometimes if I can find a good tangle of briars I build my nest in it several feet from the ground, but as

a rule I would rather have it on the ground under a bush or in a clump of weeds. Have you seen my cousin

For several days it seemed to Peter Rabbit that everywhere he went he found members of the Warbler family.

Being anxious to know all of them he did his best to remember how each one looked, but there were so many

and some of them were dressed so nearly alike that after awhile Peter became so mixed that he gave it up as a

bad job. Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, the Warblers disappeared. That is to say, most of them

disappeared. You see they had only stopped for a visit, being on their way farther north.

In his interest in the affairs of others of his feathered friends, Peter had quite forgotten the Warblers. Then

one day when he was in the Green Forest where the sprucetrees grow, he stopped to rest. This particular part

of the Green Forest was low and damp, and on many of the trees gray moss grew, hanging down from the

branches and making the trees look much older than they really were. Peter was staring at a hanging branch

of this moss without thinking anything about it when suddenly a little bird alighted on it and disappeared in it.

At least, that is what Peter thought. But it was all so unexpected that he couldn't be sure his eyes hadn't fooled

Of course, right away he became very much interested in that bunch of moss. He stared at it very hard. At

first it looked no different from a dozen other bunches of moss, but presently he noticed that it was a little

thicker than other bunches, as if somehow it had been woven together. He hopped off to one side so he could

see better. It looked as if in one side of that bunch of moss was a little round hole. Peter blinked and looked

very hard indeed to make sure. A minute later there was no doubt at all, for a little feathered head was poked

out and a second later a dainty mite of a bird flew out and alighted very close to Peter. It was one of the

"Sprite!" cried Peter joyously. "I missed you when your cousins passed through here, and I thought you had

"Well, I haven't, and what's more I'm not going to go on to the Far North. I'm going to stay right here,"

As Peter looked at Sprite he couldn't help thinking that there wasn't a daintier member in the whole Warbler

family. His coat was of a soft bluish color with a yellowish patch in the very center of his back. Across each

wing were two bars of white. His throat was yellow. Just beneath it was a little band of bluishblack. His

"Sprite, you're just beautiful," declared Peter in frank admiration. "What was the reason I didn't see you up in

"Because I wasn't there," was Sprite's prompt reply as he flitted about, quite unable to sit still a minute. "I

"What were you doing just now in that bunch of moss?" demanded Peter, a sudden suspicion of the truth

At that very instant Peter looked up just in time to see a tail disappearing in the little round hole in the side of

the bunch of moss. He knew that that tail belonged to Mrs. Sprite, and just that glimpse told him all he

"You've got a nest in there!" Peter exclaimed excitedly. "There's no use denying it, Sprite; you've got a nest in

Sprite saw at once that it would be quite useless to try to deceive Peter. "Yes," said he, "Mrs. Sprite and I

have a nest in there. We've just finished it. I think myself it is rather nice. We always build in moss like this.

All we have to do is to find a nice thick bunch and then weave it together at the bottom and line the inside

with fine grasses. It looks so much like all the rest of the bunches of moss that it is seldom any one finds it. I

"Not at all," replied Sprite. "You see, we are not as much alone as you think. My cousin, Fidget the Myrtle

Warbler, is nesting not very far away, and another cousin Weechi the Magnolia Warbler is also quite near.

Of course Peter was all excitement and interest at once. "Where are their homes?" he asked eagerly. "Tell me

"Peter," said Sprite severely, "you ought to know better than to ask me to tell you anything of this kind. You

have been around enough to know that there is no secret so precious as the secret of a home. You happened to

find mine, and I guess I can trust you not to tell anybody where it is. If you can find the homes of Fidget and

Peter knew that Sprite was quite right in refusing to tell the secrets of his cousins, but he couldn't think of

going home without at least looking for those homes. He tried to look very innocent as he asked if they also

were in hanging bunches of moss. But Sprite was too smart to be fooled and Peter learned nothing at all.

For some time Peter hopped around this way and that way, thinking every bunch of moss he saw must surely

contain a nest. But though he looked and looked and looked, not another little round hole did he find, and

there were so many bunches of moss that finally his neck ached from tipping his head back so much. Now

Peter hasn't much patience as he might have, so after a while he gave up the search and started on his way

home. On higher ground, just above the low swampy place where grew the mosscovered trees, he came to a

lot of young hemlocktrees. These had no moss on them. Having given up his search Peter was thinking of

other things when there flitted across in front of him a black and gray bird with a yellow cap, yellow sides,

and a yellow patch at the root of his tail. Those yellow patches were all Peter needed to see to recognize

Fidget the Myrtle Warbler, one of the two friends he had been so long looking for down among the

"Oh, Fidget!" cried Peter, hurrying after the restless little bird. "Oh, Fidget! I've been looking everywhere for

"Well, here I am," retorted Fidget. "You didn't look everywhere or you would have found me before. What

can I do for you?" All the time Fidget was hopping and flitting about, never still an instant.

"I can, but I won't," retorted Fidget. "Now honestly, Peter, do yon think you have any business to ask such a

Peter hung his head and then replied quite honestly, "No I don't, Fidget. But you see Sprite told me that you

had a nest not very far from his and I've looked at bunches of moss until I've got a crick in the back of my

"Bunches of moss!" exclaimed Fidget. "What under the sun do you think I have to do with bunches of moss?"

"WhywhyI just thought you probably had your nest in one, the same as your cousin Sprite."

Fidget laughed right out. "I'm afraid you would have a worse crick in the back of your neck than you've got

now before ever you found my nest in a bunch of moss," said he. "Moss may suit my cousin Sprite, but it

doesn't suit me at all. Besides, I don't like those dark places where the moss grows on the trees. I build my

nest of twigs and grass and weedstalks and I line it with hair and rootlets and feathers. Sometimes I bind it

together with spider silk, and if you really want to know, I like a little hemlocktree to put it in. It isn't very

far from here, but where it is I'm not going to tell you. Have you seen my cousin, Weechi?"

"Right here," replied another voice and Weechi the Magnolia Warbler dropped down on the ground for just a

The top of his head and the back of his neck were gray. Above his eye was a white stripe and his cheeks were

black. His throat was clear yellow, just below which was a black band. From this black streaks ran down

across his yellow breast. At the root of his tail he was yellow. His tail was mostly black on top and white

His wings were black and gray with two white bars. He was a little smaller than Fidget the Myrtle Warbler

Peter fairly itched to ask Weechi where his nest was, but by this time he had learned a lesson, so wisely kept

"Nests," replied Fidget. "I've just been telling Peter that while Cousin Sprite may like to build in that hanging

"Nor me either," declared Weechi promptly. "I prefer to build a real nest just as you do. By the way, Fidget, I

stopped to look at your nest this morning. I find we build a good deal alike and we like the same sort of a

"Of course I know it," replied Fidget. "In fact I watched you start your nest. Don't you think you have it rather

"Not too near, Fidget; not too near. I am not as highminded as some people. I like to be within two or three

Fidget and Weechi became so interested in discussing nests and the proper way of building them they quite

forgot Peter Rabbit. Peter sat around for a while listening, but being more interested in seeing those nests than

He looked and looked, but there were so many young hemlocktrees and they looked so much alike that

Peter Rabbit never will forget the first time he caught a glimpse of Glory the Cardinal, sometimes called

Redbird. He had come up to the Old Orchard for his usual morning visit and just as he hopped over the old

stone wall he heard a beautiful clear, loud whistle which drew his eyes to the top of an appletree. Peter

stopped short with a little gasp of sheer astonishment and delight. Then he rubbed his eyes and looked again.

He couldn't quite believe that he saw what he thought he saw. He hadn't supposed that any one, even among

The stranger was dressed all in red, excepting a little black around the base of his bill. Even his bill was red.

He wore a beautiful red crest which made him still more distinguished looking, and how he could sing! Peter

had noticed that quite often the most beautifully dressed birds have the poorest songs. But this stranger's song

was as beautiful as his coat, and that was one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, that Peter ever

had seen. Of course he lost no time in hunting up Jenny Wren. "Who is it, Jenny? Who is that beautiful

stranger with such a lovely song?" cried Peter, as soon as he caught sight of Jenny.

"It's Glory the Cardinal," replied Jenny Wren promptly. "Isn't he the loveliest thing you've ever seen? I do

hope he is going to stay here. As I said before, I don't often envy any one's fine clothes, but when I see Glory

I'm sometimes tempted to be envious. If I were Mrs. Cardinal I'm afraid I should be jealous. There she is in

Peter looked eagerly. Instead of the glorious red of Glory, Mrs. Cardinal wore a very dull dress. Her back was

a brownishgray. Her throat was a grayishblack. Her breast was a dull buff with a faint tinge of red. Her

wings and tail were tinged with dull red. Altogether she was very soberly dressed, but a trim, neat looking

little person. But if she wasn't handsomely dressed she could sing. In fact she was almost as good a singer as

"I've noticed," said Peter, "that people with fine clothes spend most of their time thinking about them and are

"Well, you needn't think that of Glory," declared Jenny in her vigorous way. "He's just as fine as he is

handsome. He's a model husband. If they make their home around here you'll find him doing his full share in

the care of their babies. Sometimes they raise two families. When they do that, Glory takes charge of the first

lot of youngsters as soon as they are able to leave the nest so that Mrs. Cardinal has nothing to worry about

while she is sitting on the second lot of eggs. He fusses over them as if they were the only children in the

world. Everybody loves Glory. Excuse me, Peter, I'm going over to find out if they are really going to stay."

When Jenny returned she was so excited she couldn't keep still a minute. "They like here, Peter!" she cried.

"They like here so much that if they can find a place to suit them for a nest they're going to stay. I told them

that it is the very best place in the world. They like an evergreen tree to build in, and I think they've got their

eyes on those evergreens up near Farmer Brown's house. My, they will add a lot to the quality of this

Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal whistled and sang as if their hearts were bursting with joy, and Peter sat around

listening as if he had nothing else in the world to do. Probably he would have sat there the rest of the morning

had he not caught sight of an old friend of whom he is very fond, Kitty the Catbird. In contrast with Glory,

Kitty seemed a regular little Quaker, for he was dressed almost wholly in gray, a rather dark, slatygray. The

top of his head and tail were black, and right at the base of his tail was a patch of chestnut color. He was a

little smaller than Welcome Robin. There was no danger of mistaking him for anybody else, for there is no

Peter forgot all about Glory in his pleasure at discovering the returned Kitty and hurried over to welcome

him. Kitty had disappeared among the bushes along the old stone wall, but Peter had no trouble in finding

him by the queer cries he was uttering, which were very like the meow of Black Pussy the Cat. They were

very harsh and unpleasant and Peter understood perfectly why their maker is called the Catbird. He did not

hurry in among the bushes at once but waited expectantly. In a few minutes the harsh cries ceased and then

there came from the very same place a song which seemed to be made up of parts of the songs of all the other

birds of the Old Orchard. It was not loud, but it was charming. It contained the clear whistle of Glory, and

there was even the tinkle of Little Friend the Song Sparrow. The notes of other friends were in that song, and

with them were notes of southern birds whose songs Kitty had learned while spending the winter in the

Peter listened until the song ended, then scampered in among the bushes. At once those harsh cries broke out

again. You would have thought that Kitty was scolding Peter for coming to see him instead of being glad. But

that was just Kitty's way. He is simply brimming over with fun and mischief, and delights to pretend.

When Peter found him, he was sitting with all his feathers puffed out until he looked almost like a ball with a

head and tail. He looked positively sleepy. Then as he caught sight of Peter he drew those feathers down

tight, cocked his tail up after the manner of Jenny Wren, and was as slim and trim looking as any bird of

Peter's acquaintance. He didn't look at all like the same bird of the moment before. Then he dropped his tail

as if he hadn't strength enough to hold it up at all. It hung straight down. He dropped his wings and all in a

second made himself look fairly disreputable. But all the time his eyes were twinkling and snapping, and

Peter knew that these changes in appearance were made out of pure fun and mischief.

"I've been wondering if you were coming hack," cried Peter. "I don't know of any one of my feathered friends

"Thank you," responded Kitty. "It's very nice of you to say that, Peter. If you are glad to see me I am still

"Fairly so. Fairly so," replied Kitty. "By the way, Peter, I picked up some new songs down there. Would you

"Of course," replied Peter, "but I don't think you need any new songs. I've never seen such a fellow for

At the mention of Mocker a little cloud crossed Kitty's face for just an instant. "There's a fellow I really

envy," said he. "I'm pretty good at imitating others, but Mocker is better. I'm hoping that, if I practice enough,

some day I can be as good. I saw a lot of him in the South and he certainly is clever."

"Huh! You don't need to envy him," retorted Peter. "You are some imitator yourself. How about those new

Kitty's face cleared, his throat swelled and he began to sing. It was a regular medley. It didn't seem as if so

many notes could come from one throat. When it ended Peter had a question all ready.

"I certainly am," replied Kitty. "Mrs. Catbird was delayed a day or two. I hope she'll get here today and then

we'll get busy at once. I think we shall build in these bushes here somewhere. I'm glad Farmer Brown has

sense enough to let them grow. They are just the kind of a place I like for a nest. They are near enough to

Farmer Brown's garden, and the Old Orchard is right here. That's just the kind of a combination that suits

Peter looked somewhat uncertain. "Why do you want to be near Farmer Brown's garden?" he asked.

"Because that is where I will get a good part of my living," Kitty responded promptly. "He ought to be glad to

have me about. Once in a while I take a little fruit, but I pay for it ten times over by the number of bugs and

worms I get in his garden and the Old Orchard. I pride myself on being useful. There's nothing like being

Peter nodded as if he quite agreed. Though, as you know and I know, Peter himself does very little except fill

"Who's that?" Peter Rabbit pricked up his long ears and stared up at the tops of the trees of the Old Orchard.

Instantly Jenny Wren popped her head out of her doorway. She cocked her head on one side to listen, then

"I don't hear any strange voice," said she. "The way you are staring, Peter Rabbit, one would think that you

Just then there were two or three rather sharp, squeaky notes from the top of one of the trees. "There!" cried

"For goodness' sake, Peter Rabbit, you don't mean to say you don't know whose voice that is," she cried.

"That's Rosebreast. He and Mrs. Rosebreast have been here for quite a little while. I didn't suppose there was

any one who didn't know those sharp, squeaky voices. They rather get on my nerves. What anybody wants to

squeak like that for when they can sing as Rosebreast can, is more than I can understand."

At that very instant Mr. Wren began to scold as only he and Jenny can. Peter looked up at Jenny and winked

slyly. "And what anybody wants to scold like that for when they can sing as Mr. Wren can, is too much for

"The Grosbeak, of course, stupid," sputtered Jenny. "If you don't know Rosebreast the Grosbeak, Peter

Rabbit, you certainly must have been blind and deaf ever since you were born. Listen to that! Just listen to

Peter listened. There were many songs, for it was a very beautiful morning and all the singers of the Old

Orchard were pouring out the joy that was within them. One song was a little louder and clearer than the

others because it came from a tree very close at hand, the very tree from which those squeaky notes had come

just a few minutes before. Peter suspected that that must be the song Jenny Wren meant. He looked puzzled.

He was puzzled. "Do you mean Welcome Robin's song?" he asked rather sheepishly, for he had a feeling that

"No, I don't mean Welcome Robin's song," snapped Jenny. "What good are a pair of long ears if they can't

tell one song from another? That song may sound something like Welcome Robin's, but if your ears were

good for anything at all you'd know right away that that isn't Welcome Robin singing. That's a better song

than Welcome Robin's. Welcome Robin's song is one of good cheer, but this one is of pure happiness. I

wouldn't have a pair of ears like yours for anything in the world, Peter Rabbit."

Peter laughed right out as he tried to picture to himself Jenny Wren with a pair of long ears like his. "What

are you laughing at?" demanded Jenny crossly. "Don't you dare laugh at me! If there is any one thing I can't

"I wasn't laughing at you," replied Peter very meekly. "I was just laughing, at the thought of how funny you

would look with a pair of long ears like mine. Now you speak of it, Jenny, that song IS quite different from

"Of course it is," retorted Jenny. "That is Rosebreast singing up there, and there he is right in the top of that

Peter looked up to see a bird a little smaller than Welcome Robin. His head, throat and back were black. His

wings were black with patches of white on them. But it was his breast that made Peter catch his breath with a

little gasp of admiration, for that breast was a beautiful rosered. The rest of him underneath was white. It

"Isn't he lovely!"' cried Peter, and added in the next breath, "Who is that with him?"

"Mrs. Grosbeak, of course. Who else would it be?" sputtered Jenny rather crossly, for she was still a little put

"I would never have guessed it," said Peter. "She doesn't look the least bit like him."

This was quite true. There was no beautiful rose color about Mrs. Grosbeak. She was dressed chiefly in

brown and grayish colors with a little buff here and there and with dark streaks on her breast. Over each eye

was a whitish line. Altogether she looked more as if she might be a big member of the Sparrow family than

the wife of handsome Rosebreast. While Rosebreast sang, Mrs. Grosbeak was very busily picking buds and

"For the same reason that you bite off sweet clover blossoms and leaves," replied Jenny Wren tartly.

"Do you mean to say that they live on buds and blossoms?" cried Peter. "I never heard of such a thing."

"Tut, tut, tut, tut, tut! You can ask more silly questions than anybody of my acquaintance," retorted Jenny

Wren. "Of course they don't live on buds and blossoms. If they did they would soon starve to death, for buds

and blossoms don't last long. They eat a few just for variety, but they live mostly on bugs and insects. You

ask Farmer Brown's boy who helps him most in his potato patch, and he'll tell you it's the Grosbeaks. They

certainly do love potato bugs. They eat some fruit, but on the whole they are about as useful around a garden

Seeing Farmer Brown's boy coming through the Old Orchard Peter decided that it was high time for him to

depart. So he scampered for the Green Forest, lippertylippertylip. Just within the edge of the Green Forest

he caught sight of something which for the time being put all thought of Farmer Brown's boy out of his head.

Fluttering on the ground was a bird than whom not even Glory the Cardinal was more beautiful. It was about

the size of Redwing the Blackbird. Wings and tail were pure black and all the rest was a beautiful scarlet. It

was Redcoat the Tanager. At first Peter had eyes only for the wonderful beauty of Redcoat. Never before had

he seen Redcoat so close at hand. Then quite suddenly it came over Peter that something was wrong with

Redcoat heard the rustle of Peter's feet among the dry leaves and at once began to flap and flutter in an effort

to fly away, but he could not get off the ground. "What is it, Redcoat? Has something happened to you? It is

The look of terror which had been in the eyes of Redcoat died out, and he stopped fluttering and simply lay

"Oh, Peter," he gasped, "you don't know how glad I am that it is only you. I've had a terrible accident, and I

don't know what I am to do. I can't fly, and if I have to stay on the ground some enemy will be sure to get me.

Right away Peter was full of sympathy. "What kind of an accident was it, Redcoat, and how did it happen?"

"Broadwing the Hawk tried to catch me," sobbed Redcoat. "In dodging him among the trees I was heedless

for a moment and did not see just where I was going. I struck a sharppointed dead twig and drove it right

Redcoat held up his right wing and sure enough there was a little stick projecting from both sides close up to

"Oh, dear, whatever shall I do, Peter Rabbit? Whatever shall I do?" sobbed Redcoat.

Redcoat nodded. "But I don't mind the pain," he hastened to say. "It is the thought of what MAY happen to

Meanwhile Mrs. Tanager was flying about in the tree tops near at hand and calling anxiously. She was

dressed almost wholly in light olivegreen and greenishyellow. She looked no more like beautiful Redcoat

"Can't you fly up just a little way so as to get off the ground?" she cried anxiously. "Isn't it dreadful, Peter

Rabbit, to have such an accident? We've just got our nest half built, and I don't know what I shall do if

anything happens to Redcoat. Oh, dear, here comes somebody! Hide, Redcoat! Hide!" Mrs. Tanager flew off

a short distance to one side and began to cry as if in the greatest distress. Peter knew instantly that she was

Poor Redcoat, with the old look of terror in his eyes, fluttered along, trying to find something under which to

hide. But there was nothing under which he could crawl, and there was no hiding that wonderful red coat.

Peter heard the sound of heavy footsteps, and looking back, saw that Farmer Brown's boy was coming. "Don't

be afraid, Redcoat," he whispered. "It's Farmer Brown's boy and I'm sure he won't hurt you. Perhaps he can

help you." Then Peter scampered off for a short distance and sat up to watch what would happen.

Of coarse Farmer Brown's boy saw Redcoat. No one with any eyes at all could have helped seeing him,

because of that wonderful scarlet coat. He saw, too, by the way Redcoat was acting, that he was in great

trouble. As Farmer Brown's boy drew near and Redcoat saw that he was discovered, he tried his hardest to

flutter away. Farmer Brown's boy understood instantly that something was wrong with one wing, and running

"You poor little thing. You poor, beautiful little creature," said Farmer Brown's boy softly as he saw the cruel

twig sticking through Redcoats' shoulder. "We'll have to get that out right away," continued Farmer Brown's

Somehow at that gentle touch Redcoat lost much of his fear, and a little hope sprang in his heart. He saw, too,

this was no enemy, but a friend. Farmer Brown's boy took out his knife and carefully cut off the twig on the

upper side of the wing. Then, doing his best to be careful and to hurt as little as possible, he worked the other

part of the twig out from the under side. Carefully he examined the wing to see if any bones were broken.

None were, and after holding Redcoat a few minutes he carefully set him up in a tree and withdrew a short

distance. Redcoat hopped from branch to branch until he was halfway up the tree. Then he sat there for some

time as if fearful of trying that injured wing. Meanwhile Mrs. Tanager came and fussed about him and talked

Peter remained right where he was until at last he saw Redcoat spread his black wings and fly to another tree.

From tree to tree he flew, resting a bit in each until he and Mrs. Tanager disappeared in the Green Forest.

"I knew Farmer Brown's boy would help him, and I'm so glad he found him," cried Peter happily and started

Over in a mapletree on the edge of Farmer Brown's door yard lived Mr. and Mrs. Redeye the Vireos. Peter

Rabbit knew that they had a nest there because Jenny Wren had told him so. He would have guessed it

anyway, because Redeye spent so much time in that tree during the nesting season. No matter what hour of

the day Peter visited the Old Orchard he heard Redeye singing over in the mapletree. Peter used to think that

if song is an expression of happiness, Redeye must be the happiest of all birds.

He was a little fellow about the size of one of the larger Warblers and quite as modestly dressed as any of

Peter's acquaintances. The crown of his head was gray with a little blackish border on either side. Over each

eye was a white line. Underneath he was white. For the rest he was dressed in light olivegreen. The first

time he came down near enough for Peter to see him well Peter understood at once why he is called Redeye.

His eyes were red. Yes, sir, his eyes were red and this fact alone was enough to distinguish him from any

But it wasn't often that Redeye came down so near the ground that Peter could see his eyes. He preferred to

spend most of his time in the tree tops, and Peter only got glimpses of him now and then. But if he didn't see

him often it was less often that he failed to hear him. "I don't see when Redeye finds time to eat," declared

"Redeye believes in singing while he works," said Jenny Wren. "For my part I should think he'd wear his

throat out. When other birds sing they don't do anything else, but Redeye sings all the time he is hunting his

meals and only stops long enough to swallow a worm or a bug when he finds it. Just as soon as it is down he

begins to sing again while he hunts for another. I must say for the Redeyes that they are mighty good nest

"I don't dare go over there except very early in the morning before Farmer Brown's folks are awake," said he,

"You probably couldn't see it, anyway," declared Jenny Wren. "They have placed it rather high up from the

ground and those leaves are so thick that they hide it. It's a regular little basket fastened in a fork near the end

of a branch and it is woven almost as nicely as is the nest of Goldy the Oriole. How anybody has the patience

"Strips of bark, plant down, spider's web, grass, and pieces of paper!" replied Jenny. "That's a funny thing

about Redeye; he dearly loves a piece of paper in his nest. What for, I can't imagine. He's as fussy about

having a scrap of paper as Cresty the Flycatcher is about having a piece of Snakeskin. I had just a peep into

that nest a few days ago and unless I am greatly mistaken Sally Sly the Cowbird has managed to impose on

A few mornings after this talk with Jenny Wren about Redeye the Vireo Peter once more visited the Old

Orchard. No sooner did he come in sight than Jenny Wren's tongue began to fly. "What did I tell you, Peter

"What is so?" asked Peter rather testily, for he hadn't the least idea what Jenny Wren was talking about.

"Sally Sly DID lay an egg in Redeye's nest, and now it has hatched and I don't know whatever is to become

of Redeye's own children. It's perfectly scandalous! That's what it is, perfectly scandalous!" cried Jenny, and

"The Redeyes are working themselves to feathers and bone feeding that ugly young Cowbird while their own

babies aren't getting half enough to eat," continued Jenny. "One of them has died already. He was kicked out

"How dreadful!" cried Peter. "If he does things like that I should think the Redeyes would throw HIM out of

"They're too softhearted," declared Jenny. "I can tell you I wouldn't be so softhearted if I were in their

place. No, siree, I wouldn't! But they say it isn't his fault that he's there, and that he's nothing but a helpless

"Then why don't they feed their own babies first and give him what's left?" demanded Peter.

"Because he's twice as big as any of their own babies and so strong and greedy that he simply snatches the

food out of the very mouths of the others. Because he gets most of the food, he's growing twice as fast as they

are. I wouldn't be surprised if he kicks all the rest of them out before he gets through. Mr. and Mrs. Redeye

are dreadfully distressed about it, but they will feed him because they say it isn't his fault. It's a dreadful affair

and the talk of the whole Orchard. I suppose his mother is off gadding somewhere, having a good time and

not caring a flip of her tail feathers what becomes of him. I believe in being goodhearted, but there is such a

thing as overdoing the matter. Thank goodness I'm not so weakminded that I can be imposed on in any such

"Speaking of the Vireos, Redeye seems to be the only member of his family around here," remarked Peter.

"Listen!" commanded Jenny Wren. "Don't you hear that warbling song 'way over in the big elm in front of

Peter listened. At first he didn't hear it, and as usual Jenny Wren made fun of him for having such big ears

and not being able to make better use of them. Presently he did hear it. The voice was not unlike that of

Redeye, but the song was smoother, more continuous and sweeter. Peter's face lighted up. "I hear it," he

"That's Redeye's cousin, the Warbling Vireo," said Jenny. "He's a better singer than Redeye and just as fond

of hearing his own voice. He sings from the time jolly Mr. Sun gets up in the morning until he goes to bed at

night. He sings when it is so hot that the rest of us are glad to keep still for comfort's sake. I don't know of

anybody more fond of the tree tops than he is. He doesn't seem to care anything about the Old Orchard, but

stays over in those big trees along the road. He's got a nest over in that big elm and it is as high up as that of

Goldy the Oriole; I haven't seen it myself, but Goldy told me about it. Why any one so small should want to

live so high up in the world I don't know, any more than I know why any one wants to live anywhere but in

"He looks a lot like his cousin, Redeye," replied Jenny. His coat is a little duller olivegreen and underneath

he is a little bit yellowish instead of being white. Of course he doesn't have red eyes, and he is a little smaller

"You said something then, Jenny Wren," declared Peter. "They get me all mixed up. If only some of them

"One has," replied Jenny Wren. "He has a bright yellow throat and breast and is called the Yellowthroated

"Of course," replied Jenny. "Every one of that blessed family loves the sound of his own voice. It's a family

trait. Sometimes it just makes my throat sore to listen to them all day long. A good thing is good, but more

than enough of a good thing is too much. That applies to gossiping just as well as to singing and I've wasted

more time on you than I've any business to. Now hop along, Peter, and don't bother me any more today."

Peter Rabbit never will forget his surprise when Jenny Wren asked him one spring morning if he had seen

anything of her big cousin. Peter hesitated. As a matter of fact, he couldn't think of any big cousin of Jenny

Now Jenny Wren is one of the most impatient small persons in the world. "Well, well, well, Peter, have you

lost your tongue?" she chattered. "Can't you answer a simple question without talking all day about it? Have

"You needn't be so cross about it if I am slow," replied Peter. "I'm just trying to think who your big cousin is.

"Don't know him! Don't know him!" Sputtered Jenny. "Of course you know him. You can't help but know

In his surprise Peter fairly jumped right off the ground. "What's that?" he exclaimed. "Since when was

"Ever since there have been any Wrens and Thrashers," retorted Jenny. "Brownie belongs to one branch of

the family and I belong to another, and that makes him my second cousin. It certainly is surprising how little

"But I have always supposed he belonged to the Thrush family," protested Peter. "He certainly looks like a

"Looking like one doesn't make him one," snapped Jenny. "By this time you ought to leave learned that you

never can judge anybody just by looks. It always makes me provoked to hear Brownie called the Brown

Thrush. There isn't a drop of Thrush blood in him. But you haven't answered my question yet, Peter Rabbit. I

"Yes," said Peter. "I saw him only yesterday on the edge of the Old Pasture. He was fussing around in the

bushes and on the ground and jerking that long tail of his up and down and sidewise as if he couldn't decide

what to do with it. I've never seen anybody twitch their tail around the way he does."

Jenny Wren giggled. "That's just like him," said she. "It is because he thrashes his tail around so much that he

"I don't know whether it was a new suit or not, but it was mighty good looking," replied Peter. "I just love

that beautiful reddishbrown of his back, wings and tail, and it certainly does set off his white and buff

waistcoat with those dark streaks and spots. You must admit, Jenny Wren, that any one seeing him dressed so

"I suppose so," admitted Jenny rather grudgingly. "But none of the Thrushes have such a bright brown coat.

"Did I hear him sing!" cried Peter, his eyes shining at the memory. "He sang especially for me. He flew up to

the top of a tree, tipped his head back and sang as few birds I know of can sing. He has a wonderful voice,

has Brownie. I don't know of anybody I enjoy listening to more. And when he's singing he acts as if he

enjoyed it himself and knows what a good singer he is. I noticed that long tail of his hung straight down the

"Of course it did," replied Jenny promptly. "That's a family trait. The tails of both my other big cousins do the

"Whawhawhat's that? Have you got more big cousins?" cried Peter, staring up at Jenny as if she were

"Certainly," retorted Jenny. "Mocker the Mockingbird and Kitty the Catbird belong to Brownie's family, and

Such a funny expression as there was on Peter's face. He felt that Jenny Wren was telling the truth, but it was

surprising news to him and so hard to believe that for a few minutes he couldn't find his tongue to ask another

question. Finally he ventured to ask very timidly, "Does Brownie imitate the songs of other birds the way

Jenny Wren shook her head very decidedly. "No," said she. "He's perfectly satisfied with his own song."

Before she could add anything further the clear whistle of Glory the Cardinal sounded from a tree just a little

way off. Instantly Peter forgot all about Jenny Wren's relatives and scampered over to that tree. You see

As Peter sat staring up into the tree, trying to get a glimpse of Glory's beautiful red coat, the clear, sweet

whistle sounded once more. It drew Peter's eyes to one of the upper branches, but instead of the beautiful,

brilliant coat of Glory the Cardinal he saw a bird about the size of Welcome Robin dressed in sober

ashygray with two white bars on his wings, and white feathers on the outer edges of his tail. He was very

trim and neat and his tail hung straight down after the manner of Brownie's when he was singing. It was a

long tail, but not as long as Brownie's. Even as Peter blinked and stared in surprise the stranger opened his

mouth and from it came Glory's own beautiful whistle. Then the stranger looked down at Peter, and his eyes

"Fooled you that time, didn't I, Peter?" he chuckled. "You thought you were going to see Glory the Cardinal,

Then without waiting for Peter to reply, this soberlooking stranger gave such a concert as no one else in the

world could give. From that wonderful throat poured out song after song and note after note of Peter's

familiar friends of the Old Orchard, and the performance wound up with a lovely song which was all the

stranger's own. Peter didn't have to be told who the stranger was. It was Mocker the Mockingbird.

"Oh!" gasped Peter. "Oh, Mocker, how under the sun do you do it? I was sure that it was Glory whom I heard

Mocker chuckled. "You're not the only one I've fooled, Peter," said he. "I flatter myself that I can fool almost

anybody if I set out to. It's lots of fun. I may not be much to look at, but when it comes to singing there's no

"I think you are very nice looking indeed," replied Peter politely. "I've just been finding out this morning that

"And now you've learned that you can't always recognize folks by their voices, haven't you?" chuckled

"Yes," replied Peter. "Hereafter I shall never be sure about any feathered folks unless I can both see and hear

Mocker did. He sang and sang, for he clearly loves to sing. When he finished Peter had another question

ready. "Somebody told me once that down in the South you are the best loved of all the birds. Is that so?"

"That's not for me to say," replied Mocker modestly. "But I can tell you this, Peter, they do think a lot of me

down there. There are many birds down there who are very beautifully dressed, birds who don't come up here

at all. But not one of them is loved as I am, and it is all on account of my voice. I would rather have a

Peter nodded as if he quite agreed, which, when you think of it, is rather funny, for Peter has neither a fine

coat nor a fine voice. A glint of mischief sparkled in Mocker's eyes. "There's Mrs. Goldy the Oriole over

He began to call in exact imitation of Goldy's voice when he is anxious about something. At once Mrs. Goldy

came hurrying over to find out what the trouble was. When she discovered Mocker she lost her temper and

scolded him roundly; then she flew away a perfect picture of indignation. Mocker and Peter laughed, for they

Suddenly Peter remembered what Jenny Wren had told him. "Was Jenny Wren telling you the truth when she

Mocker nodded. "Yes," said he, "we are relatives. We each belong to a branch of the same family." Then he

burst into Mr. Wren's own song, after which he excused himself and went to look for Mrs. Mocker. For, as he

Jolly, round, red Mr. Sun was just going to bed behind the Purple Hills and the Black Shadows had begun to

creep all through the Green Forest and out across the Green Meadows. It was the hour of the day Peter Rabbit

loves best. He sat on the edge of the Green Forest watching for the first little star to twinkle high up in the

sky. Peter felt at peace with all the Great World, for it was the hour of peace, the hour of rest for those who

Most of Peter's feathered friends had settled themselves for the coming night, the worries and cares of the day

over and forgotten. All the Great World seemed hushed. In the distance Sweetvoice the Vesper Sparrow was

pouring out his evening song, for it was the hour when he dearly loves to sing. Far back in the Green Forest

Whippoorwill was calling as if his very life depended on the number of times he could say, "Whip poor

Will," without taking a breath. From overhead came now and then the sharp, rather harsh cry of Boomer the

For a time it seemed as if these were the only feathered friends still awake, and Peter couldn't help thinking

that those who went so early to bed missed the most beautiful hour of the whole day. Then, from a tree just

back of him, there poured forth a song so clear, so sweet, so wonderfully suited to that peaceful hour, that

Peter held his breath until it was finished. He knew that singer and loved him. It was Melody the Wood

When the song ended Peter hopped over to the tree from which it had come. It was still light enough for him

to see the sweet singer. He sat on a branch near the top, his head thrown back and his soft, full throat

throbbing with the flutelike notes he was pouring forth. He was a little smaller than Welcome Robin. His

coat was a beautiful reddishbrown, not quite so bright as that of Brownie the Thrasher. Beneath he was

white with large, black spots thickly dotting his breast and sides. He was singing as if he were trying to put

into those beautiful notes all the joy of life. Listening to it Peter felt steal over him a wonderful feeling of

The Black Shadows crept far across the Green Meadows and it became so dusky in the Green Forest that

Peter could barely make out the sweet singer above his head. Still Melody sang on and the hush of eventide

grew deeper, as if all the Great World were holding its breath to listen. It was not until several little stars had

begun to twinkle high up in the sky that Melody stopped singing and sought the safety of his hidden perch for

the night. Peter felt sure that somewhere near was a nest and that one thing which had made that song so

beautiful was the love Melody lad been trying to express to the little mate sitting on the eggs that nest must

Now Peter is a great hand to stay out all night, and that is just what he did that night. Just before it was time

for jolly, round, red Mr. Sun to kick off his rosy blankets and begin his daily climb up in the blue, blue sky,

Peter started for home in the dear Old Briarpatch. Everywhere in the Green Forest, in the Old Orchard, on

the Green Meadows, his feathered friends were awakening. He had quite forgotten his intention to visit

Melody and was reminded of it only when again he heard those beautiful flutelike notes. At once he

scampered over to where he had spent such a peaceful hour the evening before. Melody saw him at once and

dropped down on the ground for a little gossip while he scratched among the leaves in search of his breakfast.

"I just love to hear you sing, Melody," cried Peter rather breathlessly. "I don't know of any other song that

makes me feel quite as yours does, so sort of perfectly contented and free of care and worry."

"Thank you," replied Melody. "I'm glad you like to hear me sing for there is nothing I like to do better. It is

the one way in which I can express my feelings. I love all the Great World and I just have to tell it so. I do not

Melody shook his brown head. "I wouldn't say that," said he modestly. "I think the song of my cousin Hermit,

is even more beautiful than mine. And then there is my other cousin, Veery. His song is wonderful, I think."

But just then Peter's curiosity was greater than his interest in songs. "Have you built your nest yet?" he asked.

Melody nodded. "It is in a little tree not far from here," said he, "and Mrs. Wood Thrush is sitting on five

"Well, Welcome Robin is my own cousin, so I don't know as there's anything so surprising in that," retorted

"Well, he is, even if he is dressed quite differently from the rest of us," replied Melody.

"Then it's high time you got acquainted with him," replied Melody promptly. "He is rather fond of being by

himself and that is why he is called the Hermit Thrush. He is smaller than I and his coat is not such a bright

brown. His tail is brighter than his coat. He has a waistcoat spotted very much like mine. Some folks consider

him the most beautiful singer of the Thrush family. I'm glad you like my song, but you must hear Hermit

"No," replied Melody. "He builds his nest on the ground, and he doesn't use any mud. Now if you'll excuse

me, Peter, I must get my breakfast and give Mrs. Wood Thrush a chance to get hers."

So Peter continued on his way to the dear Old Briarpatch and there he spent the day. As evening approached

he decided to go back to hear Melody sing again. Just as he drew near the Green Forest he heard from the

direction of the Laughing Brook a song that caused him to change his mind and sent him hurrying in that

direction. It was a very different song from that of Melody the Wood Thrush, yet, if he had never heard it

before, Peter would have known that such a song could come from no throat except that of a member of the

Thrush family. As he drew near the Laughing Brook the beautiful notes seemed to ring through the Green

Forest like a bell. As Melody's song had filled Peter with a feeling of peace, so this song stirred in him a

feeling of the wonderful mystery of life. There was in it the very spirit of the Green Forest.

It didn't take Peter long to find the singer. It was Veery, who has been named Wilson's Thrush; and by some

At the sound of the patter of Peter's feet the song stopped abruptly and he was greeted with a whistled

"Wheeu! wheeu!" Then, seeing that it was no one of whom he need be afraid, Veery came out from under

some ferns to greet Peter. He was smaller than Melody the Wood Thrush, being about onefourth smaller

than Welcome Robin. He wore a brown coat but it was not as bright as that of his cousin, Melody. His breast

was somewhat faintly spotted with brown, and below he was white. His sides were grayishwhite and not

"I hope you like my song," said Veery. "I love to sing just at this hour and I love to think that other people

"They do," declared Peter most emphatically. "I can't imagine how anybody could fail to like to hear you. I

came 'way over here just to sit a while and listen. Won't you sing some more for me, Veery?"

"I certainly will, Peter," replied Veery. "I wouldn't feel that I was going to bed right if I didn't sing until dark.

There is no part of the day I love better than the evening, and the only way I can express my happiness and

my love of the Green Forest and the joy of just being back here at home is by singing."

Veery slipped out of sight, and almost at once his belllike notes began to ring through the Green Forest.

Peter sat right where he was, content to just listen and feel within himself the joy of being alive and happy in

the beautiful spring season which Veery was expressing so wonderfully. The B1ack Shadows grew blacker.

One by one the little stars came out and twinkled down through the tree tops. Finally from deep in the Green

Forest sounded the hunting call of Hooty the Owl. Veery's song stopped. "Good night, Peter," he called

"Good night, Veery," replied Peter and hopped back towards the Green Meadows for a feast of sweet clover.

Peter Rabbit sat in a thicket of young trees on the edge of the Green Forest. It was warm and Peter was

feeling lazy. He had nothing in particular to do, and as he knew of no cooler place he had squatted there to

doze a bit and dream a bit. So far as he knew, Peter was all alone. He hadn't seen anybody when he entered

that little thicket, and though he had listened he hadn't heard a sound to indicate that he didn't have that

thicket quite to himself. It was very quiet there, and though when he first entered he hadn't the least intention

Now Peter is a light sleeper, as all little people who never know when they may have to run for their lives

must be. By and by he awoke with a start, and he was very wide awake indeed. Something had wakened him,

though just what it was he couldn't say. His long ears stood straight up as he listened with all his might for

some little sound which might mean danger. His wobbly little nose wobbled very fast indeed as it tested the

For a few minutes he heard nothing and saw nothing. Then, near the outer edge of the thicket, he heard a

great rustling of dry leaves. It must have been this that had wakened him. For just an instant Peter was

startled, but only for an instant. His long ears told him at once that that noise was made by some one

scratching among the leaves, and he knew that no one who did not wear feathers could scratch like that.

"Now who can that be?" thought Peter, and stole forward very softly towards the place from which the sound

came. Presently, as he peeped between the stems of the young trees, he saw the brown leaves which carpeted

the ground fly this way and that, and in the midst of them was an exceedingly busy person, a little smaller

than Welcome Robin, scratching away for dear life. Every now and then he picked up something.

His head, throat, back and breast were black. Beneath he was white. His sides were reddishbrown. His tail

was black and white, and the longer feathers of his wings were edged with white. It was Chewink the

Peter chuckled, but it was a noiseless chuckle. He kept perfectly still, for it was fun to watch some one who

hadn't the least idea that he was being watched. It was quite clear that Chewink was hungry and that under

those dry leaves he was finding a good meal. His feet were made for scratching and he certainly knew how to

use them. For some time Peter sat there watching. He had just about made up his mind that he would make

his presence known and have a bit of morning gossip when, happening to look out beyond the edge of the

little thicket, he saw something red. It was something alive, for it was moving very slowly and cautiously

towards the place where Chewink was so busy and forgetful of everything but his breakfast. Peter knew that

there was only one person with a coat of that color. It was Reddy Fox, and quite plainly Reddy was hoping to

For a second or two Peter was quite undecided what to do. He couldn't warn Chewink without making his

own presence known to Reddy Fox. Of course he could sit perfectly still and let Chewink be caught, but that

was such a dreadful thought that Peter didn't consider it for more than a second or two. He suddenly thumped

the ground with his feet. It was his danger signal which all his friends know. Then he turned and scampered

At the sound of that thump Chewink instantly flew up in a little tree. Then he saw Reddy Fox and began to

scold. As for Reddy, he looked over towards the brambletangle and snarled. "I'll get you one of these days,

Peter Rabbit," said he. "I'll get you one of these days and pay you up for cheating me out of a breakfast."

Without so much as a glance at Chewink, Reddy turned and trotted off, trying his best to look dignified and

>From his perch Chewink watched until he was sure that Reddy Fox had gone away for good. Then he called

softly, "Towhee! Towhee! Chewink! Chewink! All is safe now, Peter Rabbit. Come out and talk with me and

Chewink flew down to the ground and Peter crept out of the brambletangle. "It wasn't anything," declared

Peter. "I saw Reddy and I knew you didn't, so of course I gave the alarm. You would have done the same

Chewink chuckled. "I belong to a big family," said he. "I belong to the biggest family among the birds. It is

the Finch and Sparrow family. There are a lot of us and a good many of us don't look much alike, but still we

belong to the same family. I suppose you know that Rosebreast the Grosbeak and Glory the Cardinal are

"I didn't know it," replied Peter, "but if you say it is so I suppose it must be so. It is easier to believe than it is

"Oh, worms and bugs that hide under the leaves," replied Chewink carelessly. "You have no idea how many

"Berries and wild fruits in season," replied Chewink. "I'm very fond of them. They make a variety in the bill

"I like the ground better," replied Chewink. "I spend more of my time on the ground than anywhere else."

Chewink nodded. "Of course," said he. "As a matter of fact, I've got a nest in this very thicket. Mrs. Towhee

is on it right now, and I suspect she's worrying and anxious to know what happened over here when you

Peter was just about to ask if he might go along and see that nest when a new voice broke in.

"What are you fellows talking about?" it demanded, and there flitted just in front of Peter a little bird the size

of a Sparrow but lovelier than any Sparrow of Peter's acquaintance. At first glance he seemed to be all blue,

and such a lovely bright blue. But as he paused for an instant Peter saw that his wings and tail were mostly

black and that the lovely blue was brightest on his head and back. It was Indigo the Bunting.

"We were talking about our family," replied Chewink. "I was telling Peter that we belong to the largest

"But you didn't say anything about Indigo," interrupted Peter. "Do you mean to say that he belongs to the

"I surely do," replied Indigo. "I'm rather closely related to the Sparrow branch. Don't I look like a Sparrow?"

Peter looked at Indigo closely. "In size and shape you do," he confessed, "but just the same I should never in

"How about me?" asked another voice, and a little brown bird flew up beside Indigo, twitching her tail

nervously. She looked very Sparrowlike indeed, so much so, that if Peter had not seen her with her

handsome mate, for she was Mrs. Indigo, he certainly would have taken her for a Sparrow.

Only on her wings and tail was there any of the blue which made Indigo's coat so beautiful, and this was only

"I'll have to confess that so far as you are concerned it isn't hard to think of you as related to the Sparrows,"

declared Peter. "Don't you sometimes wish you were as handsomely dressed as Indigo?"

Mrs. Indigo shook her head in a most decided way. "Never!" she declared. "I have worries enough raising a

family as it is, but if I had a coat like his I wouldn't have a moment of peace. You have no idea how I worry

about him sometimes. You ought to be thankful, Peter Rabbit, that you haven't a coat like his. It attracts

Peter tried to picture himself in a bright blue coat and laughed right out at the mere thought, and the others

joined with him. Then Indigo flew up to the top of a tall tree not far away and began to sing. It was a lively

song and Peter enjoyed it thoroughly. Mrs. Indigo took this opportunity to slip away unobserved, and when

Peter looked around for Chewink, he too had disappeared. He had gone to tell Mrs. Cbewink that he was

Jenny and Mr. Wren were busy. If there were any busier little folks anywhere Peter Rabbit couldn't imagine

who they could be. You see, everyone of those seven eggs in the Wren nest had hatched, and seven mouths

are a lot to feed, especially when every morsel of food must be hunted for and carried from a distance. There

was little time for gossip now. Just as soon as it was light enough to see Jenny and Mr. Wren began feeding

those always hungry babies, and they kept at it with hardly time for an occasional mouthful themselves, until

the Black Shadows came creeping out from the Purple Hills. Wren babies, like all other bird babies, grow

very fast, and that means that each one of them must have a great deal of food every day. Each one of them

often ate its own weight in food in a day and all their food had to be hunted for and when found carried back

and put into the gaping little mouths. Hardly would Jenny Wren disappear in the little round doorway of her

home with a caterpillar in her bill than she would hop out again, and Mr. Wren would take her place with a

Peter tried to keep count of the number of times they came and went but soon gave it up as a bad job. He

began to wonder where all the worms and bugs and spiders came from, and gradually he came to have a great

deal of respect for eyes sharp enough to find them so quickly. Needless to say Jenny was shortertempered

than ever. She had no time to gossip and said so most emphatically. So at last Peter gave up the idea of trying

to find out from her certain things he wanted to know, and hopped off to look for some one who was less

busy. He had gone but a short distance when his attention was caught by a song so sweet and so full of little

It didn't take long to find him, for he was sitting on the very tiptop of a firtree in Farmer Brown's yard. Peter

didn't dare go over there, for already it was broad daylight, and he had about made up his mind that he would

have to content himself with just listening to that sweet singer when the latter flew over in the Old Orchard

"Hello, Linnet!" cried Peter. "I was wondering who it could be who was singing like that. I ought to have

known, but you see it's so long since I've heard you sing that I couldn't just remember your song. I'm so glad

Linnet the Purple Finch, for this is who it was, laughed right out. "I see you're still the same old Peter," said

he. "I suppose you're just as full of curiosity as ever and just as full of questions. Well, here I am, so what

"You," replied Peter bluntly. "Lately I've found out so many surprising things about my feathered friends that

I want to know more. I'm trying to get it straight in my head who is related to who, and I've found out some

things which have begun to make me feel that I know very little about my feathered neighbors. It's getting so

that I don't dare to even guess who a person's relatives are. If you please, Linnet, what family do you belong

Linnet flew down a little nearer to Peter. "Look me over, Peter," said he with twinkling eyes. "Look me over

Peter stared solemnly at Linnet. He saw a bird of Sparrow size most of whose body was a rosered, brightest

on the head, darkest on the back, and palest on the breast. Underneath he was whitish.

His wings and tail were brownish, the outer parts of the feathers edged with rosered. His bill was short and

Before Peter could reply, Mrs. Linnet appeared. There wasn't so much as a touch of that beautiful rosered

about her. Her grayishbrown back was streaked with black, and her white breast and sides were spotted and

streaked with brown. If Peter hadn't seen her with Linnet he certainly would have taken her for a Sparrow.

She looked so much like one that he ventured to say, "I guess you belong to the Sparrow family."

"That's pretty close, Peter. That's pretty close," declared Linnet. "We belong to the Finch branch of the

family, which makes the sparrows own cousins to us. Folks may get Mrs. Linnet mixed with some of our

Sparrow cousins, but they never can mistake me. There isn't anybody else my size with a rosered coat like

mine. If you can't remember my song, which you ought to, because there is no other song quite like it, you

can always tell me by the color of my coat. Hello! Here comes Cousin Chicoree. Did you ever see a happier

fellow than he is? I'll venture to say that he has been having such a good time that he hasn't even yet thought

of building a nest, and here half the people of the Old Orchard have grown families. I've a nest and eggs

myself, but that madcap is just roaming about having a good time. Isn't that so, Chicoree?"

"Isn't what so?" demanded Chicoree the Goldfinch, perching very near to where Linnet was sitting.

"Isn't it true that you haven't even begun thinking about a nest?" demanded Linnet. Chicoree flew down in the

grass almost under Peter's nose and began to pull apart a dandelion which had gone to seed. He snipped the

seeds from the soft down to which they were attached and didn't say a word till he was quite through. Then he

flew up in the tree near Linnet, and while he dressed his feathers, answered Linnet's question.

"It's quite true, but what of it?" said he. "There's time enough to think about nestbuilding and household

cares later. Mrs. Goldfinch and I will begin to think about them about the first of July. Meanwhile we are

making the most of this beautiful season to roam about and have a good time. For one thing we like

thistledown to line our nest, and there isn't any thistledown yet. Then, there is no sense in raising a family

until there is plenty of the right kind of food, and you know we Goldfinches live mostly on seeds. I'll venture

to say that we are the greatest seedeaters anywhere around. Of course when the babies are small they have

to have soft food, but one can find plenty of worms and bugs any time during the summer. Just as soon as the

children are big enough to hunt their own food they need seeds, so there is no sense in trying to raise a family

until there are plenty of seeds for them when needed. Meanwhile we are having a good time. How do you like

"It's beautiful," cried Peter. "I wouldn't know you for the same bird I see so often in the late fall and

sometimes in the winter. I don't know of anybody who makes a more complete change. That black cap

Chicoree cocked his head on one side, the better to show off that black cap. The rest of his head and his

whole body were bright yellow. His wings were black with two white bars on each. His tail also was black,

with some white on it. In size he was a little smaller than Linnet and altogether one of the smartest appearing

of all the little people who wear feathers. It was a joy just to look at him. If Peter had known anything about

Canaries, which of course he didn't, because Canaries are always kept in cages, he would have understood

Mrs. Goldfinch now joined her handsome mate and it was plain to see that she admired him quite as much as

did Peter. Her wings and tail were much like his but were more brownish than black. She wore no cap it all

and her back and head were a grayishbrown with an olive tinge. Underneath she was lighter, with a tinge of

yellow. All together she was a very modestly dressed small person. As Peter recalled Chicoree's winter suit, it

was very much like that now worn by Mrs. Goldfinch, save that his wings and tail were as they now

All the time Chicoree kept up a continual happy twittering, breaking out every few moments into song. It was

"I suppose," said Peter, "it sounds foolish of me to ask if you are a member of the same family as Linnet."

"Very foolish, Peter. Very foolish," laughed Chicoree. "Isn't my name Goldfinch, and isn't his name Purple

Finch? We belong to the same family and a mighty fine family it is. Now I must go over to the Old Pasture to

Away he flew calling, "Chicoree, perchicoree, chicoree!" Mrs. Goldfinch followed. As they flew,

they rose and fell in the air in very much the same way that Yellow Wing the Flicker does.

"I'd know them just by that, even if Chicoree didn't keep calling his own name," thought Peter. "It's funny

how they often stay around all winter yet are among the last of all the birds to set up housekeeping. As I once

"Tut, tut, tut, tut, tut! It's no such thing, Peter Rabbit. It's no such thing," scolded Jenny Wren as she flew last

A long lane leads from Farmer Brown's barnyard down to his cornfield on the Green Meadows. It happened

that very early one morning Peter Rabbit took it into his funny little head to run down that long lane to see

what he might see. Now at a certain place beside that long lane was a gravelly bank into which Farmer Brown

had dug for gravel to put on the roadway up near his house. As Peter was scampering past this place where

Farmer Brown had dug he caught sight of some one very busy in that gravel pit. Peter stopped short, then sat

It was Mourner the Dove whom Peter saw, an old friend of whom Peter is very fond. His body was a little

bigger than that of Welcome Robin, but his long slender neck, and longer tail and wings made him appear

considerably larger. In shape he reminded Peter at once of the Pigeons up at Farmer Brown's. His back was

grayishbrown, varying to bluishgray. The crown and upper parts of his head were bluishgray. His breast

was reddishbuff, shading down into a soft buff. His bill was black and his feet red. The two middle feathers

of his tail were longest and of the color of his back. The other feathers were slatygray with little black bands

and tipped with white. On his wings were a few scattered black spots. Just under each ear was a black spot.

But it was the sides of his slender neck which were the most beautiful part of Mourner. When untouched by

the Jolly Little Sunbeams the neck feathers appeared to be in color very like his breast, but the moment they

were touched by the Jolly Little Sunbeams they seemed to be constantly changing, which, as you know, is

But it was not his appearance which made Peter stare; it was what he was doing. He was walking about and

every now and then picking up something quite as if he were getting his breakfast in that gravel pit, and Peter

couldn't imagine anything good to eat down there. He knew that there were not even worms there. Besides,

Mourner is not fond of worms; he lives almost altogether on seeds and grains of many kinds. So Peter was

puzzled. But as yon know he isn't the kind to puzzle long over anything when he can use his tongue.

"Hello, Mourner!" he cried. "What under the sun are you doing in there? Are you getting your breakfast?"

"Hardly, Peter; hardly," cooed Mourner in the softest of voices. "I've had my breakfast and now I'm picking

up a little gravel for my digestion." He picked up a tiny pebble and swallowed it.

"Well, of all things!" cried Peter. "You must be crazy. The idea of thinking that gravel is going to help your

Mourner laughed. It was the softest of little cooing laughs, very pleasant to hear. "I see that as usual you are

judging others by yourself," said he. "You ought to know by this time that you can do nothing more foolish. I

haven't the least doubt that a breakfast of gravel would give you the worst kind of a stomachache. But you

are you and I am I, and there is all the difference in the world. You know I eat grain and hard seeds. Not

having any teeth I have to swallow them whole. One part of my stomach is called a gizzard and its duty is to

grind and crush my food so that it may be digested. Tiny pebbles and gravel help grind the food and so aid

digestion. I think I've got enough now for this morning, and it is time for a dust bath. There is a dusty spot

Mourner said he didn't mind, so Peter followed him over to the dusty place in the long lane. There Mourner

was joined by Mrs. Dove, who was dressed very much like him save that she did not have so beautiful a neck.

"I see you on the ground so much that I've often wondered if you build your nest on the ground," said Peter.

"No," replied Mourner. "Mrs. Dove builds in a tree, but usually not very far above the ground. Now if you'll

excuse us we must get back home. Mrs. Dove has two eggs to sit on and while she is siting I like to be close

The Doves shook the loose dust from their feathers and flew away. Peter watched to see where they went, but

lost sight of them behind some trees, so decided to run up to the Old Orchard. There he found Jenny and Mr.

Wren as busy as ever feeding that growing family of theirs. Jenny wouldn't stop an instant to gossip. Peter

was so brimful of what he had found out about Mr. and Mrs. Dove that he just had to tell some one. He heard

Kitty the Catbird meowing among the bushes along the old stone wall, so hurried over to look for him. As

soon as he found him Peter began to tell what he had learned about Mourner the Dove.

"That's no news, Peter," interrupted Kitty. "I know all about Mourner and his wife. They are very nice people,

though I must say Mrs. Dove is one of the poorest housekeepers I know of. I take it you never have seen her

Kitty the Catbird laughed. "It's about the poorest apology for a nest I know of," said he. "It is made of little

sticks and mighty few of them. How they hold together is more than I can understand. I guess it is a good

thing that Mrs. Dove doesn't lay more than two eggs, and it's a wonder to me that those two stay in the nest.

Listen! There's Mourner's voice now. For one who is so happy he certainly does have the mournfullest

sounding voice. To hear him you'd think he was sorrowful instead of happy. It always makes me feel sad to

"That's true," replied Peter, "but I like to hear him just the same. Hello! Who's that?"

>From one of the trees in the Old Orchard sounded a long, clear, "Kowkowkowkowkowkow!" It was

"Of course I know him," retorted Peter. "I had forgotten the sound of his voice, that's all." Tell me, Kitty, is it

true that Mrs. Cuckoo is no better than Sally Sly the Cowbird and goes about laying her eggs in the nests of

"There isn't a word of truth in it," declared Kitty emphatically. "She builds a nest, such as it is, which isn't

much, and she looks after her own children. The Cuckoos have been given a bad name because of some

goodfornothing cousins of theirs who live across the ocean where Bully the English Sparrow belongs, and

who, if all reports are true, really are no better than Sally Sly the Cowbird. It's funny how a bad name sticks.

The Cuckoos have been accused of stealing the eggs of us other birds, but I've never known them to do it and

I've lived neighbor to them for a long time, I guess they get their bad name because of their habit of slipping

about silently and keeping out of sight as much as possible, as if they were guilty of doing something wrong

and trying to keep from being seen. As a matter of fact, they are mighty useful birds. Farmer Brown ought to

be tickled to death that Mr. and Mrs. Cuckoo have come back to the Old Orchard this year."

"Do you see that cobwebby nest with all those hairy caterpillars on it and around it up in that tree?" asked

Peter replied that he did and that he had seen a great many nests just like it, and had noticed how the

"I'll venture to say that you won't see very many leaves eaten around that nest," replied Kitty. "Those are

called tentcaterpillars, and they do an awful lot of damage. I can't bear them myself because they are so

hairy, and very few birds will touch them. But Cuckoo likes them. There he comes now; just watch him."

A long, slim Dovelike looking bird alighted close to the caterpillar's nest. Above he was brownishgray

with just a little greenish tinge. Beneath he was white. His wings were reddishbrown. His tail was a little

longer than that of Mourner the Dove. The outer feathers were black tipped with white, while the middle

feathers were the color of his back. The upper half of his bill was black, but the under half was yellow, and

from this he is called the Yellowbilled Cuckoo. He has a cousin very much like himself in appearance, save

Cuckoo made no sound but began to pick off the hairy caterpillars and swallow them. When he had eaten all

those in sight he made holes in the silken web of the nest and picked out the caterpillars that were inside.

Finally, having eaten his fill, he flew off as silently as he had come and disappeared among the bushes farther

"I suppose some folks would think that it is going to rain," remarked Kitty the Catbird. "They have the silly

notion that Cuckoo only calls just before rain, and so they call him the Rain Crow. But that isn't so at all.

Well, Peter, I guess I've gossiped enough for one morning. I must go see how Mrs. Catbird is getting along."

Kitty disappeared and Peter, having no one to talk to, decided that the best thing he could do would be to go

Not far from the Old Orchard grew a thorntree which Peter Rabbit often passed. He never had paid

particular attention to it. One morning he stopped to rest under it. Happening to look up, he saw a most

astonishing thing. Fastened on the sharp thorns of one of the branches were three big grasshoppers, a big

moth, two big caterpillars, a lizard, a small mouse and a young English Sparrow. Do you wonder that Peter

thought he must be dreaming? He couldn't imagine how those creatures could have become fastened on those

long sharp thorns. Somehow it gave him an uncomfortable feeling and he hurried on to the Old Orchard,

bubbling over with desire to tell some one of the strange and dreadful thing he had seen in the thorntree.

As he entered the Old Orchard in the far corner he saw Johnny Chuck sitting on his doorstep and hurried over

to tell him the strange news. Johnny listened until Peter was through, then told him quite frankly that never

had he heard of such a thing, and that he thought Peter must have been dreaming and didn't know it.

"You're wrong, Johnny Chuck. Peter hasn't been dreaming at all," said Skimmer the Swallow, who, you

remember, lived in a hole in a tree just above the entrance to Johnny Chuck's house. He had been sitting

"Well, if you know so much about it, please explain," said Johnny Chuck rather crossly.

"It's simple enough," replied Skimmer. "Peter just happened to find the storehouse of Butcher the Loggerhead

Shrike. It isn't a very pleasant sight, I must admit, but one must give Butcher credit for being smart enough to

"He's new to this location," replied Skimmer, "and you probably haven't noticed him. I've seen him in the

Peter and Johnny looked eagerly. They saw a bird who at first glance appeared not unlike Mocker the

Mockingbird. He was dressed wholly in black, gray and white. When he turned his head they noticed a black

stripe across the side of his face and that the tip of his bill was hooked. These are enough to make them forget

that otherwise he was like Mocker. While they were watching him he flew down into the grass and picked up

a grasshopper. Then he flew with a steady, even flight, only a little above the ground, for some distance,

suddenly shooting up and returning to the perch where they had first seen him. There he ate the grasshopper

"He certainly has wonderful eyes," said Skimmer admiringly. "He mast have seen that grasshopper way over

there in the grass before he started after it, for he flew straight there. He doesn't waste time and energy

hunting aimlessly. He sits on a high perch and watches until he sees something he wants. Many times I've

seen him sitting on top of a telegraph pole. I understand that Bully the English Sparrow has become terribly

nervous since the arrival of Butcher. He is particularly fond of English Sparrows. I presume it was one of

Bully's children you saw in the thorntree, Peter. For my part I hope he'll frighten Bully into leaving the Old

"But I don't understand yet why he fastens his victims on those long thorns," said Peter.

"For two reasons," replied Skimmer. "When he catches more grasshoppers and other insects than he can eat,

he sticks them on those thorns so that later he may be sure of a good meal if it happens there are no more to

be caught when he is hungry. Mice, Sparrows, and things too big for him to swallow he sticks on the thorns

so that he can pull them to pieces easier. You see his feet and claws are not big and stout enough to hold his

victims while he tears them to pieces with his hooked bill. Sometimes, instead of sticking them on thorns, he

sticks them on the barbed wire of a fence and sometimes he wedges them into the fork of two branches."

"Not many," replied Skimmer, "and most of those he does kill are English Sparrows. The rest of us have

learned to keep out of his way. He feeds mostly on insects, worms and caterpillars, but he is very fond of

mice and he catches a good many. He is a good deal like Killy the Sparrow Hawk in this respect. He has a

cousin, the Great Northern Shrike, who sometimes comes down in the winter, and is very much like him.

A great commotion had broken out not far away in the Old Orchard. Instantly Skimmer flew over to see what

it was all about and Peter followed. He got there just in time to see Chatterer the Red Squirrel dodging around

the trunk of a tree, first on one side, then on the other, to avoid the sharp bills of the angry feathered folk who

Peter chuckled. "Chatterer is getting just what is due him, I guess," he muttered. "It reminds me of the time I

Chatterer continued to dodge from side to side of the tree while the birds darted down at him, all screaming at

the top of their voices. Finally Chatterer saw his chance to run for the old stone wall. Only one bird was quick

enough to catch up with him and that one was such a tiny fellow that he seemed hardly bigger than a big

insect. It was Hammer the Hummingbird. He followed Chatterer clear to the old stone wall. A moment later

Peter heard a humming noise just over his head and looked up to see Hummer himself alight on a twig, where

he squeaked excitedly for a few minutes, for his voice is nothing but a little squeak.

Often Peter had seen Hummer darting about from flower to flower and holding himself still in midair in

front of each as he thrust his long bill into the heart of the blossom to get the tiny insects there and the sweet

juices he is so fond of. But this was the first time Peter had ever seen him sitting still. He was such a mite of a

thing that it was hard to realize that he was a bird. His back was a bright, shining green. His wings and tail

were brownish with a purplish tinge. Underneath he was whitish, But it was his throat on which Peter fixed

his eyes. It was a wonderful rubyred that glistened and shone in the sun like a jewel.

Hummer lifted one wing and with his long needlelike bill smoothed the feathers under it. Then he darted out

into the air, his wings moving so fast that Peter couldn't see them at all. But if he couldn't see them he could

hear them. You see they moved so fast that they made a sound very like the humming of Bumble the Bee. It

is because of this that he is called the Hummingbird. A fey' minutes later he was back again and now he was

joined by Mrs. Hummer. She was dressed very much like Hummer but did not have the beautiful ruby throat.

She stopped only a minute or two, then darted over to what looked for all the world like a tiny cup of moss. It

Just then Jenny Wren came along, and being quite worn out with the work of feeding her seven babies, she

was content to rest for a few moments and gossip. Peter told her what he had discovered.

"I know all about that," retorted Jenny. "You don't suppose I hunt these trees over for food without knowing

where my neighbors are living, do you? I'd have you to understand, Peter, that that is the daintiest nest in the

Old Orchard. It is made wholly of plant down and covered on the outside with bits of that gray mosslike

stuff that grows on the bark of the trees and is called lichens. That is what makes that nest look like nothing

more than a knot on the branch. Chatterer made a big mistake when he visited this tree. Hummer may he a

tiny fellow but he isn't afraid of anybody under the sun. That bill of his is so sharp and he is so quick that few

folks ever bother him more than once. Why, there isn't a single member of the Hawk family that Hummer

"Does he go very far south for the winter?" asked Peter. "He is such a tiny fellow I don't see how he can stand

"Huh!" exclaimed Jenny Wren. "Distance doesn't bother Hummer any. You needn't worry about those wings

of his. He goes clear down to South America. He has ever so many relatives down there. You ought to see his

babies when they first hatch out. They are no bigger than bees. But they certainly do grow fast. Why, they are

flying three weeks from the time they hatch. I'm glad I don't have to pump food down the throats of my

Peter looked perplexed. "What do you mean by pumping food down their throats?" he demanded.

"Just what I say," retorted Jenny Wren. "Mrs. Hummer sticks her bill right down their throats and then pumps

up the food she has already swallowed. I guess it is a good thing that the babies have short bills."

"Yes," replied Jenny. "When they hatch out they have short bills, but it doesn't take them a great while to

"Just two," replied Jenny. "Just two. That's all that nest will hold. But goodness gracious, Peter, I can't stop

With a jerk of her tail off flew Jenny Wren, and Peter hurried back to tell Johnny Chuck all he had found out

Butcher the Shrike was not the only newcomer in the Old Orchard. There was another stranger who, Peter

Rabbit soon discovered, was looked on with some suspicion by all the other birds of the Old Orchard. The

first time Peter saw him, he was walking about on the ground some distance off. He didn't hop but walked,

and at that distance he looked all black. The way he carried himself and his movements as he walked made

Peter think of Creaker the Grackle. In fact, Peter mistook him for Creaker. That was because he didn't really

look at him. If he had he would have seen at once that the stranger was smaller than Creaker.

Presently the stranger flew up in a tree and Peter saw that his tail was little more than half as long as that of

Creaker. At once it came over Peter that this was a stranger to him, and of course his curiosity was aroused.

He didn't have any doubt whatever that this was a member of the Blackbird family, but which one it could be

he hadn't the least idea. "Jenny Wren will know," thought Peter and scampered off to hunt her up.

"Who is that new member of the Blackbird family who has come to live in the Old Orchard?" Peter asked as

"There isn't any new member of the Blackbird family living in the Old Orchard," retorted Jenny Wren tartly.

"There is too," contradicted Peter. "I saw him with my own eyes. I can see him now. He's sitting in that tree

over yonder this very minute. He's all black, so of course he must be a member of the Blackbird family."

"Tut, tut, tut, tut, tut!" scolded Jenny Wren. "Tut, tut, tut, tut, tut! That fellow isn't a member of the Blackbird

family at all, and what's more, he isn't black. Go over there and take a good look at him; then come back and

Jenny turned her back on Peter and went to hunting worms. There being nothing else to do, Peter hopped over

where he could get a good look at the stranger. The sun was shining full on him, and he wasn't black at all.

Jenny Wren was right. For the most part he was very dark green. At least, that is what Peter thought at first

glance. Then, as the stranger moved, he seemed to be a rich purple in places. In short he changed color as he

turned. His feathers were like those of Creaker the Grackleiridescent. All over he was speckled with tiny

light spots. Underneath he was dark brownishgray. His wings and tail were of the same color, with little

Peter hurried back to Jenny Wren and it must be confessed he looked sheepish. "You were right, Jenny Wren;

he isn't black at all," confessed Peter. "Of course I was right. I usually am," retorted Jenny. "He isn't black, he

isn't even related to the Blackbird family, and he hasn't any business in the Old Orchard. In fact, if you ask

me, he hasn't any business in this country anyway. He's a foreigner. That's what he isa foreigner."

"He is Speckles the Starling, and he isn't really an American at all," replied Jenny. "He comes from across the

ocean the same as Bully the English Sparrow. Thank goodness he hasn't such a quarrelsome disposition as

Bully. Just the same, the rest of us would be better satisfied if he were not here. He has taken possession of

one of the old homes of Yellow Wing the Flicker, and that means one less house for birds who really belong

here. If his family increases at the rate Bully's family does, I'm afraid some of us will soon be crowded out of

Peter nodded. "I certainly did," said he. "I couldn't very well help noticing it."

"Well, there's a funny thing about that bill," replied Jenny. "In winter it turns almost black. Most of us wear a

"Well, he seems to be pretty well fixed here, and I don't see but what the thing for the rest of you birds to do

is to make the best of the matter," said Peter. "What I want to know is whether or not he is of any use."

"I guess he must do some good," admitted Jenny Wren rather grudgingly. "I've seen him picking up worms

and grubs, but he likes grain, and I have a suspicion that if his family becomes very numerous, and I suspect

it will, they will eat more of Farmer Brown's grain than they will pay for by the worms and bugs they destroy.

A flock of modestly dressed yet rather distinguished looking feathered folks had alighted in a cherrytree and

promptly began to help themselves to Farmer Brown's cherries. They were about the size of Winsome

Bluebird, but did not look in the least like him, for they were dressed almost wholly in beautiful, rich, soft

grayishbrown. Across the end of each tail was a yellow band. On each, the forehead, chin and a line through

each eye was velvetyblack. Each wore a very stylish pointed cap, and on the wings of most of them were

little spots of red which looked like sealingwax, and from which they get the name of Waxwings. They were

As Peter watched them he began to wonder if Farmer Brown would have any cherries left. Peter himself can

do pretty well in the matter of stuffing his stomach, but even he marvelled at the way those birds put the

cherries out of sight. It was quite clear to him why they are often called Cberrybirds.

"Don't worry," replied Jenny Wren. "They won't stay long. I don't know anybody equal to them for roaming

about. Here are most of us with families on our hands and Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird with a second family and

Mr. and Mrs. Robin with a second set of eggs, while those gadabouts up there haven't even begun to think

about housekeeping yet. They certainly do like those cherries, but I guess Farmer Brown can stand the loss of

what they eat. He may have fewer cherries, but he'll have more apples because of them."

"Oh," replied Jenny Wren, "they were over here a while ago when those little green cankerworms threatened

to eat up the whole orchard, and they stuffed themselves on those worms just the same as they are stuffing

themselves on cherries now. They are very fond of small fruits but most of those they eat are the wild kind

which are of no use at all to Farmer Brown or anybody else. Now just look at that performance, will you?"

There were five of the Waxwings and they were now seated side by side on a branch of the cherry tree. One

of them had a plump cherry which he passed to the next one. This one passed it on to the next, and so it went

to the end of the row and halfway back before it was finally eaten. Peter laughed right out. "Never in my life

"Huh!" exclaimed Jenny Wren. "I don't believe it was politeness at all. I guess if you got at the truth of the

matter you would find that each one was stuffed so full that he thought he didn't have room for that cherry

"Well, I think that was politeness just the same," retorted Peter. "The first one might have dropped the cherry

if he couldn't eat it instead of passing it along." Just then the Waxwings flew away.

It was the very middle of the summer before Peter Rabbit again saw Dandy the Waxwing. Quite by chance he

discovered Dandy sitting on the tiptop of an evergreen tree, as if on guard. He was on guard, for in that tree

was his nest, though Peter didn't know it at the time. In fact, it was so late in the summer that most of Peter's

friends were through nesting and he had quite lost interest in nests. Presently Dandy flew down to a lower

branch and there he was joined by Mrs. Waxwing. Then Peter was treated to one of the prettiest sights he

ever had seen. They rubbed their bills together as if kissing. They smoothed each other's feathers and

altogether were a perfect picture of two little lovebirds. Peter couldn't think of another couple who appeared

Late in the fall Peter saw Mr. and Mrs. Waxwing and their family together. They were in a cedar tree and

were picking off and eating the cedar berries as busily as the five Waxwings had picked Farmer Brown's

cherries in the early summer. Peter didn't know it but because of their fondness for cedar berries the

All through the long summer Peter Rabbit watched his feathered friends and learned things in regard to their

ways he never had suspected. As he saw them keeping the trees of the Old Orchard free of insect pests

working in Farmer Brown's garden, and picking up the countless seeds of weeds everywhere, he began to

understand something of the wonderful part these feathered folks have in keeping the Great World beautiful

He had many a hearty laugh as he watched the bird babies learn to fly and to find their own food. All summer

long they were going to school all about him, learning how to watch out for danger, to use their eyes and ears,

As autumn drew near Peter discovered that his friends were gathering in flocks, roaming here and there. It

was one of the first signs that summer was nearly over, and it gave him just a little feeling of sadness. He

heard few songs now, for the singing season was over. Also he discovered that many of the most beautifully

dressed of his feathered friends had changed their finery for sober traveling suits in preparation for the long

journey to the far South where they would spend the winter. In fact he actually failed to recognize some of

September came, and as the days grew shorter, some of Peter's friends bade him goodby. They were starting

on the long journey, planning to take it in easy stages for the most part. Each day saw some slip away. As

Peter thought of the dangers of the long trip before them he wondered if he would ever see them again. But

some there were who lingered even after Jack Frost's first visit. Welcome and Mrs. Robin, Winsome and Mrs.

Bluebird. Little Friend the Song Sparrow and his wife were among these. By and by even they were forced to

Sad indeed and lonely would these days have been for Peter had it not been that with the departure of the

friends he had spent so many happy hours with came the arrival of certain other friends from the Far North

where they had made their summer homes. Some of these stopped for a few days in passing. Others came to

A few old friends there were who would stay the year through. Sammy Jay was one. Downy and Hairy the

Woodpeckers were others. And one there was whom Peter loves dearly. It was Tommy Tit the Chickadee.

Now Tommy Tit had not gone north in the spring. In fact, he had made his home not very far from the Old

Orchard. It just happened that Peter hadn't found that home, and had caught only one or two glimpses of

Tommy Tit. Now, with household cares ended and his goodsized family properly started in life, Tommy Tit

was no longer interested in the snug little home he had built in a hollow birchstub, and he and Mrs.

Chickadee spent their time flitting about hither, thither, and yon, spreading good cheer. Every time Peter

visited the Old Orchard he found him there, and as Tommy was always ready for a bit of merry gossip, Peter

"Don't you dread the winter, Tommy Tit?" asked Peter one day, as he watched Tommy clinging head down to

"Not a bit," replied Tommy. "I like winter. I like cold weather. It makes a fellow feel good from the tips of

his claws to the tip of his bill. I'm thankful I don't have to take that long journey most of the birds have to. I

"Well," replied Tommy Tit, "this is it: If a fellow keeps his stomach filled he will beep his toes warm."

Peter looked a, little puzzled. "IIdon't just see what your stomach has to do with your toes," said he.

Tommy Tit chuckled. It was a lovely throaty little chuckle. "Dee, dee, dee!" said he. "What I mean is, if a

fellow has plenty to eat he will keep the cold out, and I've found that if a fellow uses his eyes and isn't afraid

of a little work, he can find plenty to eat. At least I can. The only time I ever get really worried is when the

trees are covered with ice. If it were not that Farmer Brown's boy is thoughtful enough to hang a piece of suet

in a tree for me, I should dread those ice storms more than I do. As I said before, plenty of food keeps a

"Oh, the feathers help," replied Tommy Tit. "Food makes heat and a warm coat keeps the heat in the body.

But the heat has got to be there first, or the feathers will do no good. It's just the same way with your own

self, Peter. You know you are never really warm in winter unless you have plenty to eat..."

"That's so," replied Peter thoughtfully. "I never happened to think of it before. Just the same, I don't see how

Chuckled Tommy Tit. "You ought to know by this time Peter Rabbit, that a lot of different kinds of bugs lay

eggs on the twigs and trunks of trees. Those eggs would stay there all winter and in the spring hatch out into

lice and worms if it were not for me. Why, sometimes in a single day I find and eat almost five hundred eggs

of those little green plant lice that do so much damage in the spring and summer. Then there are little worms

that bore in just under the bark, and there are other creatures who sleep the winter away in little cracks in the

bark. Oh, there is plenty for me to do in the winter. I am one of the policemen of the trees. Downy and Hairy

the Woodpeckers, SeepSeep the Brown Creeper and YankYank the Nuthatch are others. If we didn't stay

right here on the job all winter, I don't know what would become of the Old Orchard."

Tommy Tit hung head downward from a twig while he picked some tiny insect eggs from the under side of it.

It didn't seem to make the least difference to Tommy whether he was right side up or upside down. He was a

little animated bunch of black and white feathers, not much bigger than Jenny Wren. The top of his head,

back of his neck and coat were shining black. The sides of his head and neck were white. His back was ashy.

His sides were a soft creambuff, and his wing and tail feathers were edged with white. His tiny bill was

black, and his little black eyes snapped and twinkled in a way good to see. Not one among all Peter's friends

is such a merryhearted little fellow as Tommy Tit the Chickadee. Merriment and happiness bubble out of

him all the time, no matter what the weather is. He is the friend of everyone and seems to feel that everyone

"I've noticed," said Peter, "that birds who do not sing at any other time of year sing in the spring. Do you

"Well, I don't know as you would call it a song, Peter," chuckled Tommy. "No, I hardly think you would call

it a song. But I have a little love call then which goes like this: Phoebe! Phoebe!"

It was the softest, sweetest little whistle, and Tommy had rightly called it a love call. "Why, I've often heard

that in the spring and didn't know it was your voice at all," cried Peter. "You say Phoebe plainer than does the

bird who is named Phoebe, and it is ever so much softer and sweeter. I guess that is because you whistle it."

"I guess you guess right," replied Tommy Tit. "Now I can't stop to talk any longer. These trees need my

attention. I want Farmer Brown's boy to feel that I have earned that suet I am sure he will put out for me as

soon as the snow and ice come. I'm not the least bit afraid of Farmer Brown's boy. I had just as soon take

food from his hand as from anywhere else. He knows I like choppedup nutmeats, and last winter I used to

feed from his hand every day." Peter's eyes opened very wide with surprise. "Do you mean to say," said he,

"that you and Farmer Brown's boy are such friends that you dare sit on his hand?"

Tommy Tit nodded his little blackcapped head vigorously. "Certainly," said he. "Why not? What's the good

of having friends if you can't trust them? The more you trust them the better friends they'll be."

Just the same, I don't see how you dare to do it," Peter replied. "I know Farmer Brown's boy is the friend of

all the little people, and I'm not much afraid of him myself, but just the same I wouldn't dare go near enough

"Pooh!" retorted Tommy Tit. "That's no way of showing true friendship. You've no idea, Peter, what a

comfortable feeling it is to know that you can trust a friend, and I feel that Farmer Brown's boy is one of the

The leaves of the trees turned yellow and red and brown and then began to drop, a few at first, then more and

more every day until all but the sprucetrees and the pinetrees and the hemlocktrees and the firtrees and

the cedartrees were bare. By this time most of Peter's feathered friends of the summer had departed, and

there were days when Peter had oh, such a lonely feeling. The fur of his coat was growing thicker. The grass

of the Green Meadows had turned brown. All these things were signs which Peter knew well. He knew that

rough Brother North Wind and Jack Frost were on their way down from the Far North.

Peter had few friends to visit now. Johnny Chuck had gone to sleep for the winter 'way down in his little

bedroom under ground. Grandfather Frog had also gone to sleep. So had Old Mr. Toad. Peter spent a great

deal of time in the dear Old Briarpatch just sitting still and listening. What he was listening for he didn't

know. It just seemed to him that there was something he ought to hear at this time of year, and so he sat

listening and listening and wondering what he was listening for. Then, late one afternoon, there came floating

down to him from high up in the sky, faintly at first but growing louder, a sound unlike any Peter had heard

all the long summer through. The sound was a voice. Rather it was many voices mingled "Honk, honk, honk,

"That's what I've been listening for!" he cried. "Honker the Goose and his friends are coming. Oh, I do hope

He hopped out to the edge of the dear Old Briarpatch that he might see better, and looked up in the sky.

High up, flying in the shape of a letter V, he saw a flock of great birds flying steadily from the direction of

the Far North. By the sound of their voices he knew that they had flown far that day and were tired. One bird

was in the lead and this he knew to be his old friend, Honker. Straight over his head they passed and as Peter

listened to their voices he felt within him the very spirit of the Far North, that great, wild, lonely land which

As Peter watched, Honker suddenly turned and headed in the direction of the Big River. Then he began to

slant down, his flock following him. And presently they disappeared behind the trees along the bank of the

Great River. Peter gave a happy little sigh. "They are going to spend the night there," thought he. "When the

moon comes up, I will run over there, for they will come ashore and I know just where. Now that they have

arrived I know that winter is not far away. Honker's voice is as sure a sign of the coming of winter as is

Peter could hardly wait for the coming of the Black Shadows, and just as soon as they had crept out over the

Green Meadows he started for the Big River. He knew just where to go, because he knew that Honker and his

friends would rest and spend the night in the same place they had stopped at the year before. He knew that

they would remain out in the middle of the Big River until the Black Shadows had made it quite safe for them

to swim in. He reached the bank of the Big River just as sweet Mistress Moon was beginning to throw her

silvery light over the Great World. There was a sandy bar in the Great River at this point, and Peter squatted

It seemed to Peter that he had sat there half the night, but really it was only a short time, before he heard a

low signal out in the Black Shadows which covered the middle of the Big River. It was the voice of Honker.

Then Peter saw little silvery lines moving on the water and presently a dozen great shapes appeared in the

moonlight. Honker and his friends were swimming in. The long neck of each of those great birds was

stretched to its full height, and Peter knew that each bird was listening for the slightest suspicious sound.

Slowly they drew near, Honker in the lead. They were a picture of perfect caution. When they reached the

sandy bar they remained quiet, looking and listening for some time. Then, sure that all was safe, Honker gave

a low signal and at once a low gabbling began as the big birds relaxed their watchfulness and came out on the

sandy bar, all save one. That one was the guard, and he remained with neck erect on watch. Some swam in

among the rushes growing in the water very near to where Peter was sitting and began to feed. Others sat on

the sandy bar and dressed their feathers. Honker himself came ashore close to where Peter was sitting.

Honker gave a little start, but instantly recognizing Peter, came over close to him. As he stood there in the

moonlight he was truly handsome. His throat and a large patch on each side of his head were white. The rest

of his head and long, slim neck were black. His short tail was also black. His back, wings, breast and sides

were a soft grayishbrown. He was white around the base of his tail and he wore a white collar.

"Hello, Peter," said he. "It is good to have an old friend greet me. I certainly am glad to be back safe and

sound, for the hunters with terrible guns have been at almost every one of our resting places, and it has been

hard work to get enough to eat. It is a relief to find one place where there are no terrible guns."

"Very far, Peter; very far," replied Honker. "And we still have very far to go. I shall be thankful when the

journey is over, for on me depends the safety of all those with me, and it is a great responsibility."

"Rough Brother North Wind and Jack Frost were right behind us," replied Honker. "You know we stay in the

Far North just as long as we can. Already the place where we nested is frozen and covered with snow. For the

first part of the journey we kept only just ahead of the snow and ice, but as we drew near to where men make

their homes we were forced to make longer journeys each day, for the places where it is safe to feed and rest

are few and far between. Now we shall hurry on until we reach the place in the faraway South where we

Just then Honker was interrupted by wild, strange sounds from the middle of the Great River. It sounded like

crazy laughter. Peter jumped at the sound, but Honker merely chuckled. "It's Dippy the Loon," said he. "He

spent the summer in the Far North not far from us. He started south just before we did."

"I wish he would come in here so that I can get a good look at him and make his acquaintance," said Peter.

"He may, but I doubt it," replied Honker. "He and his mate are great people to keep by themselves. Then, too,

they don't have to come ashore for food. You know Dippy feeds altogether on fish. He really has an easier

time on the long journey than we do, because he can get his food without running so much risk of being shot

by the terrible hunters. He practically lives on the water. He's about the most awkward fellow on land of any

"Why should he be any more awkward on land then you?" asked Peter, his curiosity aroused at once.

"Because," replied Honker, "Old Mother Nature has given him very short legs and has placed them so far

back on his body that he can't keep his balance to walk, and has to use his wings and bill to help him over the

ground. On shore he is about the most helpless thing you can imagine. But on water he is another fellow

altogether. He's just as much at home under water as on top. My, how that fellow can dive! When he sees the

flash of a gun he will get under water before the shot can reach him. That's where he has the advantage of us

Geese. You know we can't dive. He could swim clear across this river under water if he wanted to, and he can

go so fast under water that he can catch a fish. It is because his legs have been placed so far back that he can

swim so fast. You know his feet are nothing but big paddles. Another funny thing is that he can sink right

down in the water when he wants to, with nothing but his head out. I envy him that. It would be a lot easier

"Of course not," replied Honker. "Didn't I tell you that he lives on fish? How do you suppose he would hold

on to his slippery fish if he had a broad bill like mine? His bill is stout, straight and sharp pointed. He is

rather a handsome fellow. He is pretty nearly as big as I am, and his back, wings, tail and neck are black with

bluish or greenish appearance in the sun. His back and wings are spotted with white, and there are streaks of

white on his throat and the sides of his neck. On his breast and below he is all white. You certainly ought to

"I'd like to," replied Peter. "But if he never comes to shore, how can I? I guess I will have to be content to

know him just by his voice. I certainly never will forget that. It's about as crazy sounding as the voice of Old

"There's one thing I forgot to tell you," said Honker. "Dippy can't fly from the land; he must be on the water

"Of course I can," replied Honker. "Why, we Geese get a lot of our food on land. When it is safe to do so we

visit the grain fields and pick up the grain that has been shaken out during harvest. Of course we couldn't do

that if we couldn't fly from the land. We can rise from either land or water equally well. Now if you'll excuse

me, Peter, I'll take a nap. My, but I'm tired! And I've got a long journey tomorrow."

So Peter politely bade Honker and his relatives goodnight and left them in peace on the sandy bar in the Big

Rough Brother North Wind and Jack Frost were not far behind Honker the Goose. In a night Peter Rabbit's

world was transformed. It had become a new world, a world of pure white. The last laggard among Peter's

feathered friends who spend the winter in the faraway South had hurried away. Still Peter was not lonely.

Tommy Tit's cheery voice greeted Peter the very first thing that morning after the storm. Tommy seemed to

Now Peter rather likes the snow. He likes to run about in it, and so he followed Tommy Tit up to the Old

Orchard. He felt sure that he would find company there besides Tommy Tit, and he was not disappointed.

Downy and Hairy the Woodpeckers were getting their breakfast from a piece of suet Farmer Brown's boy had

thoughtfully fastened in one of the appletrees for them. Sammy Jay was there also, and his blue coat never

These were the only ones Peter really had expected to find in the Old Orchard, and so you can guess how

pleased he was as he hopped over the old stone wall to hear the voice of one whom he had almost forgotten.

It was the voice of YankYank the Nuthatch, and while it was far from being sweet there was in it something

of good cheer and contentment. At once Peter hurried in the direction from which it came.

On the trunk of an appletree he caught sight of a gray and black and white bird about the size of Downy the

Woodpecker. The top of his head and upper part of his back were shining black. The rest of his back was

bluishgray. The sides of his head and his breast were white. The outer feathers of his tail were black with

But Peter didn't need to see how YankYank was dressed in order to recognize him. Peter would have known

him if he had been so far away that the colors of his coat did not show at all. You see, YankYank was doing

a most surprising thing, something no other bird can do. He was walking head first down the trunk of that

tree, picking tiny eggs of insects from the bark and seemingly quite as much at home and quite as

As Peter approached, YankYank lifted his head and called a greeting which sounded very much like the

repetition of his own name. Then he turned around and began to climb the tree as easily as he had come down

YankYank turned around so that he was once more head down, and his eyes twinkled as he looked down at

Peter. "You're mistaken Peter," said he. "This isn't home. I've simply come down here for the winter. You

know home is where you raise your children, and my home is in the Great Woods farther north. There is too

"Well anyway, it's a kind of home; it's your winter home," protested Peter, "and I certainly am glad to see you

back. The Old Orchard wouldn't be quite the same without you. Did you have a pleasant summer? And if you

"Yes, Mr. Curiosity, I had a very pleasant summer," replied YankYank. "Mrs. YankYank and I raised a

family of six and that is doing a lot better than some folks I know, if I do say it. As to our nest, it was made of

leaves and feathers and it was in a hole in a certain old stump that not a soul knows of but Mrs. YankYank

"Yes," retorted Peter promptly. "I want to know how it is that you can walk head first down the trunk of a tree

YankYank chuckled happily. "I discovered a long time ago, Peter," said he, "that the people who get on best

in this world are those who make the most of what they have and waste no time wishing they could have what

other people have. I suppose you have noticed that all the Woodpecker family have stiff tail feathers and use

them to brace themselves when they are climbing a tree. They have become so dependent on them that they

don't dare move about on the trunk of a tree without using them. If they want to come down a tree they have

"Now Old Mother Nature didn't give me stiff tail feathers, but she gave me a very good pair of feet with three

toes in front and one behind and when I was a very little fellow I learned to make the most of those feet. Each

toe has a sharp claw. When I go up a tree the three front claws on each foot hook into the bark. When I come

down a tree I simply twist one foot around so that I can use the claws of this foot to keep me from falling. It

is just as easy for me to go down a tree as it is to go up, and I can go right around the trunk just as easily and

comfortably." Suiting action to the word, YankYank ran around the trunk of the appletree just above

"Do you live altogether on grubs and worms and insects and their eggs?" he asked.

"I should say not!" exclaimed YankYank. "I like acorns and beechnuts and certain kinds of seeds."

"I don't see how such a little fellow as you can eat such hard things as acorns and beechnuts," protested Peter

YankYank laughed right out. "Sometime when I see you over in the Green Forest I'll show you," said he.

"When I find a fat beechnut I take it to a little crack in a tree that will just hold it; then with this stout bill of

mine I crack the shell. It really is quite easy when you know how. Cracking a nut open that way is sometimes

called hatching, and that is how I come by the name of Nuthatch. Hello! There's SeepSeep. I haven't seen

As YankYank spoke, a little brown bird alighted at the very foot of the next tree. He was just a trifle bigger

than Jenny Wren but not at all like Jenny, for while Jenny's tail usually is cocked up in the sauciest way,

SeepSeep's tail is never cocked up at all. In fact, it bends down, for SeepSeep uses his tail just as the

members of the Woodpecker family use theirs. He was dressed in grayishbrown above and grayishwhite

beneath. Across each wing was a little band of buffywhite, and his bill was curved just a little.

SeepSeep didn't stop an instant but started up the trunk of that tree, going round and round it as he climbed,

and picking out things to eat from under the bark. His way of climbing that tree was very like creeping, and

Peter thought to himself that SeepSeep was well named the Brown Creeper. He knew it was quite useless to

try to get SeepSeep to talk, He knew that SeepSeep wouldn't waste any time that way.

Round and round up the trunk of the tree he went, and when he reached the top at once flew down to the

bottom of the next tree and without a pause started up that. He wasted no time exploring the branches, but

stuck to the trunk. Once in a while he would cry in a thin little voice, "Seep! Seep!" but never paused to rest

or look around. If he had felt that on him alone depended the job of getting all the insect eggs and grubs on

"Does he build his nest in a hole in a tree?" asked Peter of YankYank. YankYank shook his head. "No," he

replied. "He hunts for a tree or stub with a piece of loose bark hanging to it. In behind this he tucks his nest

made of twigs, strips of bark and moss. He's a funny little fellow and I don't know of any one in all the great

world who more strictly attends to his own business than does SeepSeep the Brown Creeper. By the way,

"Not yet," replied Peter, "but I think he must be here. I'm glad you reminded me of him. I'll go look for him.

Having been reminded of Dotty the Tree Sparrow, Peter Rabbit became possessed of a great desire to find

this little friend of the cold months and learn how he had fared through the summer.

He was at a loss just where to look for Dotty until he remembered a certain weedy field along the edge of

which the bushes had been left growing. "Perhaps I'll find him there," thought Peter, for he remembered that

Dotty lives almost wholly on seeds, chiefly weed seeds, and that he dearly loves a weedy field with bushes

So Peter hurried over to the weedy field and there, sure enough, he found Dotty with a lot of his friends. They

were very busy getting their breakfast. Some were clinging to the weedstalks picking the seeds out of the

tops, while others were picking up the seeds from the ground. It was cold. Rough Brother North Wind was

doing his best to blow up another snowcloud. It wasn't at all the kind of day in which one would expect to

find anybody in high spirits. But Dotty was. He was even singing as Peter came up, and all about Dotty's

friends and relatives were twittering as happily and merrily as if it were the beginning of spring instead of

Dotty was very nearly the size of Little Friend the Song Sparrow and looked somewhat like him, save that his

breast was clear ashygray, all but a little dark spot in the middle, the little dot from which he gets his name.

He wore a chestnut cap, almost exactly like that of Chippy the Chipping Sparrow. It reminded Peter that

"Thank you, Peter," twittered Dotty happily. "In a way it is good to be back. Certainly, it is good to know that

"I hope so," replied Dotty. "I certainly shall if the snow does not get so deep that I cannot get enough to eat.

Some of these weeds are so tall that it will take a lot of snow to cover them, and as long as the tops are above

the snow I will have nothing to worry about. You know a lot of seeds remain in these tops all winter. But if

the snow gets deep enough to cover these I shall have to move along farther south."

"Then I hope there won't be much snow," declared Peter very emphatically. "There are few enough folks

about in winter at best, goodness knows, and I don't know of any one I enjoy having for a neighbor more than

"Thank you again, Peter," cried Dotty, "and please let me return the compliment. I like cold weather. I like

winter when there isn't too much ice and bad weather. I always feel good in cold weather. That is one reason I

"Usually on or near the ground," replied Dotty. "You know I am really a ground bird although I am called a

"I know," replied Peter. "Do you know I'm very fond of the Sparrow family. I just love your cousin Chippy,

who nests in the Old Orchard every spring. I wish he would stay all winter. I really don't see why he doesn't. I

Dotty laughed. It was a tinkling little laugh, good to hear. "Cousin Chippy would starve to death," he

declared. "It is all a matter of food. You ought to know that by this time, Peter. Cousin Chippy lives chiefly

on worms and bugs and I live almost wholly on seeds, and that is what makes the difference. Cousin Chippy

"No," replied Dotty promptly. "Slaty the Junco and his relatives came along with us and we had a very merry

"Very much here," replied a voice right behind Peter's back. It was so unexpected that it made Peter jump. He

turned to find Slaty himself chuckling merrily as he picked up seeds. He was very nearly the same size as

Dotty but trimmer. In fact he was one of the trimmest, neatest appearing of all of Peter's friends. There was

no mistaking Slaty the Junco for any other bird. His head, throat and breast were clear slate color. Underneath

he was white. His sides were grayish. His outer tail feathers were white. His bill was flesh color. It looked

I certainly am," was Slaty's prompt response. "It will take pretty bad weather to drive me away from here. If

the snow gets too deep I'll just go up to Farmer Brown's barnyard. I can always pick up a meal there, for

Farmer Brown's boy is a very good friend of mine. I know he won't let me starve, no matter what the weather

is. I think it is going to snow some more. I like the snow. You know I am sometimes called the Snowbird."

Peter nodded. "So I have heard," said he, "though I think that name really belongs to Snowflake the Snow

"Quite right, Peter, quite right," replied Slaty. "I much prefer my own name of Junco. My, these seeds are

good!" All the time he was busily picking up seeds so tiny that Peter didn't even see them.

"Do you mean to tell me that it is cold all summer where you nest in the Far North?" demanded Peter.

"Not exactly cold," replied Slaty, "but a lot cooler than it is down here. I don't go as far north to nest as

Snowflake does, but I go far enough to be fairly comfortable. I don't see how some folks can stand hot

"It is a good thing they can," interrupted Dotty. "If everybody liked the same things it wouldn't do at all. Just

suppose all the birds ate nothing but seeds. There wouldn't be seeds enough to go around, and a lot of us

would starve. Then, too, the worms and the bugs would eat up everything. So, take it all together, it is a

mighty good thing that some birds live almost wholly on worms and bugs and such things, leaving the seeds

to the rest of us. I guess Old Mother Nature knew what she was about when she gave us different tastes."

Peter nodded his head in approval. "You can always trust Old Mother Nature to know what is best," said he

sagely. "By the way, Slaty, what do you make your nest of and where do you put it?"

"My nest is usually made of grasses, moss and rootlets. Sometimes it is lined with fine grasses, and when I

am lucky enough to find them I use long hairs. Often I put my nest on the ground, and never very far above it.

I am like my friend Dotty in this respect. It always seems to me easier to hide a nest on the ground than

anywhere else. There is nothing like having a nest well hidden. It takes sharp eyes to find my nest, I can tell

Just then Dotty, who had been picking seeds out of the top of a weed, gave a cry of alarm and instantly there

was a flit of many wings as Dotty and his relatives and Slaty sought the shelter of the bushes along the edge

of the field. Peter sat up very straight and looked this way and looked that way. At first he saw nothing

suspicious. Then, crouching flat among the weeds, he got a glimpse of Black Pussy, the cat from Farmer

Brown's house. She had been creeping up in the hope of catching one of those happy little seedeaters. Peter

stamped angrily. Then with long jumps he started for the dear Old Briarpatch, lippertylippertylip, for

Slaty the Junco had been quite right in thinking it was going to snow some more. Rough Brother North Find

hurried up one big cloud after another, and late that afternoon the white feathery flakes came drifting down

Peter Rabbit sat tight in the dear Old Briarpatch. In fact Peter did no moving about that night, but remained

squatting just inside the entrance to an old hole Johnny Chuck's grandfather had dug long ago in the middle

of the clear Old Briarpatch. Some time before morning the snow stopped falling and then rough Brother

When jolly, round, bright Mr. Sun began his daily climb up in the blue, blue sky he looked down on a world

of white. It seemed as if every little snowflake twinkled back at every little sunbeam. It was all very lovely,

He started first for the weedy field where the day before he had found Dotty the Tree Sparrow and Slaty the

Junco. They were there before him, having the very best time ever was as they picked seeds from the tops of

the weeds which showed above the snow. Almost at once Peter discovered that they were not the only seekers

for seeds. Walking about on the snow, and quite as busy seeking seeds as were Dotty and Slaty, was a bird

very near their size the top of whose head, neck and back were a soft rustybrown. There was some black on

his wings, but the latter were mostly white and the outer tail feathers were white. His breast and under parts

were white. It was Snowflake the Snow Bunting in his winter suit. Peter knew him instantly. There was no

mistaking him, for, as Peter well knew, there is no other bird of his size and shape who is so largely white. He

had appeared so unexpectedly that it almost seemed as if he must have come out of the snow clouds just as

Snowflake was so busy getting his breakfast that he did not reply at once. Peter noticed that he did not hop,

but walked or ran. Presently he paused long enough to reply to Peter's question. "If the snow has come to stay

"Only that I like the snow and I like cold weather. When the snow begins to disappear, I just naturally fly

back farther north," replied Snowflake. "It isn't that I don't like bare ground, because I do, and I'm always

glad when the snow is blown off in places so that I can hunt for seeds on the ground. But when the snow

begins to melt everywhere I feel uneasy. I can't understand how folks can be contented where there is no

snow and ice. You don't catch me going 'way down south. No, siree, you don't catch me going 'way down

south. Why, when the nesting season comes around, I chase Jack Frost clear 'way up to where he spends the

summer. I nest 'way up on the shore of the Polar Sea, but of course you don't know where that is, Peter

"If you are so fond of the cold in the Far North, the snow and the ice, what did you come south at all for?

"Because, Peter," replied Snowflake, twittering merrily, "like everybody else, I have to eat in order to live.

When you see me down here you may know that the snows up north are so deep that they have covered all

the seeds. I always keep a weather eye out, as the saying is, and the minute it looks as if there would be too

much snow for me to get a living, I move along. I hope I will not have to go any farther than this, but if some

morning you wake up and find the snow so deep that all the heads of the weeds are buried, don't expect to

"That's what I call good, sound common sense," said another voice, and a bird a little bigger than Snowflake,

and who at first glance seemed to be dressed almost wholly in soft chocolate brown, alighted in the snow

close by and at once began to run about in search of seeds. It was Wanderer the Horned Lark. Peter hailed

him joyously, for there was something of mystery about Wanderer, and Peter, as you know, loves mystery.

Peter had known him ever since his first winter, yet did not feel really acquainted, for Wanderer seldom

stayed long enough for a real acquaintance. Every winter he would come, sometimes two or three times, but

seldom staying more than a few days at a time. Quite often he and his relatives appeared with the Snowflakes,

Now as Wanderer reached up to pick seeds from a weedtop, Peter had a good look at him. The first things

he noticed were the two little hornlike tufts of black feathers above and behind the eyes. It is from these that

Wanderer gets the name of Horned Lark. No other bird has anything quite like them. His forehead, a line over

each eye, and his throat were yellow. There was a black mark from each corner of the bill curving downward

just below the eye and almost joining a black crescentshaped band across the breast. Beneath this he was

soiled white with dusky spots showing here and there. His back was brown, in places having almost a pinkish

tinge. His tail was black, showing a little white on the edges when he flew. All together he was a handsome

"Thank you," replied Wanderer. "I am inclined to agree with you. You should see me when I have my

"Is it so very different from this?" asked Peter. "I think your present suit is pretty enough."

"Well said, Peter, well said," interrupted Snowflake. "I quite agree with you. I think Wanderer's present suit is

pretty enough for any one, but it is true that his summer suit is even prettier. It isn't so very different, but it is

brighter, and those black markings are much stronger and show up better. You see, Wanderer is one of my

"And that means that you don't know anything bad about me, doesn't it?" chuckled Wanderer.

Snowflake nodded. "Not a thing," he replied. "I wouldn't ask for a better neighbor. You should hear him sing,

"I'd just love to hear him," replied Peter. "Why don't you sing here, Wanderer?"

"This isn't the singing season," replied Wanderer promptly. "Besides, there isn't time to sing when one has to

"I don't see," said Peter, "why, when you get here, you don't stay in one place."

"Because it is easier to get a good living by moving about," replied Wanderer promptly. "Besides, I like to

visit new places. I shouldn't enjoy being tied down in just one place like some birds I know. Would you,

Snowflake promptly replied that he wouldn't. Just then Peter discovered something that he hadn't known

before. "My goodness," he exclaimed, "what a long claw you have on each hind toe!"

It was true. Each hind claw was about twice as long as any other claw. Peter couldn't see any special use for it

and he was just about to ask more about it when Wanderer suddenly spied a flock of his relatives some

distance away and flew to join them. Probably this saved him some embarrassment, for it is doubtful if he

Peter Rabbit likes winter. At least he doesn't mind it so very much, even though he has to really work for a

living. Perhaps it is a good thing that he does, for he might grow too fat to keep out of the way of Reddy Fox.

You see when the snow is deep Peter is forced to eat whatever he can, and very often there isn't much of

anything for him but the bark of young trees. It is at such times that Peter gets into mischief, for there is no

bark he likes better than that of young fruit trees. Now you know what happens when the bark is taken off all

the way around the trunk of a tree. That tree dies. It dies for the simple reason that it is up the inner layer of

bark that the lifegiving sap travels in the spring and summer. Of course, when a strip of bark has been taken

off all the way around near the base of a tree, the sap cannot go up and the tree must die.

Now up near the Old Orchard Farmer Brown had set out a young orchard. Peter knew all about that young

orchard, for he had visited it many times in the summer. Then there had been plenty of sweet clover and other

green things to eat, and Peter had never been so much as tempted to sample the bark of those young trees. But

now things were very different, and it was very seldom that Peter knew what it was to have a full stomach.

He kept thinking of that young orchard. He knew that if he were wise he would keep away from there. But

the more he thought of it the more it seemed to him that he just must have some of that tender young bark. So

Peter got there in safety and his eyes sparkled as he hopped over to the nearest young tree. But when he

reached it, Peter had a dreadful disappointment. All around the trunk of that young tree was wire netting.

Peter couldn't get even a nibble of that bark. He tried the next tree with no better result. Then he hurried on

from tree to tree, always with the same result. You see Farmer Brown knew all about Peter's liking for the

bark of young fruit trees, and he had been wise enough to protect his young orchard.

At last Peter gave up and hopped over to the Old Orchard. As he passed a certain big tree he was startled by a

Peter stopped short and stared up in the big appletree. Look as he would he couldn't see anybody. Of course

there wasn't a leaf on that tree, and he could see all through it. Peter blinked and felt foolish. He knew that

had there been any one sitting on any one of those branches he couldn't have helped seeing him.

"Don't look so high, Peter; don't look so high," said the voice with a chuckle. This time it sounded as if it

came right out of the trunk of the tree. Peter stared at the trunk and then suddenly laughed right out. Just a

few feet above the ground was a good sized hole in the tree, and poking his head out of it was a funny little

"You certainly did fool me that time, Spooky," cried Peter. "I ought to have recognized your voice, but I

Spooky the Screech Owl, for that is who it was, came out of the hole in the tree and without a sound from his

wings flew over and perched just above Peter's head. He was a little fellow, not over eight inches high, but

there was no mistaking the family to which he belonged. In fact he looked very much like a small copy of

Hooty the Great Horned Owl, so much so that Peter felt a little cold shiver run over him, although he had

His head seemed to be almost as big around as his body, and he seemed to leave no neck at all. He was

dressed in bright reddishbrown, with little streaks and bars of black. Underneath he was whitish, with little

streaks and bars of black and brown. On each side of his head was a tuft of feathers. They looked like ears

and some people think they are ears, which is a mistake. His eyes were round and yellow with a fierce hungry

look in them. His bill was small and almost hidden among the feathers of his face, but it was hooked just like

the bill of Hooty. As he settled himself he turned his head around until he could look squarely behind him,

then brought it back again so quickly that to Peter it looked as if it had gone clear around. You see Spooky's

eyes are fixed in their sockets and he cannot move them from side to side. He has to turn his whole head in

"Isn't an empty stomach enough to make any fellow unhappy?" retorted Peter rather shortly.

Spooky chuckled. "I've got an empty stomach myself, Peter," said he, "but it isn't making me unhappy. I have

Just then Peter remembered what Jenny Wren had told him early in the spring of how Spooky the Screech

Owl lives all the year around in a hollow tree, and curiosity made him forget for the time being that he was

Spooky nodded solemnly. "I've lived in that hollow summer and winter for three years," said he.

Peter's eyes opened very wide. "And till now I never even guessed it," he exclaimed. "Did you raise a family

"I certainly did," replied Spooky. "Mrs. Spooky and I raised a family of four as fine looking youngsters as

you ever have seen. They've gone out into the Great World to make their own living now. Two were dressed

"I said that two were dressed just like me and two were gray," replied Spooky rather sharply.

"There's nothing funny about it," retorted Spooky, and snapped his bill sharply with a little cracking sound.

"We Screech Owls believe in variety. Some of us are gray and some of us are reddishbrown. It is a case of

Peter nodded as if he quite understood, although he couldn't understand at all. "I'm ever so pleased to find you

living here," said he politely. "You see, in winter the Old Orchard is rather a lonely place. I don't see how you

"I should say not. I guess I would starve if I depended on birds for my daily food," retorted Spooky. "I catch a

Sparrow now and then, to be sure, but usually it is an English Sparrow, and I consider that I am doing the Old

Orchard a good turn every time I am lucky enough to catch one of the family of Bully the English Sparrow.

But I live mostly on Mice and Shrews in winter and in summer I eat a lot of grasshoppers and other insects. If

it wasn't for me and my relatives I guess Mice would soon overrun the Great World. Farmer Brown ought to

be glad I've come to live in the Old Orchard and I guess he is, for Farmer Brown's boy knows all about this

house of mine and never disturbs me. Now if you'll excuse me I think I'll fly over to Farmer Brown's young

orchard. I ought to find a fat Mouse or two trying to get some of the bark from those young trees."

"Huh!" exclaimed Peter. They can try all they want to, but they won't get any; I can tell you that."

Spooky's round yellow eyes twinkled. "It must be you have been trying to get some of that bark yourself,"

Peter didn't say anything but he looked guilty, and Spooky once more chuckled as he spread his wings and

flew away so soundlessly that he seemed more like a drifting shadow than a bird. Then Peter started for a

certain swamp he knew of where he would be sure to find enough bark to stay his appetite.

Peter Rabbit had gone over to the Green Forest to call on his cousin, Jumper the Hare, who lives there

altogether. He had no difficulty in finding Jumper's tracks in the snow, and by following these he at length

came up with Jumper. The fact is, Peter almost bumped into Jumper before he saw him, for Jumper was

wearing a coat as white as the snow itself. Squatting under a little snowcovered hemlocktree he looked like

"Oh!" cried Peter. "How you startled me! I wish I had a winter coat like yours. It must be a great help in

"It certainly is, Cousin Peter," cried Jumper. "Nine times out of ten all I have to do is to sit perfectly still

when there was no wind to carry my scent. I have had Reddy Fox pass within a few feet of me and never

suspect that I was near. I hope this snow will last all winter. It is only when there isn't any snow that I am

particularly worried. Then I am not easy for a minute, because my white coat can be seen a long distance

Peter chuckled. "that is just when I feel safest," he replied. "I like the snow, but this browngray coat of mine

certainly does show up against it. Don't you find it pretty lonesome over here in the Green Forest with all the

Jumper shook his head. "Not all have gone, Peter, you know," said he. "Strutter the Grouse and Mrs. Grouse

Peter blinked his eyes and looked rather perplexed. "Snowshoes!" he exclaimed. "I don't understand what you

So Jumper led the way and Peter followed close at his heels. Presently they came to some tracks in the snow.

At first glance they reminded Peter of the queer tracks Farmer Brown's ducks made in the mud on the edge of

the Smiling Pool in summer. "What funny tracks those are!" he exclaimed. "Who made them?"

So they continued to follow the tracks until presently, just ahead of them, they saw Strutter the Grouse. Peter

opened his eyes with surprise when he discovered that those queer tracks were made by Strutter.

"Cousin Peter wants to see your snowshoes, Strutter," said Jumper as they came up with him.

Strutter's bright eyes sparkled. "He's just as curious as ever, isn't he?" said he. "Well, I don't mind showing

him my snowshoes because I think myself that they are really quite wonderful." He held up one foot with the

toes spread apart and Peter saw that growing out from the sides of each toe were queer little horny points set

close together. They quite filled the space between his toes. Peter recalled that when he had seen Strutter in

the summer those toes had been smooth and that his tracks on soft ground had shown the outline of each toe

"There's nothing funny about them," retorted Strutter. "If Old Mother Nature hadn't given me something of

this kind I certainly would have a hard time of it when there is snow on the ground. If my feet were just the

same as in summer I would sink right down in when the snow is soft and wouldn't be able to walk about at

all. Now, with these snowshoes I get along very nicely. You see I sink in but very little."

He took three or four steps and Peter saw right away how very useful those snowshoes were. "My!" he

exclaimed. "I wish Old Mother Nature would give me snowshoes too." Strutter and Jumper both laughed and

after a second Peter laughed with them, for he realized how impossible it would be for him to have anything

"Cousin Peter was just saying that he should think I would find it lonesome over here in the Green Forest. He

forgot that you and Mrs. Grouse stay all winter, and he forgot that while most of the birds who spent the

summer here have left, there are others who come down from the Far North to take their place."

"Snipper the Crossbill," replied Jumper promptly. "I haven't seen him yet this winter, but I know he is here

because only this morning I found some pine seeds on the snow under a certain tree."

"Huh!" Peter exclaimed. "That doesn't prove anything. Those seeds might have just fallen, or Chatterer the

"This isn't the season for seeds to just fall, and I know by the signs that Chatterer hasn't been about," retorted

Once more he led the way and Peter followed. As they drew near that certain pinetree, a short whistled note

caused them to look up. Busily at work on a pine cone near the top of a tree was a bird about the size of Bully

the English Sparrow. He was dressed wholly in dull red with brownishblack wings and tail.

"What did I tell you?" cried Jumper. "There's Snipper this very minute, and over in that next tree are a lot of

his family and relatives. See in what a funny way they climb about among the branches. They don't flit or

hop, but just climb around. I don't know of any other bird anywhere around here that does that."

Just then a seed dropped and landed on the snow almost in front of Peter's nose. Almost at once Snipper

himself followed it, picking it up and eating it with as much unconcern as if Peter and Jumper were a mile

away instead of only a foot or so. The very first thing Peter noticed was Snipper's bill. The upper and lower

halves crossed at the tips. That bill looked very much as if Snipper had struck something hard and twisted the

Snipper looked surprised. "Are you talking to me?" he asked. "Whatever put such an idea into your head?"

Snipper laughed. "It isn't twisted," said he. "It is just the way Old Mother Nature made it, and I really don't

Peter scratched one long ear, as is his way when he is puzzled. "I don't see," said he, "how it is possible for

"And I don't see how I would get my food if I didn't have a bill like this," retorted Snipper. Then, seeing how

puzzled Peter really was, he went on to explain. "You see, I live very largely on the seeds that grow in pine

cones and the cones of other trees. Of course I eat some other food, such as seeds and buds of trees. But what

I love best of all are the seeds that grow in the cones of evergreen trees. If you've ever looked at one of those

cones, you will understand that those seeds are not very easy to get at. But with this kind of a bill it is no

trouble at all. I can snip them out just as easily as birds with straight bills can pick up seeds. You see my bill

"It really is very wonderful," confessed Peter. "Do you mind telling me, Snipper, why I never have seen you

"For the same reason that in summer you never see Snowflake and Wanderer the Horned Lark and some

others I might name," replied Snipper. "Give me the Far North every time. I would stay there the year

through but that sometimes food gets scarce up there. That is why I am down here now. If you'll excuse me,

Snipper flew up in the tree where the other Crossbills were at work and Peter and Jumper watched them.

"I suppose you know," said Jumper, "that Snipper has a cousin who looks almost exactly like him with the

exception of two white bars on each wing. He is called the Whitewinged Crossbill."

"I didn't know it," replied Peter, "but I'm glad you've told me. I certainly shall watch out for him. I can't get

over those funny bills. No one could ever mistake it for any other bird. Is there anyone else now from the Far

Jumper the Hare didn't have time to reply to Peter Rabbit's question when Peter asked if there was any one

It was so unexpected that it made both Peter and Jumper hop in startled surprise. Then they turned to see who

had spoken. There sat a bird just a little smaller than Welcome Robin, who at first glance seemed to be

dressed in strawberryred. However, a closer look showed that there were slategray markings about his

head, under his wings and on his legs. His tail was brown. His wings were brown, marked with black and

"I'm Piny the Pine Grosbeak," replied the stranger, seemingly not at all put out by Peter's bluntness.

"Oh," said Peter. "Are you related to Rosebreast the Grosbeak who nested last summer in the Old Orchard?"

"I certainly am," replied Piny. "He is my very own cousin. I've never seen him because he never ventures up

where I live and I don't go down where he spends the winter, but all members of the Grosbeak family are

"Rosebreast is very lovely and I'm very fond of him," said Peter. "We are very good friends."

"Then I know we are going to be good friends," replied Piny. As he said this he turned and Peter noticed that

his tail was distinctly forked instead of being square across like that of Welcome Robin. Piny whistled, and

almost at once he was joined by another bird who in shape was just like him, but who was dressed in

slatygray and oliveyellow, instead of the bright red that he himself wore. Piny introduced the newcomer as

"Lovely weather, isn't it?" said she. "I love the snow. I wouldn't feel at home with no snow about. Why, last

spring I even built my nest before the snow was gone in the Far North. We certainly hated to leave up there,

but food was getting so scarce that we had to. We have just arrived. Can you tell me if there are any

Peter hastened to tell her just where she would find these trees and then rather timidly asked why she wanted

"Because they hold their berries all winter," replied Mrs. Grosbeak promptly, "and those berries make very

good eating. I rather thought there must be some around here. If there are enough of them we certainly shall

"I hope you will," replied Peter. "I want to get better acquainted with you. You know, if it were not for you

folks who come down from the Far North the Green Forest would be rather a lonely place in winter. There

are times when I like to be alone, but I like to feel that there is someone I can call on when I feel lonesome.

"No, indeed," replied Mrs. Grosbeak. "There is a flock of our relatives not far away. We came down with the

Peter and Jumper stayed a while to gossip with the Grosbeaks. Then Peter bethought him that it was high

time for him to return to the dear Old Briarpatch, and bidding his new friends goodby, he started off

through the Green Forest, lippertylippertylip. When he reached the edge of the Green Forest he decided to

run over to the weedy field to see if the Snowflakes and the Tree Sparrows and the Horned Larks were there.

They were, but almost at once Peter discovered that they had company. Twittering cheerfully as he busily

picked seeds out of the top of a weed which stood above the snow, was a bird very little bigger than Chicoree

"Gracious goodness!" he muttered, "it must be something is wrong with my eyes so that I am seeing red. I've

already seen two birds dressed in red and now there's another. It certainly must be my eyes. There's Dotty the

Peter hopped near enough to get a good look at Dotty and found him dressed just as he should be. That

relieved Peter's mind. His eyes were quite as they should be. Then he returned to look at the happy little

The top of his head was bright red. There was no doubt about it. His back was toward Peter at the time and

but for that bright red cap Peter certainly would have taken him for one of his friends among the Sparrow

family. You see his back was grayishbrown. Peter could think of several Sparrows with backs very much

like it. But when he looked closely he saw that just above his tail this little stranger wore a pinkish patch, and

Then the lively little stranger turned to face Peter and a pair of bright eyes twinkled mischievously. "Well,"

said he, "how do you like my appearance? Anything wrong with me? I was taught that it is very impolite to

Peter paid no attention to what was said but continued to stare. "My, how pretty you are!" he exclaimed.

The little stranger WAS pretty. His breast was PINK. Below this he was white. The middle of his throat was

black and his sides were streaked with reddishbrown. He looked pleased at Peter's exclamation.

"I'm glad you think I'm pretty," said he. "I like pink myself. I like it very much indeed. I suppose you've

Peter promptly bobbed his head. "I've just come from making their acquaintance," said he. "By the way you

speak, I presume you also are from the Far North. I am just beginning to learn that there are more folks who

make their homes in the Far North than I had dreamed of. If you please, I don't believe I know you at all."

"I'm Redpoll," was the prompt response. "I am called that because of my red cap. Yes, indeed, I make my

home in the Far North. There is no place like it. You really ought to run up there and get acquainted with the

Redpoll laughed at his own joke, but Peter didn't see the joke at all. "Is it so very far?" he asked innocently;

Redpoll laughed harder than ever. "Yes," said he, "it is. I am afraid you would be a very old and very gray

Rabbit by the time you got there. I guess the next thing is for you to make the acquaintance of some of us

Redpoll called softly and almost at once was joined by another redcapped bird but without the pink breast,

and with sides more heavily streaked. "This is Mrs. Redpoll," announced her lively little mate. Then he

turned to her and added, "I've just been telling Peter Rabbit that as long as he cannot visit our beautiful Far

North he must become acquainted with those of us who come down here in the winter. I'm sure he'll find us

"I'm sure I shall," said Peter. "If you please, do you live altogether on these weed seeds?"

Redpoll laughed his usual happy laugh. "Hardly, Peter," replied he. "We like the seeds of the birches and the

alders, and we eat the seeds of the evergreen trees when we get them. Sometimes we find them in cones

Snipper the Crossbill has opened but hasn't picked all the seeds out of. Sometimes he drops some for us. Oh,

we always manage to get plenty to eat. There are some of our relatives over there and we must join them.

Peter said he hoped they would and then watched them fly over to join their friends. Suddenly, as if a signal

had been given, all spread their wings at the same instant and flew up in a birchtree not far away. All

seemed to take wing at precisely the same instant. Up in the birchtree they sat for a minute or so and then,

just as if another signal had been given, all began to pick out the tiny seeds from the birch tassels. No one

bird seemed to be first. It was quite like a drill, or as if each had thought of the same thing at the same instant.

Peter chuckled over it all the way home. And somehow he felt better for having made the acquaintance of the

Redpolls. It was the feeling that everybody so fortunate as to meet them on a gold winter's day is sure to

While it is true that Peter Rabbit likes winter, it is also true that life is anything but easy for him that season.

In the first place he has to travel about a great deal to get sufficient food, and that means that he must run

more risks. There isn't a minute of day or night that he is outside of the dear Old Briarpatch when he can

afford not to watch and listen for danger. You see, at this season of the year, Reddy Fox often finds it difficult

to get a good meal. He is hungry most of the time, and he is forever hunting for Peter Rabbit. With snow on

the ground and no leaves on the bushes and young trees, it is not easy for Peter to hide. So, as he travels

But there are others whom Peter fears even more, and these wear feathers instead of fur coats. One of these is

Terror the Goshawk. Peter is not alone in his fear of Terror. There is not one among his feathered friends who

will not shiver at the mention of Terror's name. Peter will not soon forget the day he discovered that Terror

had come down from the Far North, and was likely to stay for the rest of the winter. Peter went hungry all the

You see it was this way: Peter had gone over to the Green Forest very early that morning in the hope of

getting breakfast in a certain swamp. He was hopping along, lippertylippertylip, with his thoughts chiefly

on that breakfast he hoped to get, but at the same time with ears and eyes alert for possible danger, when a

strange feeling swept over him. It was a feeling that great danger was very near, though he saw nothing and

Now Peter has learned that the wise thing to do when one has such a feeling as that is to seek safety first and

investigate afterwards. At the instant he felt that strange feeling of fear he was passing a certain big, hollow

log. Without really knowing why he did it, because, you know, he didn't stop to do any thinking, he dived

into that hollow log, and even as he did so there was the sharp swish of great wings. Terror the Goshawk had

With his heart thumping as if it were trying to pound its way through his ribs, Peter peeped out of that hollow

log. Terror had alighted on a tall stump only a few feet away. To Peter in his fright he seemed the biggest bird

he ever had seen. Of course he wasn't. Actually he was very near the same size as Redtail the Hawk, whom

Peter knew well. He was handsome. There was no denying the fact that he was handsome.

His back was bluish. His head seemed almost black. Over and behind each eye was a white line. Underneath

he was beautifully marked with wavy bars of gray and white. On his tail were four dark bands. Yes, he was

handsome. But Peter had no thought for his beauty. He could see nothing but the fierceness of the eyes that

were fixed on the entrance to that hollow log. Peter shivered as if with a cold chill. He knew that in Terror

"I hope," thought Peter, "that Mr. and Mrs. Grouse are nowhere about." You see he knew that there is no one

Terror did not sit on that stump long. He knew that Peter was not likely to come out in a hurry. Presently he

flew away, and Peter suspected from the direction in which he was headed that Terror was going over to visit

Farmer Brown's henyard. Of all the members of the Hawk family there is none more bold than Terror the

Goshawk. He would not hesitate to seize a hen from almost beneath Farmer Brown's nose. He is well named,

for the mere suspicion that he is anywhere about strikes terror to the heart of all the furred and feathered

folks. He is so swift of wing that few can escape him, and he has no pity, but kills for the mere love of killing.

In this respect he is like Shadow the Weasel. To kill for food is forgiven by the little people of the Green

Forest and the Green Meadows, but to kill needlessly is unpardonable. This is why Terror the Goshawk is

All that day Peter remained hidden in that hollow log. He did not dare put foot outside until the Black

Shadows began to creep through the Green Forest. Then he knew that there was nothing more to fear from

Terror the Goshawk, for he hunts only by day. Once more Peter's thoughts were chiefly of his stomach, for it

But it was not intended that Peter should fill his stomach at once. He had gone but a little way when from just

ahead of him the silence of the early evening was broken by a terrifying sound"Whooohoohoo,

whooohoo!" It was so sudden and there was in it such a note of fierceness that Peter had all he could do to

keep from jumping and running for dear life. But he knew that voice and he knew, too, that safety lay in

keeping perfectly still. So with his heart thumping madly, as when he had escaped from Terror that morning,

It was the hunting call of Hooty the Great Horned Owl, and it had been intended to frighten some one into

jumping and running, or at least into moving ever so little. Peter knew all about that trick of Hooty's. He

knew that in all the Green Forest there are no ears so wonderful as those of Hooty the Owl, and that the

instant he had uttered that fierce hunting call he had strained those wonderful ears to catch the faintest sound

which some startled little sleeper of the night might make. The rustle of a leaf would be enough to bring

Hooty to the spot on his great silent wings, and then his fierce yellow eyes, which are made for seeing in the

So Peter sat still, fearful that the very thumping of his heart might reach those wonderful ears. Again that

terrible hunting cry rang out, and again Peter had all he could do to keep from jumping. But he didn't jump,

and a few minutes later, as he sat staring at a certain tall, dead stub of a tree, wondering just where Hooty

was, the top of that stub seemed to break off, and a great, broadwinged bird flew away soundlessly like a

drifting shadow. It was Hooty himself. Sitting perfectly straight on the top of that tall, dead stub he had

seemed a part of it. Peter waited some time before he ventured to move. Finally he heard Hooty's hunting call

in a distant part of the Green Forest, and knew that it was safe for him to once more think of his empty

Later in the winter while the snow still lay in the Green Forest, and the ice still bound the Laughing Brook,

Peter made a surprising discovery. He was over in a certain lonely part of the Green Forest when he happened

to remember that near there was an old nest which had once belonged to Redtail the Hawk. Out of idle

curiosity Peter ran over for a look at that old nest. Imagine how surprised he was when just as he came within

sight of it, he saw a great bird just settling down on it. Peter's heart jumped right up in his throat. At least that

Of course Peter stopped right where he was and took the greatest care not to move or make a sound. Presently

Hooty himself appeared and perched in a tree near at hand. Peter has seen Hooty many times before, but

always as a great, drifting shadow in the moonlight. Now he could see him clearly. As he sat bolt upright he

seemed to be of the same height as Terror the Goshawk, but with a very much bigger body. If Peter had but

known it, his appearance of great size was largely due to the fluffy feathers in which Hooty was clothed. Like

his small cousin, Spooky the Screech Owl, Hooty seemed to have no neck at all. He looked as if his great

head was set directly on his shoulders. From each side of his head two great tufts of feathers stood out like

ears or horns. His bill was sharply hooked. He was dressed wholly in reddishbrown with little buff and

black markings, and on his throat was a white patch. His legs were feathered, and so were his feet clear to the

But it was on the great, round, fierce, yellow eyes that Peter kept his own eyes. He had always thought of

Hooty as being able to see only in the dusk of evening or on moonlight nights, but somehow he had a feeling

that even now in broad daylight Hooty could see perfectly well, and he was quite right.

For a long time Peter sat there without moving. He dared not do anything else. After he had recovered from

his first fright he began to wonder what Hooty and Mrs. Hooty were doing at that old nest. His curiosity was

aroused. He felt that he simply must find out. By and by Hooty flew away very carefully, so as not to attract

When he was far enough away to feel reasonably safe, he scampered as fast as ever he could. He wanted to

get away from that place, and he wanted to find some one of whom he could ask questions.

Presently he met his cousin, Jumper the Hare, and at once in a most excited manner told him all he had seen.

Jumper listened until Peter was through. "If you'll take my advice," said he, "you'll keep away from that part

of the Green Forest, Cousin Peter. From what you tell me it is quite clear to me that the Hooties have begun

"Nesting!" exclaimed Peter. "Nesting! Why, gentle Mistress Spring will not get here for a month yet!"

"I said NESTING," retorted Jumper, speaking rather crossly, for you see he did not like to have his word

doubted. "Hooty the Great Horned Owl doesn't wait for Mistress Spring. He and Mrs. Hooty believe in

getting household cares out of the way early. Along about this time of year they hunt up an old nest of Redtail

the Hawk or Blacky the Crow or Chatterer the Red Squirrel, for they do not take the trouble to build a nest

themselves. Then Mrs. Hooty lays her eggs while there is still snow and ice. Why their youngsters don't catch

their death from cold when they hatch out is more than I can say. But they don't. I'm sorry to hear that the

Hooties have a nest here this year. It means a bad time for a lot of little folks in feathers and fur. I certainly

Peter said that he certainly should, and then started on for the dear Old Briarpatch to think things over. The

discovery that already the nesting season of a new year had begun turned Peter's thoughts towards the coming

of sweet Mistress Spring and the return of his many feathered friends who had left for the faraway South so

long before. A great longing to hear the voices of Welcome Robin and Winsome Bluebird and Little Friend

the Song Sparrow swept over him, and a still greater longing for a bit of friendly gossip with Jenny Wren. In

the past year he had learned much about his feathered neighbors, but there were still many things he wanted

to know, things which only Jenny Wren could tell him. He was only just beginning to find out that no one