MR. ROBIN'S APPEAL.
When the tender parents had finished their willing task of feeding
Molly, they hopped forward close to the very door of the cottage, and
seeing the old gentleman sitting in the room, Mr. Robin made bold to
walk in and make known his errand.
"I wonder what he is talking about, so very loud and earnest,"
exclaimed Fred, coming in softly behind him.
"I don't know; but he is very zealous about it. See how he turns first
one eye, then the other, while he twitters away as if his life depended
upon making us understand."
Suddenly robin uttered a sharp cry, and flew away toward the nest; and
before they could express their surprise, he was back again, twittering
as fast as ever.
Fred laughed aloud. "How very funny!" he cried. "What does it mean? He
never did so before."
"I have no doubt he is trying to tell us something; and I fear it is not
pleasant news, from his mournful cry."
"I wish we could understand," said the boy.
"I once read of a man," said grandpa, "who, from his boyhood, had
studied the language of birds, and by close attention had acquired such
a knowledge of it, that from the song of the parents, he knew where the
nests were situated, whether they contained eggs, or whether the brood
was hatched. He knew even the number of young birds and their age,
before he saw them. This is truly wonderful, and if I had not read it
from the best authority, I could hardly credit it. If so, I suppose, by
careful observation, we could in many cases understand their different
notes, and thus learn their wants and emotions, as well as the birds
themselves do.
"I was once walking in a wood, and caught sight of a party of jays
before they saw me. They were all chattering together and enjoying
themselves highly. Suddenly one of them uttered a short, deep-toned
note, when in an instant all was silent,--and they skulked one by one
to a neighboring thicket."
"I suppose one of them caught a glimpse of you, and warned the others
that you were near enough to listen to their secrets," said Fred, with a
hearty laugh.
Grandpa now took his cane and walked to the door, determined, as the
appeal was made to him, to watch the motions of the robins, and try to
help them if they were in trouble.
But though Mr. Robin kept repeating his flight to the nest, and his
effort to talk, nothing could be made of it; and at length the poor
father seemed to despair.
In the mean time, Jack, Katy and Annie were chatting merrily together;
and before this first interview closed, Katy had even ventured to take a
crumb from Annie's mouth. This the child thought the very summit of
happiness, and called loudly to her mother to come and share her
delight.
Jack was evidently very proud of his sister; and while this was going
on, hopped from one to the other, his small head cocked in a very arch
manner.
After a time the little ones hopped away, as they wished to fly back to
the nest. Katy was quite impatient to impart her success to her sister;
but when she glanced up into the tree, she was almost in despair.
"Fly up a few times into this bough," said Jack. "It is beautiful
exercise."
Katy did so, and presently, with a beating heart, from the bush mounted
to the nest.
"O Molly!" she cried, "if you had been with us, I should have been the
happiest bird that ever lived."
"How like her mother she grows!" said Mr. Robin to himself as he gazed
lovingly upon his youngest child.
"Every time I picked up a crumb I thought of you," said Jack--"of you
alone here in the nest."
"I have scarcely been alone a moment," said Molly. "Either father or
mother has been with me, and they have treated me to a delicious feast.
I shall soon become quite reconciled to my situation. But where is
Dick?"
"He is eating, as usual," said Mr. Robin, in a stern voice.
Jack and Katy now repeated the adventures of the morning, to which their
sister listened with great interest.
"I can't help thinking about Mr. Robin," said grandpa, taking his cane
and walking out of doors as soon as breakfast was over. "Birds have a
wonderful instinct; and I have no doubt he was asking my aid about
something. They will often fly to man for protection when pursued by an
enemy."
"I wish you would tell us a story about a bird," said Annie, earnestly.
The old gentleman seated himself in his chair, and after resting his
chin on the top of his cane for a moment, he began: "A beautiful pair of
goldfinches once built their nest on a small branch of an olive tree.
The female laid the eggs and hatched the young brood, when the parents
perceived that the weight of the growing family would soon be too great
for the strength of the branch which supported the nest. This fact was
evident to the family who lived near, and had watched with interest the
proceedings of the birds.
"One morning the goldfinches found their nest was giving way, and that
something must be done at once, or it would fall. They consulted
together, then picked up a string, and with their beaks drew it around
the slender twig, and then fastened it to a stronger and higher branch
of the tree. Thus they saved their falling house."
Transcriber's Note:
Punctuation has been standardised; spelling has been retained as in the
original publication.
End of Project Gutenberg's Little Robins Learning to Fly, by Madeline Leslie