The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.

Bird Children
The Little Playmates
of the Flower Children

Bird
Children

The Little Playmates
of the Flower Children

By
Elizabeth Gordon
Drawings by
M.T.Ross

Published by
P.F.Volland & Company
Chicago

To all children who love Birds and Flowers, and especially to my little friend Dorothy Virginia, this book is lovingly dedicated.

FOREWORD

IRDS are only another expression of God’s love, and we are told that not even a sparrow shall fall to the ground without the notice of the Father.

Birds are poetry come to life and set to music. If you should stand at the edge of a forest at sundown and hear the birds singing their good-night songs, hear the sleepy little notes grow fainter and fainter until the silence came,—then when the dusk had deepened, you should hear the night birds begin their plaintive songs, you would realize what a different place our beautiful world would be without birds.

Even in great cities we have always some birds. The saucy little sparrow, who comes so boldly begging crumbs at your window, likes the cities best.

Only very thoughtless people, or those who do not understand, would harm or frighten a bird.

They are real little people, and I am sure that when you have come to know them you will love them as much as you have learned to love the Flower Children.

The publishers and the author have received so many letters from parents commending Flower Children for its instructive features, and from children, demanding “more” delightful play-mates, that they offer “Bird Brothers and Sisters,” believing that “The little playmates of the Flower Children” will prove as welcome visitors as “The Little Cousins of the Fields and Garden.”

The author and the artist wish to thank the children for their many expressions of interest and for their loyal support.

ELIZABETH GORDON
M. T. ROSSBETH GORDON

BIRD CHILDREN

SIR ROOSTER is a noisy chap,

He wakes you from your morning nap;

He sleeps but little all night through,

Crows at eleven, one and two.

MRS. HEN, the kind old dame,

Always dresses just the same;

She talks all day about her joys

And lays nice eggs for girls and boys.

SAID GUINEA HEN: “I like to eat

Three-cornered grains of nice buckwheat;

I only want good, simple food

To feed my Huffy little brood.”

DEAR little, downy GOSLING said:

“I can’t get learning through my head;

I really don’t see what’s the use—

When I grow up I’ll be a goose.”

SAID FATHER GOOSE: “I think I ’ll take

A stroll this morning to the lake.”

MOTHER GOOSE said: "Then I ’ll go, too,

And maybe take a swim with you.”

SAID YELLOW DUCKLING to his brother:

“Come on, let’s hide away from mother,”

But he replied: “Oh, dear me, No!

We’d better not, she’d worry so.”

“HONK-HONK, Honk-honk,” old SNOW GOOSE said,

“I think tonight we ’ll go to bed

A hundred miles due south from here,—

The snow is on the way, I fear.”

IN SHALLOW water MALLARD DUCK

At fishing sometimes tries his luck;

At other times he thinks it’s nice

To nibble at the sweet wild rice.

MADAM SWAN’S a graceful lady,

Likes to float where banks are shady;

When Father Swan goes out to swim

He takes the cygnets out with him.

GOLDEN PHEASANT took a notion

To take a trip across the ocean,

Got a nice room at the zoo

And said he’d stay a year or two.

TAKING his family for a walk

We see old Mr. TURKEY COCK;

He dresses up in colors gay,—

His wife wears quiet tones of gray.

OLD DOCTOR STORK, the kind old bird,

Brings the new babies, I have heard;

If you should ask him, he may bring

You one to keep, beneath his wing.

SIR ROOK is English, don’t you know?

Says: “Do not confound me with the Crow.”

His family tree is large and old,

Which makes his manner proud and cold.

PARADISE BIRD, in her new clothes,

Said: “They’re expensive, goodness knows!

I ’spose, because they were so dear,

I ’ll have to wear them all this year.”

(Red Paradise Bird)

PEACOCK’S a bird of much renown

And wears a lovely cap and gown;

They say he’s very, very vain

And likes to show his sweeping train.

SAID NIGHTINGALE: “It’s not my way

To practice singing in the day,

But wait till all the rest are through

And I will gladly sing for you.”

CANARY-BIRD said to his mother:

“Is that bird in the tree my brother?”

Mama Canary said: “Oh, no!

He’s just a cousin—wild, you know.”

ORIOLE, flashing wings of flame,

In the spring like sunshine came,

Hung his nest away up high

So his babes could see the sky.

(Orchard Oriole)

BALTIMORE ORIOLE, pretty thing,

Builds his nest of bits of string;

He’s sociable and likes to stay

Where people live and children play.

MEADOW LARK has a flute-like voice,

Sings a song that’s very choice;

Builds his nest low, near the ground,

With woven grasses arched around.

BLACK, solemn-looking Mr. CROW

Steals the good farmer’s corn, you know;

If you ask why he breaks the laws,

He answers, wisely: “Caws, caws, caws.”

FRIENDLY little CHICKADEE

Is just as cunning as can be;

Upon your window-sill he ’ll come

And thank you kindly for a crumb.

CARDINAL BIRD wears vivid red,

He’s very amiable, ’tis said;

He likes fresh fruits and seeds to eat

And has a song that’s very sweet.

MAGPIE’S a gossip—that’s the truth—

A naughty, disobedient youth;

We must not judge him, but suppose

He does the very best he knows.

GREAT BLUE HERON likes to fly,

And so he builds his house up high,

Way in the tops of tallest trees

Where he lives, happy as you please.

BOB-O-LINK, among the clover,

Tells his name over and over;

He doesn’t stay North very long

And when he goes we miss his song.

INDIGO BUNTING comes in May,

Saying cheerfully: “I’m here to stay.”

He’s a nice, friendly little thing,

Willing at any time to sing.

EAGLE has piercing yellow eyes,

He’s very strong and very wise;

He’s king and master over all

The other birds, both great and small.

(Golden Eagle)

TURKEY BUZZARD, on the wing,

Is a most graceful-looking thing;

Like scavengers, who come each day,

He does much good in his own way.

VERMILION FLYCATCHER’S a beauty,

You’ll always find him right on duty;

Searches for food early and late,

Bringing it to his pink-clothed mate.

YELLOW WARBLER comes to stay

Along about the first of May;

He likes to live by pond or rill

And builds his nest with care and skill.

CURLEW runs along the shore,

To him, perhaps, it’s like a floor;

Whistle, and he will answer you

Something like this: “Kerloo, Kerloo.”

(Long-Billed Curlew)

SIR PARTRIDGE is a drummer bold,

You’ll hear him drum when days are cold.

He says the nicest things to eat

Are red thorn apples, ripe and sweet.

(Ruffed Grouse)

THE SNOWY HERON’S used to be

A very fine, large family;

I tell you this with great regret:

Bird Children: The Little Playmates of the Flower Children

BirdChildren

FOREWORD

BIRD CHILDREN

Bird
Children