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Coffee Break Collection 037 - More Birds - Various · The Elements of Style

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: A good Night from Stories of Birds by Leonora Elizabeth
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Mullet's Coffee Break collection thirty seven More Birds. This is
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: A good night.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Aw aw ooo oooooo.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Phyllis listened again.
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: Ah ha ooo ooo ooo oOoOO.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Oh, I see you now, laughed Phyllis. The owl moved
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: silently as a shadow, and perched very near to the
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: little girl. His great round eyes and his yellow bill
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: gleamed in the starlight. I heard you calling, said Phyllis,
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: but I could not at first tell just where you were.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: I looked in a dozen trees before I came to you.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Ooo oooooooooo, questioned the owl. Phillis laughed again. The owl
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: blinked wisely. I am going home tomorrow, Phillis said, I
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: shall start to school next week. Some day, perhaps I
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: shall be as wise as you, mister owl. The owl
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: only blinked his great eyes. But I'm sure I could
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: never look so wise, she added politely. OOOOOOOOO hooted the owl,
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: blinking sleepily. If you will not talk with me, I
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: shall say good night to you at once said Phyllis.
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: Doo doooooooo.
• 1:44
  Speaker 5: To you.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: To you, called Phyllis, running off, laughing Papa, she said,
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: a few moments later, Papa, the hoot owl would not
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: talk with me. Wise wise owl, said Papa, smiling at
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: her over his newspaper. End of a good Night from
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Stories of Birds by Leonora Elizabeth Mullets read by Nora Nelson.
• 2:19
  Speaker 6: Baker's Blue Jayyarn by Mark Twain Coffee Break Collection, thirty
• 2:23
  Speaker 6: seven More Birds. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox
• 2:27
  Speaker 6: recordings are in the public domain. For more information or volunteer,
• 2:31
  Speaker 6: please visit LibriVox dot org. Baker's Bluejayyarn. Animals talk to
• 2:39
  Speaker 6: each other, of course, there can be no question about that.
• 2:43
  Speaker 6: But I suppose there are very few people who can
• 2:45
  Speaker 6: understand them. I never knew but one man who could.
• 2:50
  Speaker 6: I knew he could, however, because he told me so himself.
• 2:55
  Speaker 6: He was a middle aged, simple hearted miner who had
• 2:57
  Speaker 6: lived in a lonely corner of California, Ornia, among the
• 3:01
  Speaker 6: woods and mountains a good many years, and had studied
• 3:04
  Speaker 6: the ways of his only neighbors, the beasts and the birds,
• 3:08
  Speaker 6: until he believed he could accurately translate any remark which
• 3:12
  Speaker 6: they made. This was Jim Baker. According to Jim Baker,
• 3:18
  Speaker 6: some animals have only a limited education, and some use
• 3:22
  Speaker 6: only simple words and scarcely ever a comparison or a
• 3:25
  Speaker 6: flowery figure, whereas certain other animals have a large vocabulary,
• 3:31
  Speaker 6: a fine command of language, and a ready and fluent delivery. Consequently,
• 3:37
  Speaker 6: these latter talk a great deal. They like it, they
• 3:42
  Speaker 6: are so conscious of their talent, and they enjoy showing off.
• 3:47
  Speaker 6: Baker said that after long and careful observation, he had
• 3:51
  Speaker 6: come to the conclusion that the blue jays were the
• 3:54
  Speaker 6: best talkers he had found among birds and beasts. Said
• 3:58
  Speaker 6: he more to a blue jay than any other creature.
• 4:03
  Speaker 6: He has got more moods and more different kinds of
• 4:05
  Speaker 6: feelings and other creatures. And mind you, whatever a blue
• 4:09
  Speaker 6: jay feels he can put into language. And no mere
• 4:13
  Speaker 6: commonplace language either. But brightling out now book talk and
• 4:18
  Speaker 6: bristling with menaphoor two, just bristling. And as for command
• 4:23
  Speaker 6: of language, why you never seen a blue jay get
• 4:27
  Speaker 6: stuck for a word? No man ever did, They just
• 4:31
  Speaker 6: boil out of them. And another thing I've noticed a
• 4:35
  Speaker 6: good deal, and there's no bird or cow or anything
• 4:39
  Speaker 6: that uses as good grammar as a blue jay. You
• 4:42
  Speaker 6: may say a cat uses good grammar, well, a cat does,
• 4:47
  Speaker 6: But you let a cat get excited once you've let
• 4:50
  Speaker 6: a cat get to pulling fur with another cat on
• 4:53
  Speaker 6: a shed nights, and you'll hear grammar that will give
• 4:56
  Speaker 6: you the lockjaw. Ignorant people. I think it's the noise
• 5:02
  Speaker 6: which fighting cats make that is so aggravating, but it ain't.
• 5:06
  Speaker 6: So it's the snickering grammar they use. Now, I've never
• 5:11
  Speaker 6: heard a j use bad grammar, but very seldom, and
• 5:15
  Speaker 6: when they do, they are as ashamed as a human.
• 5:19
  Speaker 6: They shut right down and leave. You may call a
• 5:24
  Speaker 6: j a bird, well, so he is in a measure,
• 5:29
  Speaker 6: but he's got feathers on him, and don't belong to
• 5:31
  Speaker 6: no church perhaps, But otherwise he is just as much
• 5:35
  Speaker 6: human as you be. And I'll tell you for why
• 5:39
  Speaker 6: a jay's gifts and instincts and feelings and interests cover
• 5:42
  Speaker 6: the whole ground. A J hasn't got any more principle
• 5:46
  Speaker 6: than a congressman. A J will lie, a j will steal,
• 5:51
  Speaker 6: a j will deceive, a jail will betray, And four
• 5:56
  Speaker 6: times out of five a J will go back on
• 5:58
  Speaker 6: a solemness prompt. The sacredness of an obligation is such
• 6:03
  Speaker 6: a thing which you can't cram into no blue jay's head. Now,
• 6:09
  Speaker 6: on top of all this, there's another thing. A J
• 6:13
  Speaker 6: can outswear any gentleman in the minds. You think a
• 6:18
  Speaker 6: cat can swear, well, a cat can, But you give
• 6:23
  Speaker 6: a blue jay a subject that calls for his reserve powers,
• 6:27
  Speaker 6: and where is your cat? Don't talk to me, I
• 6:31
  Speaker 6: know too much about this thing. And the one little
• 6:34
  Speaker 6: particular of scolding, just good, clean, out and out scolding.
• 6:39
  Speaker 6: A blue jay can lay over anything human or divine. Yes, sir,
• 6:45
  Speaker 6: a jay is everything that a man is. A J
• 6:48
  Speaker 6: can cry, a J can laugh, a JA can feel shame.
• 6:52
  Speaker 6: A jacn reason and plan and discuss. A J likes
• 6:56
  Speaker 6: gossip and scandal. A jay has got a sense of
• 7:00
  Speaker 6: A J knows when he is an ass just as
• 7:03
  Speaker 6: well as you do, maybe better. If a JA ain't human,
• 7:07
  Speaker 6: he better take in his sign. That's all. Now, I'm
• 7:11
  Speaker 6: going to tell you a perfectly true fact about some
• 7:15
  Speaker 6: blue jays. When I first begun to understand jay language correctly,
• 7:21
  Speaker 6: there was a little incident happened here seven years ago,
• 7:25
  Speaker 6: the last man in this region but me, moved away.
• 7:29
  Speaker 6: There stands his house been empty ever since, a log
• 7:33
  Speaker 6: house with a plank roof, just one big room and
• 7:37
  Speaker 6: no more, no ceiling, nothing between the rafters and the floor. Well.
• 7:44
  Speaker 6: One Sunday morning, I was sitting out here in front
• 7:47
  Speaker 6: of my cabin with my cat, taking the sun and
• 7:51
  Speaker 6: looking at the blue hills, and listening to the leaves
• 7:54
  Speaker 6: rustling so lonely in the trees, and thinking of the
• 7:58
  Speaker 6: home away yonder in the States that I hadn't heard
• 8:01
  Speaker 6: from in thirteen years. When a blue jay lit on
• 8:05
  Speaker 6: that house with an acorn in his mouth and says, hello,
• 8:10
  Speaker 6: I reckon, I've struck something. When he spoke, the acorn
• 8:14
  Speaker 6: dropped out of his mouth and rolled down the roof,
• 8:16
  Speaker 6: of course, but he didn't care. His mind was all
• 8:20
  Speaker 6: on the thing he had struck. It was a not
• 8:23
  Speaker 6: hole in the roof. He cocked his head to one side,
• 8:27
  Speaker 6: shut one eye and put the other one to the hole,
• 8:30
  Speaker 6: like a possum looking down a jug. Then he glanced
• 8:34
  Speaker 6: up with his bright eyes, gave a wink or two
• 8:37
  Speaker 6: with his wings, which signifies gratification, you understand, and says
• 8:43
  Speaker 6: it looks like a hole. It's located like a hole.
• 8:47
  Speaker 6: Blamed if I don't believe it is a hole. Then
• 8:51
  Speaker 6: he cocked his head down and took another look. He
• 8:54
  Speaker 6: glances up, perfectly joyful this time, winks his wings and
• 8:58
  Speaker 6: his tail both and says, oh, no, this ain't no
• 9:03
  Speaker 6: fat thing. I reckon if I ain't in luck, why
• 9:08
  Speaker 6: it's a perfectly elegant hole. So he flew down and
• 9:13
  Speaker 6: got that acorn and fetched it up and dropped it
• 9:16
  Speaker 6: in and was just tilting his head back with the
• 9:19
  Speaker 6: heavenliest smile on his face, when all of a sudden
• 9:23
  Speaker 6: he was paralyzed into a listening attitude, and that smile
• 9:28
  Speaker 6: faded gradually out of his countenance like breath off from
• 9:32
  Speaker 6: the razor, and the queerest look of surprise took its place.
• 9:37
  Speaker 6: Then he says, why I didn't hear it fall? He
• 9:43
  Speaker 6: cocked his eye at the hole again and took a
• 9:46
  Speaker 6: long look, raised up and shook his head, stepped around
• 9:51
  Speaker 6: to the other side of the hole and took another
• 9:53
  Speaker 6: look from that side, shook his head again. He studied awhile.
• 9:58
  Speaker 6: Then he just went in to the details, walked round
• 10:02
  Speaker 6: and round the hole, and spied into it from every
• 10:05
  Speaker 6: point of the compass. No use now, He took a
• 10:10
  Speaker 6: thinking attitude on the comb of the roof and scratched
• 10:13
  Speaker 6: the back of his head with his right foot him
• 10:15
  Speaker 6: in it, and finally says, well, it's too many for me.
• 10:21
  Speaker 6: That's certain must be a mighty long hole. However, I
• 10:26
  Speaker 6: ain't got no time to fool around here. I got
• 10:29
  Speaker 6: to tend to business. I reckon it's all right, chance
• 10:33
  Speaker 6: it anyway. So he flew off and fetched another acorn
• 10:38
  Speaker 6: and dropped it in and tried to flirt his eye
• 10:41
  Speaker 6: to the hole quick enough to see what become of it.
• 10:44
  Speaker 6: But he was too late. He held his eye there
• 10:48
  Speaker 6: as much as a minute. Then he raised up and
• 10:51
  Speaker 6: sighed and says, Colm found it. I don't seem to
• 10:55
  Speaker 6: understand this thing no way. However, I'll tackle her again.
• 11:01
  Speaker 6: He fetched another acorn and done his level best to
• 11:05
  Speaker 6: see what become of it, but he couldn't. He says, well,
• 11:10
  Speaker 6: I never struck no such hole as this before. I'm
• 11:14
  Speaker 6: of the opinion it's a totally new kind of a hole.
• 11:18
  Speaker 6: Then he begun to get mad. He held in for
• 11:21
  Speaker 6: a spell, walking up and down the comb of the
• 11:24
  Speaker 6: roof and shaking his head and muttering to himself. But
• 11:27
  Speaker 6: his feelings got the upper hand of him presently, and
• 11:30
  Speaker 6: he broke loose and cussed himself black in the face.
• 11:34
  Speaker 6: I never see a bird take on so about a
• 11:37
  Speaker 6: little thing. When he got through, he walks to the
• 11:40
  Speaker 6: hole and looks in again for half a minute. Then
• 11:43
  Speaker 6: he says, well, you're a long hole, and a deep hole,
• 11:48
  Speaker 6: and a mighty singular hole altogether. But I've started to
• 11:52
  Speaker 6: fill you, and I'm damned if I don't feel you
• 11:56
  Speaker 6: if it takes one hundred years, And with that away
• 12:01
  Speaker 6: he went, you never see a bird work so since
• 12:05
  Speaker 6: you was born. He laid into his work like a nigger,
• 12:09
  Speaker 6: And the way he hol acorns into that hole for
• 12:11
  Speaker 6: about two hours and a half was one of the
• 12:13
  Speaker 6: most exciting and astonishing spectacles I ever struck. He never
• 12:19
  Speaker 6: stopped to take a look anymore. He just hove him
• 12:22
  Speaker 6: in and went for more. Well at last he could
• 12:25
  Speaker 6: hardly flop his wings, he was so tuckered out. He
• 12:29
  Speaker 6: comes a dropping down once more, sweating like an ice pitcher,
• 12:34
  Speaker 6: dropped his acorn in and says, now, I guess I've
• 12:38
  Speaker 6: got the bulge on you by this time. So he
• 12:42
  Speaker 6: bent down for a look, if you'll believe me. When
• 12:45
  Speaker 6: his head come up again, he was just pale with rage.
• 12:50
  Speaker 6: He says, I've.
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: Shoveled a corns enough in there to keep the family
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: thirty years. And if I can see a sign of
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: one of em, I wish I may land in him.
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: You zim with a belly full of sawdust. In two minutes,
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: he just had strength enough to crawl up to the
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: comb and lean his back again the chimney, And then
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: he collected his impressions and begun to free his mind.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: My seeing his second that what I had mistook for
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: profanity in the minds was only just the rudiments, as
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: you may say. Another jay was going by, and he
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: heard him doing his devotions and stops to inquire what
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: was up. The sufferer told him the whole circumstance, and says, now,
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: yonder's the hole, and if you don't believe me, go
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: and look for yourself. So this fellow went and looked
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: and comes back and says, how.
• 13:44
  Speaker 6: Many did you say you put in there? Not any
• 13:48
  Speaker 6: less than two tons, says the sufferer. The other jay
• 13:52
  Speaker 6: went and looked again. He couldn't seem to make it out,
• 13:56
  Speaker 6: so he raised a yell, and three more jays come.
• 14:01
  Speaker 6: They all examined the hole. They all made the sufferer
• 14:04
  Speaker 6: tell it over again. They all discussed it and got
• 14:08
  Speaker 6: off as many leather headed opinions about it as an
• 14:11
  Speaker 6: average crowd of humans could have done. They called in
• 14:14
  Speaker 6: more jays, then more and more, till pretty soon this
• 14:19
  Speaker 6: whole region appeared to have a blue flush about it.
• 14:23
  Speaker 6: There must have been five thousand of them, and such
• 14:27
  Speaker 6: another jawn and disputing and ripping and cussing you never heard.
• 14:32
  Speaker 6: Every jay in the whole lot put his eye to
• 14:34
  Speaker 6: the hole and delivered a more chuckleheaded opinion about the
• 14:38
  Speaker 6: mystery than the jay that went there before him. They
• 14:41
  Speaker 6: examined the house all over too. The door was standing
• 14:45
  Speaker 6: half open, and at last one jay happened to go
• 14:49
  Speaker 6: and light on it and look in. Of course, that
• 14:53
  Speaker 6: knocked the mystery galley west. In his second there lay
• 14:57
  Speaker 6: the acorn scattered all over the floor. He flopped his
• 15:01
  Speaker 6: wings and raised a whoop. Come here, he says, Come here,
• 15:06
  Speaker 6: everybody hanged if this fool hasn't been trying to fill
• 15:09
  Speaker 6: up a house with acorns. They all came a swooping
• 15:14
  Speaker 6: down like a blue cloud, and as each fellow lit
• 15:18
  Speaker 6: on the door and took a glance. The whole absurdity
• 15:21
  Speaker 6: of the contract that that first jay had tackled hit home,
• 15:25
  Speaker 6: and he fell over backwards, suffocating with laughter. And the
• 15:30
  Speaker 6: next jay took his place and done the same. Well, sir,
• 15:34
  Speaker 6: They roosted around here on the housetop and the trees
• 15:37
  Speaker 6: for an hour and g fawed over that thing like
• 15:41
  Speaker 6: human beings. It ain't any use to tell me a
• 15:44
  Speaker 6: blue jay hasn't got a sense of humor, because I
• 15:47
  Speaker 6: know better, and memory too. They brought jays here from
• 15:52
  Speaker 6: all over the United States to look down that hole
• 15:55
  Speaker 6: every summer for three years. Other birds too, and they
• 16:00
  Speaker 6: could all see the point, except a nile that come
• 16:03
  Speaker 6: from Nova Scotia to visit the yo semite. And he
• 16:06
  Speaker 6: took this thing in on his way back. He said
• 16:09
  Speaker 6: he couldn't see anything funny in it, But then he
• 16:12
  Speaker 6: was a good deal disappointed about yo semite too, And
• 16:18
  Speaker 6: of Baker's blue jay yarn by Mark Twain, recording by
• 16:23
  Speaker 6: Scottie Smith.
• 16:30
  Speaker 7: The Bittern by Walter Richard Kassel's Coffee Break Collection Thirty
• 16:35
  Speaker 7: seven More Birds recording by Larry Wilson. The reeds are
• 16:42
  Speaker 7: idly waving o'er the marshy ground. The rank and ragged
• 16:45
  Speaker 7: herbage rots on many a mound, and desolate pools and
• 16:49
  Speaker 7: marshes deadly lie around. There is no life nor motion
• 16:54
  Speaker 7: save the winds that fly with the close smuffled clouds
• 16:58
  Speaker 7: in silence through the sky. There is no sound to
• 17:02
  Speaker 7: stirred save the bittern's cry, the bittern sitting sadly on
• 17:07
  Speaker 7: the fluted edges of pillars, once the prop and pride
• 17:10
  Speaker 7: of palace, ledges now smeared with damp decay, and sunk
• 17:15
  Speaker 7: in slimy sedges, shattered and sunken, with a sculptured architrave
• 17:20
  Speaker 7: peering above the surface of the sluggish wave, like a
• 17:23
  Speaker 7: gaunt limb thrust fleshless from a shallow grave. The bittern
• 17:28
  Speaker 7: sitteth sadly on the time worn stone, upon life's moldering relics,
• 17:33
  Speaker 7: fearfully alone, searing the silence oft times with his solemn tone,
• 17:38
  Speaker 7: the bittern monarch of the sad and dreary place, mocking
• 17:42
  Speaker 7: the pride and pageant of a ruined race, whose very
• 17:46
  Speaker 7: names forgotten, and whose deeds have left no trace, the
• 17:51
  Speaker 7: pleasant songs of peace, the lute, the lover's sigh, the
• 17:55
  Speaker 7: statesman's eloquence, the warrior's battle cry have passed like their
• 18:00
  Speaker 7: echo from the heedless sky. The lonely bittern's note comes
• 18:04
  Speaker 7: sadly floating by, Oh melancholy sound, shall thus forever end
• 18:10
  Speaker 7: the glory and the greatness whither all hopes tend. And
• 18:13
  Speaker 7: as the past comes booming, shall the present wend? Nor
• 18:18
  Speaker 7: ear to listen to the old and hard earned glory
• 18:21
  Speaker 7: that wore the heart out, made the locks grow scant
• 18:25
  Speaker 7: and hoary, No ear to listen, and no tongue to
• 18:28
  Speaker 7: tell the story. The bittern sitteth midst the marshes of
• 18:33
  Speaker 7: the past, sitteth amidst the ruins, whilst the hours fleet fast,
• 18:38
  Speaker 7: And at his own hoarse cry, he looketh round aghast,
• 18:42
  Speaker 7: The hours fleet fast, unnoted, And the time is nigh
• 18:46
  Speaker 7: when even he, on noiseless wings shall soar on high
• 18:50
  Speaker 7: till his deep note is lost amid the azure sky.
• 18:56
  Speaker 7: End of the Bittern by Walter Richard Gassell's This LibriVox
• 19:01
  Speaker 7: recording is in the public domain.
• 19:08
  Speaker 8: Black Capped Chickadee hit Mouse by Florence A. Merriam from
• 19:14
  Speaker 8: Birds through an Opera Glass Coffee break collection thirty seven
• 19:20
  Speaker 8: more birds. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
• 19:26
  Speaker 8: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
• 19:31
  Speaker 8: please visit LibriVox dot org. Black Capped chickadee titmouse. Read
• 19:38
  Speaker 8: Emerson's Titmouse and you will recognize this charming little bird
• 19:43
  Speaker 8: without the aid of your glass. Not only in spring
• 19:47
  Speaker 8: and fall, but in the coldest winter days, you will
• 19:51
  Speaker 8: hear what the row calls the silver tinkling chickadee d
• 19:56
  Speaker 8: D chickadee DDD, ringing through the air when you hear it.
• 20:01
  Speaker 8: If you look carefully over the trees, you will see
• 20:05
  Speaker 8: a fluffy little body dressed out in a black hood
• 20:09
  Speaker 8: whose somber tone is relieved by whitish side pieces, a
• 20:14
  Speaker 8: vest to match the sides of the hood, and a
• 20:17
  Speaker 8: dark gray coat for contrast. Flinging to the side of
• 20:23
  Speaker 8: a tree one minute and hanging upside down pecking at
• 20:27
  Speaker 8: the moss on a branch the next. It is flitting
• 20:31
  Speaker 8: about hither and thither, so busily that unless you draw near,
• 20:36
  Speaker 8: you will hardly catch a glimpse of its black cap
• 20:39
  Speaker 8: and gray and white clothes. You need not fear scaring
• 20:43
  Speaker 8: it for it has the most winning confidence in man,
• 20:48
  Speaker 8: inspecting the trees in the front yard or those in
• 20:51
  Speaker 8: the woods with the same trustful unconcern. You are inclined
• 20:56
  Speaker 8: to think that the busy chickadee takes no time to
• 21:00
  Speaker 8: meditate and sees only the bright side of life. And
• 21:04
  Speaker 8: when you hear its plaintive minor whistle piercing the woods,
• 21:08
  Speaker 8: you wonder if it can have come from the same
• 21:12
  Speaker 8: little creature whose merry chickadee de you know so well.
• 21:17
  Speaker 8: The row calls this plaintive whistle the spring Phoebe's note
• 21:21
  Speaker 8: of the chickadee, and gives its winter call as day
• 21:26
  Speaker 8: day Day. When happy, the chickadee is the best company
• 21:31
  Speaker 8: one could hope for on a winter's walk. When busy,
• 21:35
  Speaker 8: it seems to realize perpetual motion, And when it gives
• 21:39
  Speaker 8: up its ordinary pursuits and prepares to rear a family,
• 21:44
  Speaker 8: it goes to work in the same whole souled fashion.
• 21:48
  Speaker 8: Leaving civilization with its many distractions, it goes into the woods,
• 21:54
  Speaker 8: and that is the last you see or hear of
• 21:56
  Speaker 8: it until fall. Even there, it is not content to
• 22:00
  Speaker 8: sit perched up on top of an open nest, but
• 22:04
  Speaker 8: builds in the side of a stump or a dead stub,
• 22:08
  Speaker 8: and retires from the world with the determination of a nun.
• 22:13
  Speaker 8: You will wonder at first how such a tiny bill
• 22:17
  Speaker 8: as the chickadees can be used as a pickaxe. But
• 22:20
  Speaker 8: if you notice it carefully, you will see that, without
• 22:24
  Speaker 8: being clumsy, it is very stout, for it is arched
• 22:28
  Speaker 8: enough to give its strength. Of course, the chickadees sometimes
• 22:32
  Speaker 8: nests in natural cavities, in trees and audubonds, says old woodpeckers.
• 22:38
  Speaker 8: Holes are occasionally used, but most writers agree in thinking
• 22:43
  Speaker 8: that it usually makes its own excavation, occasionally in comparatively
• 22:49
  Speaker 8: hard wood. One morning, I was hurrying noisily through the
• 22:54
  Speaker 8: underbrush of a clearing to get home in time for breakfast,
• 22:58
  Speaker 8: when suddenly I can came face to face with a
• 23:01
  Speaker 8: pair of chickadees. Even then, they did not stir, but
• 23:06
  Speaker 8: sat eyeing me calmly for several seconds. I suspected a nest,
• 23:11
  Speaker 8: and when they had flown off, I discovered the opening
• 23:15
  Speaker 8: in a decayed stub close by my side. The stub
• 23:20
  Speaker 8: was a small one, being perhaps eight or ten inches
• 23:24
  Speaker 8: in diameter and four and a half feet high. The
• 23:29
  Speaker 8: entrance was about a foot from the top, and the
• 23:32
  Speaker 8: nest itself a foot or more below. This what a
• 23:36
  Speaker 8: tasteful little structure it was, Although out of sight it
• 23:41
  Speaker 8: was far prettier than most bird houses on exhibition in
• 23:45
  Speaker 8: the forest. Bits of fresh green moss gave it a
• 23:48
  Speaker 8: dainty air and brought out the dark bray of the
• 23:52
  Speaker 8: squirrel or rabbit fur that made it snug and warm.
• 23:57
  Speaker 8: I was tempted to wonder where the came from. Had
• 24:01
  Speaker 8: this innocent chickadee tweaked it out of the back of
• 24:04
  Speaker 8: some preoccupied animal. Perhaps the demure little recluse has a
• 24:10
  Speaker 8: spice of wickedness after all, and its satisfaction in its
• 24:14
  Speaker 8: secure retreat as something of exultant mischief in it. In
• 24:19
  Speaker 8: any case, it sometimes takes unfair advantage for this fall.
• 24:25
  Speaker 8: I saw a chickadee deliberately lying in wait for his breakfast,
• 24:29
  Speaker 8: just as a spider would. I was passing a Norway
• 24:33
  Speaker 8: spruce when I caught sight of him, pecking away on
• 24:36
  Speaker 8: the underside of one of the lower branches. Soon he
• 24:41
  Speaker 8: pulled out a large white chrysalis like ball, flew up
• 24:46
  Speaker 8: on a branch, and sat there till he disposed of it.
• 24:50
  Speaker 8: Then he went back and hung himself upside down to
• 24:54
  Speaker 8: the branch, just below the place where the first morsel
• 24:57
  Speaker 8: had come from. Balder My, Big Newfoundland and I were
• 25:02
  Speaker 8: within five feet of the little rogue, but he did
• 25:06
  Speaker 8: not care for that. There he clung for as much
• 25:09
  Speaker 8: as two or three minutes, perfectly motionless, except when he
• 25:14
  Speaker 8: turned his head to give us a preoccupied look. Then
• 25:19
  Speaker 8: suddenly he picked down and drew out a small white worm,
• 25:24
  Speaker 8: and flew up into the branch with a triumphant little cry,
• 25:29
  Speaker 8: as much as to say, ah, I got you after all.
• 25:34
  Speaker 8: And of black capped chickadee pit mouse by Florence A.
• 25:39
  Speaker 7: Merriam.
• 25:40
  Speaker 8: Recording by Cynthia Alone, Sartelle, Minnesota.
• 25:50
  Speaker 9: Why the Chickadee Goes Crazy Once a Year from Johnny
• 25:54
  Speaker 9: Bear and other stories from Lives of the Hunted by
• 25:59
  Speaker 9: Ernest Thompson Seatan Coffee Break collection number thirty seven More Birds.
• 26:06
  Speaker 9: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
• 26:10
  Speaker 9: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
• 26:14
  Speaker 9: visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Ritobutros, Why the Chickadee
• 26:21
  Speaker 9: Goes Crazy Once a Year, published September eighteen ninety three
• 26:26
  Speaker 9: in Our Animal Friends, the organ of the American Society
• 26:31
  Speaker 9: for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. A long time ago,
• 26:36
  Speaker 9: when there was no winter in the north, the chickadees
• 26:39
  Speaker 9: lived merrily in the woods with their relatives, and cared
• 26:42
  Speaker 9: for nothing but to get all the pleasure possible out
• 26:46
  Speaker 9: of their daily life in the thickets. But at length
• 26:50
  Speaker 9: Mother Carey sent them all a warning that they must
• 26:53
  Speaker 9: move to the south, for hard frost and snow were
• 26:57
  Speaker 9: coming on their domains, with st starvation close behind. The
• 27:03
  Speaker 9: nuthatches and other cousins of the chickadees took this warning
• 27:07
  Speaker 9: seriously and set about learning how and when to go.
• 27:12
  Speaker 9: But Tom Tit, who led his brothers, only laughed and
• 27:16
  Speaker 9: turned a dozen wheels around a twig that served him
• 27:20
  Speaker 9: for a trapeze. Go to the south, said he not.
• 27:25
  Speaker 9: I I am too well contented here, And as for
• 27:29
  Speaker 9: frost and snow, I never saw any and have no
• 27:32
  Speaker 9: faith in them. But the nuthatches and kinglets were in
• 27:37
  Speaker 9: such a state of bustle that at length the chickadees
• 27:41
  Speaker 9: did catch a little of the excitement and left off
• 27:44
  Speaker 9: play for a while to question their friends, and they
• 27:48
  Speaker 9: were not pleased with what they learned, for it seemed
• 27:51
  Speaker 9: that all of them were to make a journey that
• 27:54
  Speaker 9: would last many days, and the little kinglets were actually
• 27:58
  Speaker 9: going as far as the Gulf of Mexico. Besides, they
• 28:03
  Speaker 9: were to fly by night in order to avoid their enemies,
• 28:06
  Speaker 9: the hawks, and the weather at this season was sure
• 28:10
  Speaker 9: to be stormy. So the chickadees said it was all nonsense,
• 28:16
  Speaker 9: and went off in a band, singing and chasing one
• 28:19
  Speaker 9: another through the woods. But their cousins were in earnest.
• 28:24
  Speaker 9: They bustled about making their preparations and learned beforehand what
• 28:29
  Speaker 9: it was necessary for them to know about the way.
• 28:33
  Speaker 9: The great wide river running southward, the moon at height,
• 28:37
  Speaker 9: and the trumpeting of the geese were to be their guides,
• 28:40
  Speaker 9: and they were to sing as they flew in the
• 28:43
  Speaker 9: darkness to keep from being scattered. The noisy, rollicking chickadees
• 28:49
  Speaker 9: were noisier than ever as the preparations went on, and
• 28:53
  Speaker 9: made sport of their relatives, who were now gathered in
• 28:57
  Speaker 9: great numbers in the woods along the river. And at length,
• 29:01
  Speaker 9: when the proper time of the moon came, the cousins
• 29:04
  Speaker 9: arose in a body and flew away in the gloom.
• 29:09
  Speaker 9: The chickadees said that the cousins all were crazy, made
• 29:13
  Speaker 9: some good jokes about the Gulf of Mexico, and then
• 29:17
  Speaker 9: dashed away in a game of tag through the woods,
• 29:20
  Speaker 9: which by the bye seemed rather deserted now, while the weather,
• 29:25
  Speaker 9: too was certainly turning remarkably cool. At length, the frost
• 29:31
  Speaker 9: and snow really did come, and the chickadees were in
• 29:35
  Speaker 9: a woeful case. Indeed, they were frightened out of their
• 29:39
  Speaker 9: wits and dashed hither and thither, seeking in vain for
• 29:43
  Speaker 9: some one to set them aright on the way to
• 29:46
  Speaker 9: the south. They flew wildly about the woods till they
• 29:50
  Speaker 9: were truly crazy. I suppose there was not a squirrel
• 29:54
  Speaker 9: hull or a hollow log in the neighborhood that some
• 29:58
  Speaker 9: chickadee did not enter to inquire if this was the
• 30:02
  Speaker 9: Gulf of Mexico. But no one could tell anything about it.
• 30:07
  Speaker 9: No one was going that way, and the great river
• 30:10
  Speaker 9: was hidden under ice and snow. About this time a
• 30:14
  Speaker 9: messenger from Mother Carey was passing with a message to
• 30:18
  Speaker 9: the Cariboo in the far north. But all he could
• 30:21
  Speaker 9: tell the chickadees was that he could not be their guide,
• 30:25
  Speaker 9: as he had no instructions, and at any rate, he
• 30:29
  Speaker 9: was going the other way. Besides, he told them they
• 30:33
  Speaker 9: had had the same notice as their cousins, whom they
• 30:36
  Speaker 9: had called crazy, and from what he knew of Mother Carey,
• 30:41
  Speaker 9: they would probably have to brave it out here all
• 30:44
  Speaker 9: through the snow, not only now, but in all following winters,
• 30:49
  Speaker 9: so they might as well make the best of it.
• 30:52
  Speaker 9: This was sad news for the tom Tits, but they
• 30:55
  Speaker 9: were brave little fellows, and seeing they could not help themselves,
• 31:00
  Speaker 9: they set about making the best of it. Before a
• 31:03
  Speaker 9: week had gone by, they were in their usual good
• 31:06
  Speaker 9: spirits again, scrambling about the twigs or chasing one another.
• 31:10
  Speaker 9: As before, they had still the assurance that winter would end.
• 31:16
  Speaker 9: So filled were they with this idea that even at
• 31:19
  Speaker 9: its commencement, when a fresh blizzard came on, they would
• 31:24
  Speaker 9: gleefully remark to one another that it was a sign
• 31:27
  Speaker 9: of spring, and one or another of the band would
• 31:31
  Speaker 9: lift his voice in the sweet little chant that we
• 31:34
  Speaker 9: all know so well, Spring soon, Spring. Soon another would
• 31:40
  Speaker 9: take it up and re echo spring coming, Spring Coming,
• 31:45
  Speaker 9: and they would answer and repeat the song until the
• 31:48
  Speaker 9: dreary woods rang again with the good news, and people
• 31:52
  Speaker 9: learned to love the brave little bird that sets his
• 31:55
  Speaker 9: face so cheerfully to meet so hard a case to
• 32:00
  Speaker 9: this day, when the chill wind blows through the deserted woods,
• 32:04
  Speaker 9: the chickadees seem to lose their wits for a few
• 32:07
  Speaker 9: days and dart into all sorts of odd and dangerous places.
• 32:13
  Speaker 9: They may then be found in great cities or open prairies, cellars, chimneys,
• 32:19
  Speaker 9: and hollow logs. And the next time you find one
• 32:22
  Speaker 9: of the wanderers in any such place, be sure to
• 32:26
  Speaker 9: remember that Tom Tit goes crazy once a year, and
• 32:30
  Speaker 9: probably went into his strange retreat in search of the
• 32:34
  Speaker 9: Gulf of Mexico. And of why the chickadee goes crazy
• 32:41
  Speaker 9: once a year? From Johnny Bear and other stories from
• 32:45
  Speaker 9: Lives of the Hunted by Ernest Thompson, seton.
• 32:54
  Speaker 10: The courtship of mister Stork and Miss Heron by Abbey
• 32:59
  Speaker 10: Farewell Brown Coffee Break Collection, thirty seven More Birds. This
• 33:05
  Speaker 10: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
• 33:08
  Speaker 10: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
• 33:13
  Speaker 10: the LibriVox dot org. This recording is by Michel Frye
• 33:18
  Speaker 10: Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The courtship of mister Stork and Miss Heron.
• 33:26
  Speaker 10: This is a very good story to read at night,
• 33:29
  Speaker 10: just before going to sleep. And if you ask why,
• 33:32
  Speaker 10: I must only tell you that you will find out
• 33:35
  Speaker 10: before you reach the end of the tail. There was
• 33:39
  Speaker 10: once a Heron, a pretty, long legged, slender lady Heron,
• 33:43
  Speaker 10: who lived in the mushy, squshy, weighty, shady swamp. The
• 33:47
  Speaker 10: lady Heron lived in her swamp all alone, earning her
• 33:51
  Speaker 10: living by catching little fish, and she was very happy,
• 33:54
  Speaker 10: never dreaming that she was lonesome, for no one had
• 33:57
  Speaker 10: told her what lonesome was. She loved to go wading
• 34:01
  Speaker 10: in the cool waters. She loved to catch the little
• 34:03
  Speaker 10: fish who swam by unsuspectingly while she stood still upon
• 34:08
  Speaker 10: one leg, pretending to think about something a thousand miles away.
• 34:13
  Speaker 10: And she loved to look at her slender, long legged
• 34:15
  Speaker 10: blue reflection in the water. For the Lady Heron was
• 34:19
  Speaker 10: just a little bit vain. Now, One day, mister Stork
• 34:23
  Speaker 10: came flying over the mushy squshy, wavy, shady swamp where
• 34:26
  Speaker 10: the Heron lived, and he too saw the reflection in
• 34:29
  Speaker 10: the water, and he said to himself, my, how pretty
• 34:33
  Speaker 10: she is. I wonder I never noticed her before, And
• 34:37
  Speaker 10: how lonesome she must be there all by herself in
• 34:40
  Speaker 10: such a nasty, moist USh, squishy old swamp. I will
• 34:45
  Speaker 10: invite her to come and share my nice, warm, dry
• 34:48
  Speaker 10: nest on the chimney top. For, to tell the truth,
• 34:51
  Speaker 10: I am growing lonely up there all by myself. Why
• 34:56
  Speaker 10: should we not make a match of it, we two
• 34:58
  Speaker 10: long legged creatures. Mister Stork went home to his house,
• 35:03
  Speaker 10: which he set prettily in order, for he never dreamed
• 35:06
  Speaker 10: but that the lady Heron would accept his offer. At
• 35:09
  Speaker 10: the very first croak, he preened his feathers and made
• 35:12
  Speaker 10: himself as lovely as he could, and forthwith off he flew,
• 35:16
  Speaker 10: with his long legs, dangling straight to the weighty, shady swamp,
• 35:20
  Speaker 10: where Miss Heron was standing on one leg waiting for
• 35:23
  Speaker 10: her supper to get itself caught ahem, croaked mister Stork,
• 35:29
  Speaker 10: waving his wing politely. Good evening, miss Heron, fine weather,
• 35:34
  Speaker 10: we are having a but how horribly moist it is
• 35:37
  Speaker 10: down here. I should think that your nice straight legs
• 35:40
  Speaker 10: would grow crooked with rheumatism. Now I have a comfortable
• 35:45
  Speaker 10: dry house on the roof. Pouf grunted miss Heron disdainfully,
• 35:51
  Speaker 10: but mister Stork pretended not to hear, and went on
• 35:53
  Speaker 10: with his remarks, a nice dry house, which I should
• 35:57
  Speaker 10: be glad to have you share with me. Come, miss Heron,
• 36:01
  Speaker 10: here I am a lonely old bachelor, and here you
• 36:04
  Speaker 10: are a lonely old maid. Lonely old maid indeed, screamed
• 36:09
  Speaker 10: the Heron, interrupting him, I don't know what it is
• 36:12
  Speaker 10: to be lonely. Get along with you, and she splashed
• 36:15
  Speaker 10: water on him with her wings. She was so indignant.
• 36:19
  Speaker 10: Poor mister Stork felt very crustfallen at this reception of
• 36:23
  Speaker 10: his well meaning invitation. He turned about and stalked away
• 36:27
  Speaker 10: toward his nest upon the roof, without so much as
• 36:29
  Speaker 10: saying good bye to the lady. But no sooner was
• 36:33
  Speaker 10: he out of sight than miss Heron began to think
• 36:36
  Speaker 10: he had said that she was lonely? Was she lonely?
• 36:41
  Speaker 4: Well?
• 36:41
  Speaker 10: Perhaps he ought to know better than she, for he
• 36:44
  Speaker 10: was a very wise bird. Perhaps she was lonely, now
• 36:48
  Speaker 10: that she came to think of it. However, there was
• 36:51
  Speaker 10: no reason why she should go to live in that stupid,
• 36:53
  Speaker 10: dry old nest on the housetop. Why could he not
• 36:56
  Speaker 10: come to dwell in her lovely must she squashy, wavy,
• 36:59
  Speaker 10: shame dady's swamp. That would be very pleasant, for he
• 37:03
  Speaker 10: was a good sort of fellow, with nice long legs,
• 37:06
  Speaker 10: and there were fish enough in the water for two. Besides,
• 37:09
  Speaker 10: he could then do the fishing for the family, and moreover,
• 37:13
  Speaker 10: there would then be two to admire her reflection in
• 37:16
  Speaker 10: the water. Yes, her mind was made up. She would
• 37:19
  Speaker 10: invite him. She glanced down at her reflection and settled
• 37:23
  Speaker 10: some of the feathers which her fit of temper had
• 37:26
  Speaker 10: ruffled out of order. Then off she started in pursuit
• 37:29
  Speaker 10: of mister Stork. Mister Stork had not gone far, for
• 37:33
  Speaker 10: a sad rejected lover is a dawdling creature, and so
• 37:38
  Speaker 10: she came up with him long before he was in
• 37:40
  Speaker 10: sight of his nest. Good evening, mister Stork said the
• 37:44
  Speaker 10: lady nervously. I I have been thinking over what you
• 37:48
  Speaker 10: said to me just now, and I have concluded that
• 37:51
  Speaker 10: perhaps I was a bit hasty to tell you the truth, sir.
• 37:55
  Speaker 10: I am a trifle lonely now that you suggest the
• 37:58
  Speaker 10: thought to me, and it would be very agreeable to
• 38:02
  Speaker 10: have pleasant company. I am ready, sir, to agree to
• 38:05
  Speaker 10: your proposal, but of course I cannot think of changing
• 38:09
  Speaker 10: my abode. My swamp is the most beautiful home that
• 38:12
  Speaker 10: a maiden ever knew, and I could not give it
• 38:15
  Speaker 10: up for any one. As to your ugly old nest
• 38:18
  Speaker 10: on the chimney top, bah, I cannot endure the idea
• 38:22
  Speaker 10: with patience. Mister stork was gradually stiffening into an angry attitude,
• 38:28
  Speaker 10: but she did not notice. Now you can come and
• 38:32
  Speaker 10: live in my swamp, Miss Heron went on warmly, And
• 38:35
  Speaker 10: you will be very welcome to catch fish for me
• 38:38
  Speaker 10: and to look in my mirror. It will be very nice,
• 38:41
  Speaker 10: indeed nice, croaked the stork, I should say, as much.
• 38:46
  Speaker 10: What can you be thinking of, miss I, to give
• 38:49
  Speaker 10: up my comfortable home on the housetop close by the
• 38:52
  Speaker 10: warm chimney and go to live in that disgusting, wushy,
• 38:56
  Speaker 10: squishy bog of yours? Ha ha, that is really too ridiculous.
• 39:00
  Speaker 10: I bid you good morning, and with an elaborate bow,
• 39:04
  Speaker 10: he turned his back and flew away. Miss Heron flounced
• 39:09
  Speaker 10: back to her swamp, mortified, because she had left it
• 39:12
  Speaker 10: to propose terms to so ungallant a fellow. But hardly
• 39:16
  Speaker 10: had she begun her tardy supper, when once more mister
• 39:20
  Speaker 10: Stork's shadow darkened the mirror before her, and once more
• 39:23
  Speaker 10: she heard his apologetic croak ahem, he began, I hope
• 39:30
  Speaker 10: I find you well, Miss Heron. I have been am
• 39:35
  Speaker 10: considering your last most condescending words, and I find that
• 39:39
  Speaker 10: I have been hasty. You are so good as to
• 39:43
  Speaker 10: express a belief that I should make a pleasant companion.
• 39:46
  Speaker 10: So I should, so I should, And as for you,
• 39:50
  Speaker 10: he bowed gallantly, one can readily imagine the charm of
• 39:53
  Speaker 10: your society. Come, then, miss Heron, why should we not
• 39:57
  Speaker 10: make a happy couple, if we can only arrange this
• 40:00
  Speaker 10: one little foolish matter, be my wife and come live
• 40:04
  Speaker 10: with me and my lovely nest. But at this word,
• 40:08
  Speaker 10: Miss Heron uttered a little scream and cried, be off
• 40:12
  Speaker 10: with you, you villain. Leave my premises instantly, and she
• 40:16
  Speaker 10: waved her wings so fiercely that once more mister Stork
• 40:20
  Speaker 10: took to his and flapped away to his home. Now,
• 40:24
  Speaker 10: when he had gone, miss Heron found that she had
• 40:27
  Speaker 10: been bad tempered, and she thought how pleasantly they might
• 40:30
  Speaker 10: have arranged the matter if only she had been more moderate.
• 40:34
  Speaker 10: So she spread her beautiful blue wings and flew to
• 40:36
  Speaker 10: the house stop where mister Stork lived, and, perching on
• 40:40
  Speaker 10: the chimney, she said, Oh, mister Stork, I was bad
• 40:43
  Speaker 10: tempered and impolite, and I beg your pardon. Let us
• 40:47
  Speaker 10: be friends once more. Leave this hot, old, stupid housetop
• 40:51
  Speaker 10: and come live in my cool, moist, wavy, shady swamp,
• 40:55
  Speaker 10: and I will be your very loving little wife. But
• 40:59
  Speaker 10: the stark arose in his nest, flapping his wings crossly,
• 41:03
  Speaker 10: and cried, be off, you baggage. Don't come here to
• 41:06
  Speaker 10: insult my beautiful house. Be off, I say to your
• 41:10
  Speaker 10: mushy squshy rheumaticky bog, I want no more of you.
• 41:16
  Speaker 10: So the Heron flew back disconstantly to the watery swamp,
• 41:20
  Speaker 10: where she began to feel very lonely indeed, And this
• 41:23
  Speaker 10: stork too began to feel very lonely indeed, and he
• 41:27
  Speaker 10: was sorry that he had been rude to the lady. Presently,
• 41:30
  Speaker 10: once more he came flapping to the mushy squshy marsh,
• 41:34
  Speaker 10: where he found miss Heron just ready to go to sleep. Oh,
• 41:39
  Speaker 10: dear miss Heron, he cried, I made a great mistake
• 41:43
  Speaker 10: and said things for which I am truly sorry. Do
• 41:46
  Speaker 10: come and be my loving wife as you promised, and
• 41:49
  Speaker 10: we will live happily ever after on the chimney top,
• 41:52
  Speaker 10: far above the other birds, and I will never be
• 41:55
  Speaker 10: cross again. But the heron answered away with you, I
• 42:00
  Speaker 10: want to go to sleep. I am tired of your
• 42:03
  Speaker 10: croaking voice. Leave me alone. So the stork flew away
• 42:07
  Speaker 10: in a huff. But the heron could not sleep. She
• 42:11
  Speaker 10: was so lonely, so she rose, and, flying through the
• 42:16
  Speaker 10: still night air, came again to the stork's high built nest.
• 42:21
  Speaker 10: Come starky, dear, she said, in her sweetest tone, come
• 42:25
  Speaker 10: home to your dear wife's house in the weighty, shady, mushy,
• 42:27
  Speaker 10: squashy marsh, and I will be good. But the stork
• 42:32
  Speaker 10: pretended to be asleep and only snored and replied. So
• 42:36
  Speaker 10: the heron flew home in a huff. But the stork
• 42:39
  Speaker 10: could not truly sleep. He was so lonely, so he rose, and,
• 42:42
  Speaker 10: flying through the still night air, came again to the
• 42:45
  Speaker 10: heron's home in the marsh. Come, my dear, he said,
• 42:49
  Speaker 10: come home to your dear husband's house, and I will
• 42:52
  Speaker 10: be good. But the heron made no answer, pretending to
• 42:56
  Speaker 10: be asleep. So the stork flew home in a huff.
• 43:00
  Speaker 10: But the heron could not sleep. She was so lonely.
• 43:03
  Speaker 10: So she rose at break of day, and, flying through
• 43:05
  Speaker 10: the cool morning air, came again to the stork's nest.
• 43:09
  Speaker 10: Come starky, dear, she said, come home to your dear
• 43:12
  Speaker 10: wife's house, and I will be good. But the stork
• 43:15
  Speaker 10: did not answer. He was so angry. So the heron
• 43:18
  Speaker 10: flew home in a huff. And if you are not
• 43:22
  Speaker 10: asleep when you get as far as this, you may
• 43:24
  Speaker 10: go on with the story by yourself perfectly well, you
• 43:28
  Speaker 10: may go on just as long as you can keep awake,
• 43:31
  Speaker 10: for the tale has no end, no end at all.
• 43:34
  Speaker 10: It is still going on to this very day. The
• 43:36
  Speaker 10: stork still lives lonely on his housetop, and the heron
• 43:40
  Speaker 10: still lives lonely in her marsh, growing lonelier and lonelier,
• 43:43
  Speaker 10: both of them. But because they have no tact, they
• 43:46
  Speaker 10: are never able to agree to the same thing at
• 43:49
  Speaker 10: the same time, and they keep flying back and forth,
• 43:52
  Speaker 10: saying the same things over and over and over.
• 43:56
  Speaker 4: And over.
• 44:00
  Speaker 10: Of the courtship of mister Stark and Miss Heron by
• 44:04
  Speaker 10: Abbey Farewell Brown.
• 44:12
  Speaker 11: The Crow by Florence A Mariam Coffee Prey Collection, thirty
• 44:16
  Speaker 11: seven more Birds. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox
• 44:21
  Speaker 11: recordings are in the public domain. For more information or
• 44:24
  Speaker 11: to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. The despised crow
• 44:30
  Speaker 11: is one of our most interesting birds. His call is
• 44:34
  Speaker 11: like the smell of the brown furrozen spring. Life is
• 44:37
  Speaker 11: more sound and wholesome for it. Though the crow has
• 44:41
  Speaker 11: no song, what a variety of notes and tones he
• 44:45
  Speaker 11: can boast in vocabulary. He is a very Shakespeare among birds.
• 44:51
  Speaker 11: Listening to a family of Frenchmen, though you don't know
• 44:54
  Speaker 11: a word of French, you easily guess the temper and
• 44:58
  Speaker 11: drift of their talk. And so it is in listening
• 45:01
  Speaker 11: to crow's tone, inflection, gesture, all betray their secrets. One
• 45:08
  Speaker 11: morning last October, I called in this way a spicy
• 45:12
  Speaker 11: chapter and crow family discipline. I was standing in a
• 45:16
  Speaker 11: meadow of rich aftermath, lying between a stony pasture and
• 45:21
  Speaker 11: a small piece of woods, when a young crow flew
• 45:25
  Speaker 11: over my head, calling softly to himself. He flew straight
• 45:30
  Speaker 11: west toward the pasture for several seconds, then, as if
• 45:35
  Speaker 11: an idea had come to him, turned his head and
• 45:38
  Speaker 11: neck around in an intelligent crow fashion, circled back to
• 45:43
  Speaker 11: the woods, lit and called vociferously to three other crows,
• 45:48
  Speaker 11: till they came over across the pasture. After making them
• 45:52
  Speaker 11: all circle over my head, perhaps merely as a blind,
• 45:57
  Speaker 11: he took them back to his perch, where he wanted
• 45:59
  Speaker 11: them to go beech nutting or something else. Whatever it was,
• 46:03
  Speaker 11: they evidently scorned his childlessness, for they flew back to
• 46:07
  Speaker 11: their tree across the field as fast as they had come.
• 46:10
  Speaker 11: This put him in a pet and he would not budge,
• 46:14
  Speaker 11: but sat there sputtering like a spoiled child. To everything
• 46:18
  Speaker 11: he said, whether in complaining or teasing tone, the same
• 46:23
  Speaker 11: gruff paternal call came back from the pasture. Come along,
• 46:28
  Speaker 11: it seemed to say. To this, the refractory son would respond,
• 46:33
  Speaker 11: I won't. They kept it up for several minutes, but
• 46:36
  Speaker 11: at last paternal authority conquered, and the big boy, making
• 46:41
  Speaker 11: a wide detour, flew slowly and reluctantly back to his family.
• 46:46
  Speaker 11: He lit on a low branch under them, and when
• 46:49
  Speaker 11: the father gave a gruff, I should think it was
• 46:52
  Speaker 11: time you came. He defiantly shook his tail and cleaned
• 46:55
  Speaker 11: his bill. After a few moments he condescended to mich
• 46:59
  Speaker 11: a low, half sullen, half stewed remark. But when the
• 47:03
  Speaker 11: family all started off again, he sat and scolded some
• 47:06
  Speaker 11: time before he would follow them, and I suspect he
• 47:10
  Speaker 11: compromised matters then, only because he did not want to
• 47:13
  Speaker 11: be left behind. The intelligence of the crow LEAs become
• 47:18
  Speaker 11: a platitude. But when we hear of his cracking clams
• 47:22
  Speaker 11: by dropping them on a fence, coming to roost with
• 47:25
  Speaker 11: the hens in the cold weather, and in the case
• 47:28
  Speaker 11: of a tame crow opening a door by lighting on
• 47:31
  Speaker 11: the latch, his originality is a surprise. A family near
• 47:36
  Speaker 11: here had much merriment over the gambols of a pet
• 47:39
  Speaker 11: crow named Jim. Whenever he saw the gardener passing to
• 47:43
  Speaker 11: and fro between the house and garden, he would fly
• 47:46
  Speaker 11: down from the trees, light on his hat, and ride
• 47:50
  Speaker 11: back and forth. He liked to pick the bright blossoms,
• 47:53
  Speaker 11: particularly pansies and scarlet geraniums, and would not only steal
• 47:58
  Speaker 11: bright colored worsted and ribbons, but tear all the yellow
• 48:02
  Speaker 11: covers from any novels he came across. When any one
• 48:06
  Speaker 11: of them went to the vegetable garden, he showed the
• 48:09
  Speaker 11: most commendable eagerness to help with the work, being anxious
• 48:13
  Speaker 11: to pick whatever was wanted, from raspberries and currants to
• 48:17
  Speaker 11: little cucumbers gathered for pickling. The sight of the big
• 48:21
  Speaker 11: black puppy waddling along, wagging high in air a long
• 48:25
  Speaker 11: black tail, incongruously finished off with a tipping of white hairs,
• 48:30
  Speaker 11: was too much for Jim's sobriety. Down he would die,
• 48:34
  Speaker 11: give a nip the hares, and be gravely seated on
• 48:37
  Speaker 11: a branch just out of reach by the time Bruno
• 48:40
  Speaker 11: had turned to snap at him, let the puppy move
• 48:43
  Speaker 11: on a step and down the mischief would come again,
• 48:47
  Speaker 11: and so the two would play, sometimes for more than
• 48:50
  Speaker 11: half an hour at a time. Then again the joke
• 48:53
  Speaker 11: would take more practical turn, for instead of flying overhead
• 48:57
  Speaker 11: when Bruno looked back, Jim would steal the bone the
• 49:00
  Speaker 11: puppy had been gnawing. The crow was happy as long
• 49:04
  Speaker 11: as any one would play with him, and never tired
• 49:07
  Speaker 11: of flying low over the ground with the string dangling
• 49:10
  Speaker 11: from his bill for the children to run after. Another
• 49:14
  Speaker 11: favorite play was to hold on to a string or
• 49:17
  Speaker 11: small stick with his bill while some one lifted him
• 49:21
  Speaker 11: up by it as a baby is tossed by its arms.
• 49:24
  Speaker 11: He would even hold on and let you swing him
• 49:27
  Speaker 11: around your head. He was never daunted, and when the
• 49:31
  Speaker 11: toddling two year old would kept too rough in her
• 49:33
  Speaker 11: play and strike at him with her stick, he would
• 49:37
  Speaker 11: either catch the hem of her pinafore and hold on
• 49:40
  Speaker 11: till she ran away, or try scaring her brushing at
• 49:44
  Speaker 11: her his big black wings spread out and his bill
• 49:48
  Speaker 11: wide open. One day, his pluck was thoroughly tested. Hearing
• 49:53
  Speaker 11: loud calls of distress coming from the lawn, the gardener
• 49:56
  Speaker 11: rushed across and found Jim lying on his back, his
• 50:00
  Speaker 11: claw tightly gripping the end of one of the wings
• 50:03
  Speaker 11: of a large talk that, surprised and terrified by this
• 50:07
  Speaker 11: turn of the tables, was struggling frantically to get away.
• 50:12
  Speaker 11: Jim held him as tight as a vice, and only
• 50:15
  Speaker 11: loosened his grasp to give his enemy into the gardener's hands.
• 50:19
  Speaker 11: After letting go, he submitted to the victor's reward, letting
• 50:23
  Speaker 11: his wounds be examined and his bravery extolled while he
• 50:27
  Speaker 11: was carried about wearing a most consciously heroic air. It
• 50:32
  Speaker 11: must be confessed for due celebration of the victory and
• 50:38
  Speaker 11: of the crow. By Florence A.
• 50:40
  Speaker 10: Mariam The Gates Opening from complete prose works by Walt
• 50:51
  Speaker 10: Whitman Coffee Break Collection, thirty seven More Birds. This is
• 50:57
  Speaker 10: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recording are in the public domain.
• 51:02
  Speaker 10: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 51:07
  Speaker 10: This recording is by Michel Frye Betonrouge, Louisiana, in June
• 51:13
  Speaker 10: twenty twenty three. The Gates Opening April sixth palpable spring indeed,
• 51:21
  Speaker 10: or the indications of it. I am sitting in bright
• 51:24
  Speaker 10: sunshine at the edge of the creek, the surface just
• 51:28
  Speaker 10: rippled by the wind. All is solitude, morning, freshness, negligence
• 51:34
  Speaker 10: for companions, My two kingfishers sailing, winding, darting, dipping, sometimes
• 51:41
  Speaker 10: capriciously separate, then flying together. I hear their guttural twittering
• 51:46
  Speaker 10: again and again for a while, nothing but that peculiar sound.
• 51:51
  Speaker 10: As noon approaches, other birds warm up. The ready notes
• 51:55
  Speaker 10: of the robin and the musical passage of two parts.
• 51:59
  Speaker 10: One a clear, delavicious gurgle with several other birds I
• 52:02
  Speaker 10: cannot place to which is joined. Yes, I just hear it.
• 52:07
  Speaker 10: One low purr at intervals from some impatient hilahs at
• 52:12
  Speaker 10: the pond edge, the sibilant murmur of a pretty stiff
• 52:16
  Speaker 10: breeze now and then through the trees. Then a poor
• 52:19
  Speaker 10: little dead leaf, long frost bound, whirls from somewhere up
• 52:24
  Speaker 10: aloft in one wild escaped freedom spree in space and sunlight,
• 52:30
  Speaker 10: and then dashes down to the waters, which hold it
• 52:33
  Speaker 10: closely and soon drown it out of sight. The bushes
• 52:37
  Speaker 10: and trees are yet to bear, but the beeches have
• 52:40
  Speaker 10: their wrinkled yellow leaves of last season's foliage largely left,
• 52:44
  Speaker 10: frequent cedars and pines yet green, and the grass not
• 52:48
  Speaker 10: without proofs of coming fullness. And over all a wonderfully
• 52:53
  Speaker 10: fine dome of clear blue, the play of light coming
• 52:57
  Speaker 10: and going, and great fleeces of white clouds swimming so silently.
• 53:03
  Speaker 10: The common earth, the soil, the soil too, let others
• 53:08
  Speaker 10: pen and ink the sea the air, as I sometimes try,
• 53:12
  Speaker 10: But now I feel to choose the common soil for
• 53:15
  Speaker 10: theme naught else. The brown soil here just between winter
• 53:20
  Speaker 10: clothes and opening spring and vegetation, the rain shower at
• 53:25
  Speaker 10: night and the fresh smell next morning, the red worms
• 53:29
  Speaker 10: wriggling out of the ground, the dead leaves, the incipient grass,
• 53:33
  Speaker 10: and the latent life underneath, the effort to start something
• 53:38
  Speaker 10: already in sheltered spots, some little flowers, the distant emeralds
• 53:42
  Speaker 10: show of winter wheat, and the rye fields, the yet
• 53:46
  Speaker 10: naked trees with clear interstices giving prospects hidden in summer,
• 53:52
  Speaker 10: the tough fallow and the plow team, and the stout
• 53:55
  Speaker 10: boy whistling to his horses for encouragement. And there the
• 53:58
  Speaker 10: dark fat earth in long slanting stripes, upturned birds and
• 54:04
  Speaker 10: birds and birds. A little later, bright weather and unusual
• 54:10
  Speaker 10: melodiousness these days, last of April and first of May.
• 54:14
  Speaker 10: From the blackbirds, indeed, all sorts of birds, darting, whistling, hopping,
• 54:20
  Speaker 10: or perch storn trees. Never before have I seen, heard,
• 54:24
  Speaker 10: or been in the midst of and got so flooded
• 54:27
  Speaker 10: and saturated with them in their performances as this current month,
• 54:32
  Speaker 10: such oceans, such successions of them. Let me make a
• 54:36
  Speaker 10: list of those I find here. Blackbirds, plenty meadow, larks plenty, ringdoves,
• 54:44
  Speaker 10: catbirds plenty, owls, cuckoos, woodpeckers, pond snipes plenty, kingbirds, chee winks,
• 54:53
  Speaker 10: crows plenty, quawks, wrens, ground robins, kingfishers, ravens, quails, gray snipe, turkey, buzzards, eagles,
• 55:04
  Speaker 10: hen hawks, high holes, yellowbirds, herons, thrushes, tits, reed birds, woodpigeons.
• 55:11
  Speaker 10: Early came the bluebirds, meadow lark, killdeer, white bellied swallow, plover, sandpiper,
• 55:18
  Speaker 10: robin Wilson's thrush, woodcock flicker. End of the Gates Opening
• 55:27
  Speaker 10: by Walt Whitman.
• 55:34
  Speaker 12: How the Mousebird made fun of the Brownie by Ernest Thompson,
• 55:38
  Speaker 12: Seaton Coffee Break Collection, thirty seven more Birds. This is
• 55:43
  Speaker 12: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 55:47
  Speaker 12: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 55:52
  Speaker 12: Recording by Chris Pyle. How the mousebird made fun of
• 55:56
  Speaker 12: the brownie. Once there was a conceited brownie ought he
• 56:00
  Speaker 12: could do more things, and do them better than any
• 56:02
  Speaker 12: other of his people. He had not tried yet, for
• 56:06
  Speaker 12: he was very young, but he said he was going
• 56:08
  Speaker 12: to do them someday one morning, a sly old brownie,
• 56:13
  Speaker 12: really making fun of him, said, why don't you catch
• 56:16
  Speaker 12: that phoebe bird? It is quite easy if you put
• 56:19
  Speaker 12: a little salt on his tail away when smarty brownie
• 56:22
  Speaker 12: to try, but the phoebe would not sit still, and
• 56:26
  Speaker 12: the brownie came back saying he bobbed his tail so
• 56:30
  Speaker 12: the salt would not stay on. Well, said the sly
• 56:33
  Speaker 12: old brownie, there is a little mousebird whose tail never bobs.
• 56:37
  Speaker 12: You can easily catch him, for you see, he does
• 56:40
  Speaker 12: not even fly, but crawls like a mouse up the tree.
• 56:44
  Speaker 12: And he pointed to a little brown creeper. But this
• 56:47
  Speaker 12: time the young brownie knew that the others were laughing
• 56:49
  Speaker 12: at him, so he said, rather hotly, I'll just show
• 56:52
  Speaker 12: you right now. He took an acorn cupful of salt
• 56:56
  Speaker 12: and went after the mousebird. It was at the bottom
• 56:59
  Speaker 12: of the big tree tree, creeping up round and round
• 57:02
  Speaker 12: as if on a spiral staircase, and the brownie began
• 57:05
  Speaker 12: to climb in the same way, but every little while
• 57:08
  Speaker 12: the climber had to stop and rest. This had strange results,
• 57:13
  Speaker 12: for there is a law on brownie land that wherever
• 57:16
  Speaker 12: one of the little people stops to sit down or rest,
• 57:19
  Speaker 12: a toadstool must bring up for him to sit on.
• 57:22
  Speaker 12: So the track of the Brownie up the trunk became
• 57:25
  Speaker 12: one long staircase of toadstool steps, some close, some far apart,
• 57:30
  Speaker 12: but each showing where the Brownie had rested. They came
• 57:33
  Speaker 12: closer together toward the top where the Brownie had got tired.
• 57:37
  Speaker 12: But he was coming very near to the creeper. Now
• 57:40
  Speaker 12: he got his pinch of salt already, and his friends
• 57:43
  Speaker 12: down below kept calling and jeering, now you've got him,
• 57:47
  Speaker 12: Now is your chance. But just as he was going
• 57:49
  Speaker 12: to leap forward and drop the salt on its tail,
• 57:52
  Speaker 12: the creeper gave a tiny little laugh like tette, spread
• 57:56
  Speaker 12: its wings for it could fly very well, and say
• 58:00
  Speaker 12: away to the bottom of the next tree to do
• 58:02
  Speaker 12: the spiral staircase all over again, while smarty Brownie was
• 58:06
  Speaker 12: so mad that he jumped to the ground and hid
• 58:08
  Speaker 12: away from his friends for two days. When he came back,
• 58:13
  Speaker 12: he did not talk quite so much as he used to.
• 58:16
  Speaker 12: But to this day you can see the staircase of
• 58:18
  Speaker 12: toadstools on the tree trunks where the Brownie went up.
• 58:22
  Speaker 12: End of how the mouse bird Made fun of the
• 58:25
  Speaker 12: Brownie by Ernest Thompson.
• 58:27
  Speaker 5: Seton Hummingbird from Birds, Beasts and Flowers by D. H.
• 58:37
  Speaker 5: Lawrence Coffee Break Collection, thirty seven more Birds. This is
• 58:42
  Speaker 5: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 58:47
  Speaker 5: Recording by Kevin Lee Smith, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Hummingbird. I can
• 58:54
  Speaker 5: imagine in some other world, primeval dumb far back in
• 58:59
  Speaker 5: that awful stillness that only gasped and hummed. Hummingbirds raced
• 59:06
  Speaker 5: down the avenues before anything had a soul, While life
• 59:10
  Speaker 5: was a heave of matter, half inanimate, This little bit
• 59:16
  Speaker 5: chipped off in brilliance and went whizzing through the slow, vast,
• 59:21
  Speaker 5: succulent stems. I believe there were no flowers then in
• 59:26
  Speaker 5: the world where the hummingbird flashed ahead of creation. I
• 59:30
  Speaker 5: believe he pierced the slow vegetable veins with his long beak.
• 59:35
  Speaker 5: Probably he was big as mosses and little lizards they
• 59:40
  Speaker 5: say were once big. Probably he was a jabbing, terrifying monster.
• 59:46
  Speaker 5: We look at him through the wrong end of the
• 59:49
  Speaker 5: long telescope of time, luckily for us. End of Hummingbird
• 59:57
  Speaker 5: from Birds, Beasts and Flowers by D. Eighth Lawrence recording
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 5: by Kevin Lee Smith, Minneapolis, Minnesota. This LibriVox recording is
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 5: in the public domain.
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 13: The Hummingbird by Bradford Torrey Coffee Break Collection thirty seven
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 13: more Birds. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 13: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 13: please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Tom Merritt. The hummingbird.
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 13: Hummingbirds are found only in America and on the islands
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 13: near it. They are of many kinds, but only one
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 13: kind is ever seen in the eastern United States. This
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 13: is known as the ruby throated hummingbird because of a
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 13: splendid red throat patch worn by the mail. To speak
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 13: more exactly, the patch is red only in some lights.
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 13: You see it in one instant as black as a coal,
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 13: and the next instant it flashes like a coal on fire.
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 13: This ornament, a real jewel, with the lovely shining green
• 1:01:18
  Speaker 13: of the bird's back makes him an object of great beauty.
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 13: Every one knows him, or would do so, only that
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 13: some people confuse him with bright colored, long tongued humming
• 1:01:32
  Speaker 13: bird moths that are seen hovering mostly in the early
• 1:01:37
  Speaker 13: evening over the flowers of the garden. The ruby throat
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 13: spends the winter south of the United States. He arrives
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 13: in Florida in March, but does not reach New England
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 13: till near the middle of May. Many persons seem to
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 13: imagine that the hummer lives on the wing. They have
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 13: never seen one sitting so still, they say. But the truth
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 13: is that hummingbirds pass but a small part of the
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 13: time in the air. They are so very small, however,
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 13: that they are easily overlooked on a branch of a tree,
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 13: and the average person never notices them, except when the
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 13: hum of their wings attracts his attention. One of the
• 1:02:20
  Speaker 13: prettiest sights in the world is a hummingbird hovering before
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 13: a blossom, his wings vibrating so fast as to make
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 13: a mist about him, and his long needle of a
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 13: bill probing the flower with quick, eager thrusts. All his
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 13: movements are of lightning like rapidity, and even while your
• 1:02:42
  Speaker 13: eyes are on him, he is gone like a flash.
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 13: You cannot say whither. The hummingbird's nest is built on
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 13: a branch of a tree, saddled on it, and it
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 13: is not very hard to find. After you have once
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 13: seen one, and so have learned precisely what to generally.
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 13: It is placed well out towards the end of the limb.
• 1:03:07
  Speaker 13: I have found it on pitch pines, in the woods,
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 13: on roadside maples, shade trees, and especially in apple and
• 1:03:16
  Speaker 13: pear orchards. The motherbird is very apt to betray its
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 13: whereabouts by buzzing about the head of anyone who comes
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 13: near it. Last May, for example, I stopped in the
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 13: middle of the road to listen for the voice of
• 1:03:31
  Speaker 13: a house wren, when I caught instead the buzz and
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 13: squeak of a hummer. Turning my gaze upward, I saw
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 13: her fly to a half built nest on a maple
• 1:03:43
  Speaker 13: branch directly over my head. The nest is a tiny thing,
• 1:03:48
  Speaker 13: looking for size and shape like a cup out of
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 13: a child's toy tea set. Its walls are thick, and
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 13: on the outside are covered shingled, we may say, with
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 13: bits of gray lichen, which help to make the nest
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 13: look like nothing more than or not. Whether they are
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 13: put on for that purpose or by way of ornament,
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 13: is more than I can tell. The bird always lays
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 13: two white eggs, about as large as peas the young
• 1:04:18
  Speaker 13: one stay in the nest for three weeks more or
• 1:04:22
  Speaker 13: less till they are fully grown and fledged, and perfectly
• 1:04:26
  Speaker 13: well able to fly. I once saw one take his
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 13: first flight, and a great venture, it seemed. All these
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 13: three weeks, and for another week afterward. The mother, no
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 13: father is present, has her hands full to supply the
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 13: little things with food, which she gives them from her crop,
• 1:04:47
  Speaker 13: thrusting her long sharp bill clean down their throats in
• 1:04:52
  Speaker 13: the process, in a way to make a looker on shiver.
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 13: The only note I have ever heard from the ruby
• 1:04:59
  Speaker 13: throat is a squeak, which seems to be an expression
• 1:05:03
  Speaker 13: of nervousness or annoyance, and is uttered whenever an intruder,
• 1:05:08
  Speaker 13: a man, a cat, a strange bird comes near the
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 13: tree in which her treasures are hidden. Hummingbirds sometimes fly
• 1:05:17
  Speaker 13: into open windows and are caught. At such times they
• 1:05:21
  Speaker 13: become tame almost at once, But it is difficult, if
• 1:05:26
  Speaker 13: not impossible, to keep them alive in captivity, and it
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 13: is cruel to attempt it, except when the little creature
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 13: is injured and plainly unable to look out for itself.
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 13: A lady of my acquaintance discovered a hummingbird under her piazza.
• 1:05:44
  Speaker 13: It had flown in by accident, probably, and now was
• 1:05:47
  Speaker 13: darting to and fro in a frantic attempt to get out.
• 1:05:52
  Speaker 13: The piazza was open on three sides, to be sure,
• 1:05:56
  Speaker 13: but the frightened bird kept up against the ceiling, and
• 1:05:59
  Speaker 13: of course found itself walled in. Fearful that it would
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 13: injure itself, the lady brought a broom and tried to
• 1:06:07
  Speaker 13: force it to come down and sew discover its way out,
• 1:06:11
  Speaker 13: but it was only then more scared. Then a happy
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 13: thought came to her. She went to the garden, plucked
• 1:06:18
  Speaker 13: a few flowers, and, going back to the piazza, set
• 1:06:22
  Speaker 13: them down for the bird to see. Instantly it flew
• 1:06:26
  Speaker 13: toward them, and as it did so, it saw the
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 13: open world without and away it went. Another lady wrote
• 1:06:35
  Speaker 13: me once a very pretty story of a hummer that
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 13: came and probed an astertium, which she held in her hand.
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 13: It is wonderful to think that so tiny a bird
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 13: born in New England or in Canada in June, should
• 1:06:51
  Speaker 13: travel to Cuba and Central America in the autumn, and
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 13: the next spring find its way back again to its birthplace.
• 1:07:01
  Speaker 13: And of the hummingbird by Bradford Tory. If You had
• 1:07:10
  Speaker 13: Wings by Dallas lore Sharp Coffee Break collection, thirty seven
• 1:07:16
  Speaker 13: More Birds. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
• 1:07:22
  Speaker 13: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
• 1:07:26
  Speaker 13: please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Tom Merrit If
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 13: you had wings, If you had wings, why of course
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 13: you would wear feathers instead of clothes, and you might
• 1:07:41
  Speaker 13: be a crow. And then, of course you would steal
• 1:07:44
  Speaker 13: corn and run the risk of getting three of your
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 13: big wing feathers shot away. All winter long, and occasionally
• 1:07:53
  Speaker 13: during the spring. I have seen one of my little
• 1:07:56
  Speaker 13: band of crows flying about with a big hole in
• 1:07:59
  Speaker 13: his wing. At least three of his large wing feathers
• 1:08:03
  Speaker 13: gone shot away, probably last summer, which causes him to
• 1:08:08
  Speaker 13: fly with a list or limp, like an automobile with
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 13: a flattened tire or a ship with a shifted ballast. Now,
• 1:08:16
  Speaker 13: for nearly a year, that crow has been hobbling about
• 1:08:19
  Speaker 13: on one hole and one half wing, trusting to luck
• 1:08:23
  Speaker 13: to escape his enemies until he can get three new
• 1:08:27
  Speaker 13: feathers to take the places of those that are missing. Well,
• 1:08:31
  Speaker 13: why doesn't he get them? He asked, if you were
• 1:08:35
  Speaker 13: that crow, how would you get them? Can a crow,
• 1:08:39
  Speaker 13: by taking thought, add three new feathers to his wing?
• 1:08:43
  Speaker 13: Certainly not that crow must wait until wing feather season
• 1:08:47
  Speaker 13: comes again, just as an apple tree must wait until
• 1:08:51
  Speaker 13: apple growing season comes to hang its boughs with luscious fruit.
• 1:08:56
  Speaker 13: The crow has nothing to do with it. His wing
• 1:08:59
  Speaker 13: feathers are so applied by nature once a year after
• 1:09:02
  Speaker 13: the nesting time, And if a crow loses any of them,
• 1:09:07
  Speaker 13: even if right after the new feathers had been supplied,
• 1:09:11
  Speaker 13: that crow will have to wait until the season for
• 1:09:14
  Speaker 13: wing feathers comes around once more. If indeed he can
• 1:09:18
  Speaker 13: wait and does not fall a prey to hawk or owl,
• 1:09:22
  Speaker 13: or the heavy odds of winter. But Nature is not
• 1:09:25
  Speaker 13: going to be hurried on that account, nor cause to
• 1:09:29
  Speaker 13: change one jot or tittle from her wise and methodical course.
• 1:09:34
  Speaker 13: The Bible says that the hairs of our heads are numbered.
• 1:09:39
  Speaker 13: So are the feathers on a crow's body. Nature knows
• 1:09:43
  Speaker 13: just how many there are altogether, how many there are
• 1:09:46
  Speaker 13: of each sort, primaries, secondaries, tertials, greater coverts, middle coverts,
• 1:09:55
  Speaker 13: lesser coverts, and scapulars in the wing, how each sort
• 1:10:01
  Speaker 13: is arranged just when each sort is to be molted
• 1:10:05
  Speaker 13: and renewed. If master Crow does not take care of
• 1:10:09
  Speaker 13: his clothes, then he will have to go without until
• 1:10:12
  Speaker 13: the time for a new suit comes. For mother nature
• 1:10:16
  Speaker 13: won't patch them up as your mother patches up yours.
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 13: But now this is what I want you to notice
• 1:10:23
  Speaker 13: and think about that, just as an apple falls according
• 1:10:27
  Speaker 13: to a great law of nature, so a bird's feathers
• 1:10:31
  Speaker 13: fall according to a law of nature. The moon is
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 13: appointed for seasons, the sun knoweth his going down, and
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 13: so light and insignificant a thing as a bird's feather
• 1:10:44
  Speaker 13: not only is appointed to grow in a certain place
• 1:10:47
  Speaker 13: at a certain time, but also knoweth it's falling off.
• 1:10:52
  Speaker 13: Nothing could look more haphazard, certainly then, the way a
• 1:10:55
  Speaker 13: hen's feathers seem to drop off at molting time. The
• 1:10:59
  Speaker 13: most forlorn undone abject creature about the farm is the
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 13: half molted hen. There's one in the chicken yard now
• 1:11:08
  Speaker 13: till nearly naked that she really is ashamed of herself
• 1:11:11
  Speaker 13: and so miserably helpless that she squats in a corner
• 1:11:16
  Speaker 13: all night, unable to reach the low poles of the roost.
• 1:11:21
  Speaker 13: It is a critical experience with the hen, this molting
• 1:11:24
  Speaker 13: of her feathers, And were it not for the protection
• 1:11:28
  Speaker 13: of the yard, it would be a fatal experience. So
• 1:11:32
  Speaker 13: easily could she be captured. Nature seems to have no
• 1:11:36
  Speaker 13: hand in the business at all. If she has, then
• 1:11:40
  Speaker 13: what a mess she's making of it. But pick up
• 1:11:43
  Speaker 13: the hen, study the falling of the feathers carefully, and lo,
• 1:11:50
  Speaker 13: here is law and order. Every feather as important to
• 1:11:54
  Speaker 13: nature as a star, every quill as a planet. And
• 1:11:59
  Speaker 13: the old white hen has mightily looked after by nature
• 1:12:03
  Speaker 13: as the round sphere of the universe. Once a year,
• 1:12:07
  Speaker 13: usually after the nesting season, it seems a physical necessity
• 1:12:11
  Speaker 13: for most birds to renew their plumage. We get a
• 1:12:16
  Speaker 13: new suit some of us because our old ones wear out.
• 1:12:21
  Speaker 13: That is the most apparent cause for the new annual
• 1:12:24
  Speaker 13: suit of the birds. Yet with them, as with some
• 1:12:28
  Speaker 13: of us, the feathers go out of fashion, and then
• 1:12:31
  Speaker 13: the change of feathers is a mere matter of style.
• 1:12:34
  Speaker 13: It seems, for severe and methodical as mother Nature must be.
• 1:12:40
  Speaker 13: And what mother, or teacher or ruler, who has great
• 1:12:44
  Speaker 13: things to do and a multitude of little things to
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 13: attend to, must not be severe and methodical, severe, I say,
• 1:12:54
  Speaker 13: as mother Nature must be in looking after her children's clothes,
• 1:12:58
  Speaker 13: she has for all that a real motherly heart, it seems.
• 1:13:03
  Speaker 13: For see how she looks after their wedding garments, giving
• 1:13:07
  Speaker 13: to most of the birds a new suit, gay and gorgeous,
• 1:13:12
  Speaker 13: especially to the bridegrooms, as if fine feathers did make
• 1:13:17
  Speaker 13: a fine bird, or does she do all of this
• 1:13:20
  Speaker 13: to meet the fancy of the bride, as the scientists
• 1:13:24
  Speaker 13: tell us, Whether so or not, it is a fact
• 1:13:28
  Speaker 13: that among the birds it is the bridegroom who is
• 1:13:32
  Speaker 13: adorned for his wife, and sometimes the fine feathers come
• 1:13:36
  Speaker 13: by a special molt, an extra suit for him. Take Bobblink,
• 1:13:43
  Speaker 13: for instance, he has two complete molts a year, two
• 1:13:47
  Speaker 13: new suits, one of them his wedding suit. Now, as
• 1:13:51
  Speaker 13: I write, I hear him singing over the meadow, a
• 1:13:54
  Speaker 13: jet black, white and cream buff lover, most strikingly dorned.
• 1:14:01
  Speaker 13: His wife down in the grass looks as little like
• 1:14:05
  Speaker 13: him as a sparrow looks like a blackbird. For after
• 1:14:09
  Speaker 13: the breeding season he will molt again, changing color so
• 1:14:13
  Speaker 13: completely that he and his wife and children will all
• 1:14:16
  Speaker 13: look alike, all like sparrows, and will even lose their names.
• 1:14:23
  Speaker 13: Flying south now under the name of reed birds, Bobolink
• 1:14:29
  Speaker 13: passes the winter in Brazil, and in the spring, just
• 1:14:33
  Speaker 13: before the long northward journey begins, he lays aside his
• 1:14:37
  Speaker 13: fall traveling clothes and puts on his gay wedding garments
• 1:14:41
  Speaker 13: and starts north for his bride. But you would hardly
• 1:14:46
  Speaker 13: know he was dressed to look at him, for strangely enough,
• 1:14:51
  Speaker 13: he is not black and white, but still colored like
• 1:14:55
  Speaker 13: a sparrow as he was in the fall. Apparently he
• 1:15:00
  Speaker 13: is look at him more closely, however, and you will
• 1:15:04
  Speaker 13: find that the brownish yellow color is all caused by
• 1:15:07
  Speaker 13: a veil of fine fringes hanging from the edges of
• 1:15:11
  Speaker 13: the feathers. The bridegroom wearing the wedding veil. Yes, underneath
• 1:15:17
  Speaker 13: is the black and white and cream buff soup. He
• 1:15:21
  Speaker 13: starts northward, and by the time he reaches Massachusetts, the
• 1:15:25
  Speaker 13: fringe veil is worn off and the black and white
• 1:15:29
  Speaker 13: Bobblink appears. Specimens taken after their arrival here still show
• 1:15:35
  Speaker 13: traces of the brownish yellow veil. Many birds do not
• 1:15:39
  Speaker 13: have this early spring molt at all, and with most
• 1:15:43
  Speaker 13: of those that do, the great feather wings are not
• 1:15:46
  Speaker 13: then renewed, as are bobblinks, but only after the annual molt,
• 1:15:52
  Speaker 13: after the nesting is done. The great feathers of the
• 1:15:55
  Speaker 13: wings are, as you know, the most important feathers a
• 1:15:59
  Speaker 13: bird has, and the shedding of them is so serious
• 1:16:02
  Speaker 13: a matter that nature has come to make the change
• 1:16:04
  Speaker 13: according to the habits and needs of the birds. With
• 1:16:08
  Speaker 13: most birds, the body feathers begin to go first, then
• 1:16:13
  Speaker 13: the wing feathers, and last those of the tail. But
• 1:16:17
  Speaker 13: the shedding of the wing feathers is a very slow
• 1:16:20
  Speaker 13: and carefully regulated process. In the wild geese and other
• 1:16:25
  Speaker 13: water birds, the wing feathers drop out with the feathers
• 1:16:28
  Speaker 13: of the body and go so nearly together that the
• 1:16:31
  Speaker 13: birds really cannot fly on land. You could catch the
• 1:16:35
  Speaker 13: birds with your hands, but they keep near or on
• 1:16:38
  Speaker 13: the water, and thus escape. Though times have been when
• 1:16:42
  Speaker 13: it was necessary to protect them at this season by
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 13: special laws, for bands of men would go into their
• 1:16:49
  Speaker 13: nesting marshes and kill them with clubs by hundreds. The
• 1:16:53
  Speaker 13: shedding of the feathers brings many risks to the birds,
• 1:16:57
  Speaker 13: but nature leaves none of her children utterly helpless. The
• 1:17:01
  Speaker 13: geese at this time cannot fly because their feathers are gone,
• 1:17:05
  Speaker 13: but they can swim and so get away from most
• 1:17:08
  Speaker 13: of their natural enemies. On the other hand, the hawks
• 1:17:11
  Speaker 13: that hunt by wing and must have wings always in
• 1:17:15
  Speaker 13: good feather or else perish, lose their feathers so slowly
• 1:17:20
  Speaker 13: that they never feel their loss. It takes a hawk
• 1:17:24
  Speaker 13: nearly a year to get a complete change of wing feathers,
• 1:17:27
  Speaker 13: one or two dropping out from each wing at a
• 1:17:30
  Speaker 13: time at long intervals apart. Then here is the gosling
• 1:17:35
  Speaker 13: that goes six weeks in down before it gets its
• 1:17:39
  Speaker 13: first feathers, which it sheds within a few weeks in
• 1:17:42
  Speaker 13: the fall. Whereas the young quail is born with quills
• 1:17:46
  Speaker 13: so far grown that it is able to fly almost
• 1:17:50
  Speaker 13: as soon as it is hatched. These are real mature feathers.
• 1:17:55
  Speaker 13: But the bird is young and soon outgrows these first
• 1:17:58
  Speaker 13: flight feathers. They are quickly lost and new ones come.
• 1:18:03
  Speaker 13: This goes on till fall, several molts occurring the first
• 1:18:07
  Speaker 13: summer to meet the increasing weight of the little quail's
• 1:18:11
  Speaker 13: growing body. I said that nature was severe and methodical,
• 1:18:16
  Speaker 13: and so she is where she needs to be. So
• 1:18:20
  Speaker 13: severe that you are glad, perhaps that you are not
• 1:18:23
  Speaker 13: a crow, but nature, Like every wise, mother is severe
• 1:18:28
  Speaker 13: only where she needs to be. A crow's wing feathers
• 1:18:32
  Speaker 13: are vastly important to him, let him take care of them,
• 1:18:36
  Speaker 13: for they are the best feathers made, and are put
• 1:18:39
  Speaker 13: in to stay a year. But a crow's tail feathers
• 1:18:43
  Speaker 13: are not so vastly important to him. He could go
• 1:18:46
  Speaker 13: on if, like the rabbit in the old song, he
• 1:18:50
  Speaker 13: had no tail at all. In most birds, the tail
• 1:18:55
  Speaker 13: is a kind of balance or steering gear, and not
• 1:18:59
  Speaker 13: of equal importance with the wings. Nature consequently seems to
• 1:19:04
  Speaker 13: have attached less importance to the feathers of the tail.
• 1:19:08
  Speaker 13: They are not so firmly set, nor are they of
• 1:19:11
  Speaker 13: the same quality or kind. For unlike the wing feathers,
• 1:19:16
  Speaker 13: if a tail feather is lost through accident, it is
• 1:19:20
  Speaker 13: made good no matter when. How do you explain that?
• 1:19:24
  Speaker 13: Do you think? I believe that old story of the
• 1:19:26
  Speaker 13: birds roosting with their tails out, so that because of
• 1:19:31
  Speaker 13: generations of lost tails, those feathers now grow expecting to
• 1:19:36
  Speaker 13: be plucked by some enemy, and therefore have only a
• 1:19:40
  Speaker 13: temporary hold. The normal natural way, of course, is to
• 1:19:44
  Speaker 13: replace a lost feather with a new one as soon
• 1:19:48
  Speaker 13: as possible, but in order to give extra strength to
• 1:19:52
  Speaker 13: the wing feathers, nature has found it necessary to check
• 1:19:57
  Speaker 13: their frequent change, and so com plead is the check
• 1:20:01
  Speaker 13: that the annual molt is required to replace a single one.
• 1:20:06
  Speaker 13: The Japanese have discovered the secret of this check and
• 1:20:09
  Speaker 13: are able by it to keep certain feathers in the
• 1:20:11
  Speaker 13: tails of their cocks growing until they reached the enormous
• 1:20:16
  Speaker 13: length of ten to twelve feet. My crow, it seems,
• 1:20:21
  Speaker 13: lost his three feathers last summer just after his annual molt.
• 1:20:26
  Speaker 13: The three broken shafts he carries still in his wing
• 1:20:29
  Speaker 13: and must continue to carry as the stars must continue
• 1:20:33
  Speaker 13: their courses until those three feathers have rounded out their
• 1:20:38
  Speaker 13: cycle to the annual molt. The universe of stars and
• 1:20:43
  Speaker 13: feathers is a universe of law, of order, and of reason,
• 1:20:50
  Speaker 13: and of if you had feathers.
• 1:20:58
  Speaker 4: Kuratko the Terrible by Parker Hoisted Fillmore Coffee Break Collection
• 1:21:05
  Speaker 4: thirty seven more Birds. This is a LibriVox recording. All
• 1:21:09
  Speaker 4: LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information
• 1:21:13
  Speaker 4: ort to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Read by Beeswaxcandle.
• 1:21:19
  Speaker 4: Kuratko the terrible. There once was an old couple who
• 1:21:24
  Speaker 4: had no children. If only we had a chick or
• 1:21:27
  Speaker 4: a child of our own, grandmother used to say, think
• 1:21:30
  Speaker 4: how we could pet it and take care of it.
• 1:21:34
  Speaker 4: Grandfather always answered, not at all. We're very well off
• 1:21:38
  Speaker 4: as we are. At last, the old black hen in
• 1:21:42
  Speaker 4: the barnyard hatched out a chick. Grandmother was delighted, see grandpa,
• 1:21:47
  Speaker 4: She said, now we have a chick of our own.
• 1:21:51
  Speaker 4: But grandfather shook his head doubtfully. I don't like the
• 1:21:54
  Speaker 4: looks of that chick. There's something strange about it. But
• 1:21:58
  Speaker 4: grandmother wouldn't let to her. The chicks seemed everything it
• 1:22:03
  Speaker 4: should be. She called it Koratko, and petted it and
• 1:22:07
  Speaker 4: pampered it as though it were an only child. Karutko
• 1:22:11
  Speaker 4: grew apace, and soon he developed an awful appetite cocanoodle day.
• 1:22:17
  Speaker 4: He shouted at all hours of the day, Oh, I'm hungry,
• 1:22:20
  Speaker 4: give me something to eat. You mustn't feed that chick
• 1:22:24
  Speaker 4: so much. Grandfather grumbled, he's eating us out of house
• 1:22:28
  Speaker 4: and home. But grandmother wouldn't listen. She fed Karutko and
• 1:22:34
  Speaker 4: fed him till sure enough, there came a day when
• 1:22:37
  Speaker 4: there was nothing left for herself, and the old man
• 1:22:41
  Speaker 4: that was a nice how d'ye do? Grandmother sat working
• 1:22:46
  Speaker 4: at her spinning wheel, trying to forget that she was hungry,
• 1:22:49
  Speaker 4: and grandfather sat on his stool nearby, too cross to
• 1:22:52
  Speaker 4: speak to her. And then, quite as though nothing were
• 1:22:56
  Speaker 4: the matter, Karutko strutted into the room, flapped his wings
• 1:23:00
  Speaker 4: and crowed, Goka doodle doo, I'm hungry. Give me something
• 1:23:05
  Speaker 4: to eat, not another blessed thing. Will I ever feed you,
• 1:23:09
  Speaker 4: you greedy chick? Grandfather shouted, gocka doodle do. Koratko answered,
• 1:23:16
  Speaker 4: then I'll just eat you. With that, he made one
• 1:23:20
  Speaker 4: peck at grandfather and swallowed them down stall and all. Oh, Karatko.
• 1:23:26
  Speaker 4: Grandmother cried, where's grandpa got a doodle do? Corrupt comb remarked,
• 1:23:32
  Speaker 4: I'm still hungry. I think I'll eat you, And with
• 1:23:37
  Speaker 4: that he made one peck at grandmother and swallowed her down,
• 1:23:41
  Speaker 4: spinning wheel and all. Then that terrible chick went strutting
• 1:23:46
  Speaker 4: down the road, crowing merrily. He met a washerwoman at
• 1:23:50
  Speaker 4: work over her wash tub. Good gracious, karat Co, The
• 1:23:55
  Speaker 4: woman cried, what a big crop you've got, gock a
• 1:23:58
  Speaker 4: doodle do, correct, said, I should think my crop was
• 1:24:02
  Speaker 4: big for ever, and I just eaten grandmother's spinning wheel
• 1:24:05
  Speaker 4: and all, and grandfather stool and all that I'm still hungry,
• 1:24:09
  Speaker 4: so now I'm going to eat you. Before the poor
• 1:24:13
  Speaker 4: woman knew what was happening, Karatko made one peck at
• 1:24:17
  Speaker 4: her and swallowed her down, washed tub and all. Then
• 1:24:21
  Speaker 4: he strutted on down the road, crowing merrily. Presently he
• 1:24:26
  Speaker 4: came to a company of soldiers, Good gracious, Kuratko. The
• 1:24:30
  Speaker 4: soldiers cried, what a big crop you've got? Carcadoed or doo.
• 1:24:35
  Speaker 4: Kuratko replied, I should think my crop was big for ever,
• 1:24:39
  Speaker 4: and I just eaten a washerwoman tub and all, grandmother
• 1:24:42
  Speaker 4: spinning wheel and all, and grandfather stool and all. But
• 1:24:46
  Speaker 4: I'm still hungry, so now I'm going to eat you.
• 1:24:51
  Speaker 4: Before the soldiers knew what was happening, Kuratko pecked at
• 1:24:55
  Speaker 4: them and swallowed them down, bayonets and all, one after another,
• 1:24:59
  Speaker 4: just like so many grains of wheat. Then that terrible
• 1:25:03
  Speaker 4: chick went on strutting down the road, crowing merrily. Soon
• 1:25:08
  Speaker 4: he met Kotsaw the cat. Kotsaw the cat blinked his
• 1:25:12
  Speaker 4: eyes and worked his whiskers in surprise. Gerd, gracious, Karatko,
• 1:25:18
  Speaker 4: what a big crop you've got? Got a doo dooo doo,
• 1:25:22
  Speaker 4: Kuratko said, I should think my crop was big for
• 1:25:26
  Speaker 4: evern't I just eaten a company of sald as bayonets
• 1:25:28
  Speaker 4: at all, a washerwoman, tub and all, grandmother spinning wheel
• 1:25:32
  Speaker 4: and all, and grandfather stole in all. But I'm still hungry,
• 1:25:37
  Speaker 4: so now I'm going to eat you. Before Kotsaw the
• 1:25:41
  Speaker 4: cat knew what was happening, Kuratko made one peck at
• 1:25:45
  Speaker 4: him and swallowed him down. But Kotsaw the cat was
• 1:25:49
  Speaker 4: not a person to submit tamely to such an indignity.
• 1:25:53
  Speaker 4: The moment he found himself inside Karatko, he unsheathed his
• 1:25:57
  Speaker 4: claws and began to scratch and to tear. And he
• 1:26:00
  Speaker 4: worked until he had tore a great hole in Karatko's crop,
• 1:26:04
  Speaker 4: And that Karatko, the terrible chick, when he tried again
• 1:26:07
  Speaker 4: to crow, toppled over dead. Then Kotsaw the cat jumped
• 1:26:12
  Speaker 4: out of Karatko's crop. After him, the company of soldiers
• 1:26:16
  Speaker 4: marched out, and after them the washerwoman with her tub,
• 1:26:19
  Speaker 4: grandmother with her spinning wheel, and grandfather with his stool,
• 1:26:23
  Speaker 4: and they all went about their business. Kotsaw the cat
• 1:26:27
  Speaker 4: followed grandmother and grandfather home and begged them to give
• 1:26:31
  Speaker 4: him Karatko for his dinner. You may have him for
• 1:26:34
  Speaker 4: all of me, grandfather said, But ask grandmother. He was
• 1:26:38
  Speaker 4: her little pet, not mine. Indeed, you may have him,
• 1:26:42
  Speaker 4: grandmother said. I see now, Grandfather was right. Karatko was
• 1:26:46
  Speaker 4: certainly an ungrateful chick, and I never want to hear
• 1:26:48
  Speaker 4: his name again. So Kotsaw the cat had a wonderful dinner,
• 1:26:53
  Speaker 4: and to this day, when he remembers it, he licks
• 1:26:55
  Speaker 4: his chops and combs his whiskers. End of Karatka the
• 1:27:01
  Speaker 4: Terrible by Paca Hoisted Filmore.
• 1:27:10
  Speaker 12: Birds Migrating at Midnight by Walt Whitman Coffee Break Collection,
• 1:27:14
  Speaker 12: thirty seven more Birds. This is a LibriVox recording. All
• 1:27:19
  Speaker 12: LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information
• 1:27:22
  Speaker 12: order to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by
• 1:27:26
  Speaker 12: Chris Pyle, Birds Migrating at Midnight? Did you ever chance
• 1:27:32
  Speaker 12: to hear the midnight flight of birds passing through the
• 1:27:35
  Speaker 12: air and darkness overhead? And countless armies changing their earlier
• 1:27:39
  Speaker 12: or late summer habitat. It is something not to be forgotten.
• 1:27:43
  Speaker 12: A friend called me up just after twelve last night
• 1:27:46
  Speaker 12: to mark the peculiar noise of unusually immense flocks migrating
• 1:27:49
  Speaker 12: north rather late this year, in the silence, shadow and
• 1:27:53
  Speaker 12: delicious odor of the hour, the natural perfume belonging to
• 1:27:57
  Speaker 12: the night alone, I thought it rare music. You could
• 1:28:01
  Speaker 12: hear the characteristic motion once or twice, the rush of
• 1:28:04
  Speaker 12: mighty wings, but often a velvety rustle, long drawn out,
• 1:28:09
  Speaker 12: sometimes quite near, with continual calls and chirps, and some
• 1:28:13
  Speaker 12: song notes. It all lasts here from twelve till after three.
• 1:28:18
  Speaker 12: Once in a while the species was plainly distinguishable. I
• 1:28:22
  Speaker 12: can make out the babbelink, tanager, Wilson's thrush, white crowned sparrow,
• 1:28:27
  Speaker 12: and occasionally from high in the air came the notes
• 1:28:30
  Speaker 12: of the plover and of birds migrating at midnight by
• 1:28:35
  Speaker 12: Walt Whitman.
• 1:28:41
  Speaker 7: The Passage Birds by Walter Richard Cassel's Coffee Break Collection
• 1:28:46
  Speaker 7: thirty seven wore Birds recording by Larry Wilson, Far far
• 1:28:53
  Speaker 7: away over land and sea. When winter comes with his cold,
• 1:28:58
  Speaker 7: cold breath and chills the flowers to the sleep of death,
• 1:29:02
  Speaker 7: far far away over land and sea. Like a band
• 1:29:06
  Speaker 7: of spirits, the passage birds flee round the old gray
• 1:29:10
  Speaker 7: spire in the evening calm. No more, they circle in
• 1:29:14
  Speaker 7: sportive glee, hearing the hum of the vesper salm and
• 1:29:18
  Speaker 7: the swell of the organ so far below, but far
• 1:29:22
  Speaker 7: far away over land and sea. In the still mid air,
• 1:29:26
  Speaker 7: the swift passage birds go over the earth that is
• 1:29:30
  Speaker 7: scarcely seen through the curtain of vapor that waves between
• 1:29:34
  Speaker 7: or city in hamlet, or hill and plain, or forest
• 1:29:38
  Speaker 7: green and or mountain. Hoar, they flit like shadows and
• 1:29:42
  Speaker 7: past the shore, and wing their way o'er the pathless main.
• 1:29:47
  Speaker 7: There is no rest for the weary wing, no quivering
• 1:29:51
  Speaker 7: bough where the feet can cling. To the north, to
• 1:29:54
  Speaker 7: the south, to the east, to the west. The ocean
• 1:29:57
  Speaker 7: lies with its heaving breast within a Without it, there
• 1:30:01
  Speaker 7: is no rest. The tempest gathers beneath them. Far the
• 1:30:05
  Speaker 7: wind God rides on his battle car and the roar
• 1:30:09
  Speaker 7: of the thunder the lightning flash breaks on the waves
• 1:30:13
  Speaker 7: with a sullen crash, But silence reigns where the passage
• 1:30:17
  Speaker 7: birds fly, and o'er them stretches the clear blue sky,
• 1:30:22
  Speaker 7: the day wears out, and the starry night hushes the
• 1:30:25
  Speaker 7: world to sleep, to sleep, the dew shower falls in
• 1:30:29
  Speaker 7: the still moonlight, and none wake now save those who weep.
• 1:30:34
  Speaker 7: But rustling on through the starry night like a band
• 1:30:37
  Speaker 7: of spirits, the passage birds flee cleave in the darkness
• 1:30:41
  Speaker 7: above the sea, swift and straight as an arrow's flight.
• 1:30:45
  Speaker 7: Is the wind their guide through the trackless sky, for
• 1:30:48
  Speaker 7: here there is no landmark to travel by. The first
• 1:30:52
  Speaker 7: faint streak of the morning glows like the feeble blush
• 1:30:55
  Speaker 7: on the budding rose, and in long gray lines, the
• 1:30:59
  Speaker 7: clouds divine and march away with retreating night, whilst the
• 1:31:04
  Speaker 7: bright gleams of victorious light followed them goldenly, far and wide.
• 1:31:09
  Speaker 7: And when the mists have all passed away left the
• 1:31:12
  Speaker 7: heavens serene and clear as an eye that has never
• 1:31:15
  Speaker 7: shed a tear, And the universe basts in the smile
• 1:31:19
  Speaker 7: of day, dreamy and still, and the sleepy breeze lazily
• 1:31:23
  Speaker 7: moves o'er the glassy seas. The passage birds flit o'er
• 1:31:26
  Speaker 7: the disk of noon, like shadows across a mirror's face.
• 1:31:31
  Speaker 7: For now their journey wanes apace and the realms of
• 1:31:34
  Speaker 7: summer they'll enter soon. The land looms far through the
• 1:31:38
  Speaker 7: waters blue, the land of promise, the land of rest,
• 1:31:43
  Speaker 7: through cloud and storm. They have traveled true and joy
• 1:31:46
  Speaker 7: thrills now in each throbbing breast. Down they sink with
• 1:31:50
  Speaker 7: a wheeling flight, whilst the song of birds come floating high,
• 1:31:55
  Speaker 7: and they pass the lark in the sunny sky. But down,
• 1:31:59
  Speaker 7: without pausing, and down they fly. Their travel is over,
• 1:32:03
  Speaker 7: Their summer shines bright end of the Passage Birds by
• 1:32:09
  Speaker 7: Walter Richard Cassells. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
• 1:32:20
  Speaker 11: Ther be throated hummingbird of Florence, A Miriam Coffee Break collection,
• 1:32:25
  Speaker 11: thirty seven more birds. This is a LibriVox recording. While
• 1:32:29
  Speaker 11: LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information
• 1:32:33
  Speaker 11: and volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Did you ever
• 1:32:37
  Speaker 11: see a hummingbird sitting on the bare branch of a
• 1:32:40
  Speaker 11: towering tree? Until you have, you'll scarcely appreciate what a
• 1:32:45
  Speaker 11: wee mighte of a bird it is. Indeed, I find
• 1:32:49
  Speaker 11: it hard to think of it as a bird at all.
• 1:32:51
  Speaker 11: It seems more like a fairy, a glittering fragment of
• 1:32:55
  Speaker 11: a rainbow, as Audubon calls it, or, as someone else
• 1:32:59
  Speaker 11: has said, like a gem or blossom on pinions, something
• 1:33:03
  Speaker 11: too dainty and airy to have even three inches of
• 1:33:07
  Speaker 11: actual length. It seems like the winged spirit of color
• 1:33:12
  Speaker 11: as it comes humming through the air to hover on
• 1:33:14
  Speaker 11: the flowers on the piazza, its body like green barrel,
• 1:33:19
  Speaker 11: and its throat glancing fire like puck. It might boast
• 1:33:24
  Speaker 11: that it could put a girdle round about the earth
• 1:33:27
  Speaker 11: in forty minutes. For while we are wondering at its friendliness,
• 1:33:31
  Speaker 11: it darts off and is gone, like a flash of
• 1:33:34
  Speaker 11: a diamond. In this vicinity. The garden of Missus Bragg
• 1:33:37
  Speaker 11: seems to be one of the favorite haunts of the
• 1:33:39
  Speaker 11: humming birds, and she has kindly given me some notes
• 1:33:43
  Speaker 11: on her experiences with them. She says, in confinement, they
• 1:33:48
  Speaker 11: do not appear to pine for freedom, beating themselves against
• 1:33:52
  Speaker 11: the wires like other birds, but seem contented and at home.
• 1:33:56
  Speaker 11: From the first I kept a pair caged ale, feeding
• 1:34:01
  Speaker 11: them with water sweetened with honey or sugar. When I
• 1:34:04
  Speaker 11: put a cup of their food in the cage, they
• 1:34:06
  Speaker 11: would alight on my fingers, and with their long flexible tongue,
• 1:34:10
  Speaker 11: suck off the honey I had accidentally spilled in disposition.
• 1:34:15
  Speaker 11: They are too pugnacious to live as harmoniously as one
• 1:34:18
  Speaker 11: would expect or desire, sometimes pursuing one another around the
• 1:34:23
  Speaker 11: cage with great ferocity and such inconceivable rapidity that their
• 1:34:28
  Speaker 11: tiny forms seemed resolved into absolute sound. I frequently permitted
• 1:34:34
  Speaker 11: them to fly about the room for exercise, but they
• 1:34:37
  Speaker 11: never returned voluntarily to their cage. When caught, they did
• 1:34:41
  Speaker 11: not resist and struggle, but saw the door in their
• 1:34:44
  Speaker 11: prison house closed upon them without a complaint. They never
• 1:34:48
  Speaker 11: had a sick or unhappy day the whole summer, but
• 1:34:52
  Speaker 11: when the cold days of autumn approached, they begin to droop.
• 1:34:56
  Speaker 11: Although their cage was hung in the warmest place in
• 1:34:59
  Speaker 11: the room for three days, they hung suspended to their
• 1:35:02
  Speaker 11: perches by their feet and did not relax the hold
• 1:35:06
  Speaker 11: while life lasted. I have found them clinging to vines
• 1:35:10
  Speaker 11: and shrubbery in that manner on cold mornings after a frost,
• 1:35:15
  Speaker 11: But though seemingly lifeless, the warmth of the hand would
• 1:35:18
  Speaker 11: revive them some years. If you are unaccountably tardy about migrating,
• 1:35:24
  Speaker 11: and other times they make the mistake of coming too
• 1:35:27
  Speaker 11: early in spring. Undoubtedly most of them migrate in August.
• 1:35:32
  Speaker 11: But with them, as in every other community, there are
• 1:35:35
  Speaker 11: always some laggards as well as bold pioneers. I once
• 1:35:40
  Speaker 11: found one in my house on a very cold morning
• 1:35:42
  Speaker 11: and fall. He was probably on some house plants that
• 1:35:46
  Speaker 11: had been brought in from the frost to the previous night,
• 1:35:49
  Speaker 11: and was too benumbed with cold to know it. I
• 1:35:52
  Speaker 11: caught and fed him, as it would have been barbarious
• 1:35:55
  Speaker 11: to turn him out into the cold. He soon became
• 1:35:58
  Speaker 11: a great pet, and as tame as a kitten. One day,
• 1:36:02
  Speaker 11: two gentlemen entered the room where his cage was hanging,
• 1:36:05
  Speaker 11: both wearing tall hats. He fell immediately to the bottom
• 1:36:09
  Speaker 11: of his cage, with wings outspread, eyes closed, body rigid,
• 1:36:14
  Speaker 11: and with every appearance of death. We took him in
• 1:36:17
  Speaker 11: her hands and warmed him by the fire. He remained motionless.
• 1:36:22
  Speaker 11: We decided that those hats had frightened him to death.
• 1:36:25
  Speaker 11: With a heavy heart, I laid him aside, intending to
• 1:36:28
  Speaker 11: embalm him at my leisure. A few minutes later, my
• 1:36:32
  Speaker 11: friends left the house. Directly after the door closed, I
• 1:36:35
  Speaker 11: heard humming and buzzing in the room. Looking up, there
• 1:36:38
  Speaker 11: was a bird circling around the room in the most
• 1:36:41
  Speaker 11: hilarious manner. Who can tell whether his apparent death was
• 1:36:45
  Speaker 11: not counterfeited. If it was not feigned, why did he
• 1:36:49
  Speaker 11: revive the moment the door was closed and I was alone.
• 1:36:53
  Speaker 11: If you capture one out of doors and hold him
• 1:36:55
  Speaker 11: in your hand, he will practice the same ruse, stretching
• 1:36:59
  Speaker 11: him dead, self out, stiff and motionless that on off
• 1:37:04
  Speaker 11: your guard, you stoop to examine your prize when low,
• 1:37:07
  Speaker 11: your hand is empty, and your bird is nearly out
• 1:37:10
  Speaker 11: of sight before you have time to recover from the astonishment.
• 1:37:14
  Speaker 11: Towards the humble bee, he manifests the utmost ill will,
• 1:37:19
  Speaker 11: veritable dog in the manger's spirit, driving him away from
• 1:37:23
  Speaker 11: one flower after another, till the bee, in pure desperation,
• 1:37:28
  Speaker 11: turns on his persecutor. There's surely sweet enough for all,
• 1:37:32
  Speaker 11: and he knows it. Still, it may be possible that
• 1:37:36
  Speaker 11: his animosity is aroused more by a personal aversion he
• 1:37:41
  Speaker 11: has to the bee than by more selfish considerations. We
• 1:37:45
  Speaker 11: give him the benefit of the doubt. He is fond
• 1:37:47
  Speaker 11: of silence, and will often sit half an hour together
• 1:37:51
  Speaker 11: on a dead twig wrapped in the profoundest meditation. Doubtless
• 1:37:56
  Speaker 11: incessant droning of the bees disturbs his reflections and irritates
• 1:38:01
  Speaker 11: him beyond endurance. I once had in my garden a
• 1:38:04
  Speaker 11: ribbon bed of white and rose colored lemon. Its unsullied
• 1:38:09
  Speaker 11: beauty was like that of a dream of poetry. Every
• 1:38:12
  Speaker 11: flower was perfect, with an unsurpassed and delicate loveliness. One
• 1:38:17
  Speaker 11: sunny morning I observed an unusual number of humming birds
• 1:38:20
  Speaker 11: and bees working among the blossoms. Presently there was a commotion.
• 1:38:26
  Speaker 11: The hummingbirds had united to drive the bees away, darting
• 1:38:29
  Speaker 11: at them furiously, uttering at the same time their spiteful
• 1:38:33
  Speaker 11: piping cries. The bees, intent on seeking their breakfast, at
• 1:38:38
  Speaker 11: first gave up good naturedly and flew to some other flower,
• 1:38:42
  Speaker 11: only to be driven from that a moment later at length,
• 1:38:46
  Speaker 11: forbearance ceased to be a virtue, and the temper of
• 1:38:49
  Speaker 11: the apathetic bee was aroused. A fierce battle ensued that
• 1:38:54
  Speaker 11: pursued one another round and around that flower bed, over
• 1:38:58
  Speaker 11: and under and through the flowers. Sometimes the birds and
• 1:39:01
  Speaker 11: then the bees, having the vantage their rage, knew no bounds,
• 1:39:05
  Speaker 11: and they fought till sheer exhaustion compelled them to desist.
• 1:39:09
  Speaker 11: Every flower was torn to shreds, not a whole blossom remaining.
• 1:39:14
  Speaker 11: The nest of the humming birds is as delicate as
• 1:39:16
  Speaker 11: the little creature itself. It is built in the form
• 1:39:20
  Speaker 11: of a small cup, saddled on a horizontal limb, and
• 1:39:24
  Speaker 11: covered on the outside with likings which make it look
• 1:39:28
  Speaker 11: like a knob on the branch. The child who discovers
• 1:39:31
  Speaker 11: a hummingbird's nest is credited with sharp eyes hind of
• 1:39:37
  Speaker 11: ruby throated hummingbird by Florence A. Marian.
• 1:39:47
  Speaker 3: The Bird Market by Anton Tchekhov Coffee Break collection, thirty
• 1:39:52
  Speaker 3: seven more birds. This is a livery Box recording. All
• 1:39:56
  Speaker 3: livery Box recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 1:40:00
  Speaker 3: in formation or to volunteer, please visit liverybox dot org.
• 1:40:04
  Speaker 3: Recording by public domain scholar. The Bird Market by Anton Chekhov.
• 1:40:11
  Speaker 3: There's a small square near the monastery of the Holy Bird,
• 1:40:14
  Speaker 3: which is called Trubnoy or simply Triboi. There's a market
• 1:40:17
  Speaker 3: there on Sundays. Hundreds of sheepskins, white coats, fur caps,
• 1:40:22
  Speaker 3: and chimney pot hats swarm there like crabs in the sea.
• 1:40:26
  Speaker 3: There's a sound of the twitter of birds and all
• 1:40:28
  Speaker 3: sorts of keys, recalling the spring. If the sun is
• 1:40:31
  Speaker 3: shining and there are no clouds in the sky, the
• 1:40:33
  Speaker 3: singing of the birds and the smell of hay make
• 1:40:35
  Speaker 3: a more vivid impression. And this reminder of springs, that's
• 1:40:38
  Speaker 3: one thinking, and carries one's fancy far far away. Along
• 1:40:43
  Speaker 3: one side of the square there stands a string of wagons.
• 1:40:45
  Speaker 3: The wagons are loaded not with hay, not with cabbages,
• 1:40:48
  Speaker 3: no with beans, but with goldfinches, sishkins, barks, blackbirds, and thrushes,
• 1:40:54
  Speaker 3: blue tits, bullfinches. All of them were hopping about in
• 1:40:57
  Speaker 3: rough homemade cages, twittering and looking with envy at the
• 1:41:00
  Speaker 3: free sparrows. The goldfinches cause five copeks. The suskins are
• 1:41:04
  Speaker 3: rather more expensive, while the value that of the birds
• 1:41:07
  Speaker 3: is quite in determinate. How much is a lark? The
• 1:41:10
  Speaker 3: southern himself does not know the valuable lark. He scratches
• 1:41:13
  Speaker 3: his head and asks whever comes into it a rouble
• 1:41:16
  Speaker 3: or three copecks according to the purchaser. There are expensive
• 1:41:20
  Speaker 3: birds too. Faded old blackbird, with most of its feathers
• 1:41:23
  Speaker 3: plucked out of his tail, sits on the dirty perch.
• 1:41:26
  Speaker 3: He's dignified, grave and motionless. As a retired general. He
• 1:41:31
  Speaker 3: has weighd this claw and resignation to his captivity long ago,
• 1:41:34
  Speaker 3: and looks at the blue sky with indifference. Probably owing
• 1:41:37
  Speaker 3: to this indifference, he's considered a sagacious bird us not
• 1:41:41
  Speaker 3: to be bought for less than forty copeks. Schoolboys, workmen,
• 1:41:45
  Speaker 3: young men established great coats, and bird fanciers, and incredibly
• 1:41:49
  Speaker 3: shabby caps and ragged trousers that are turned up at
• 1:41:52
  Speaker 3: the ankles and look as though they've been gnawed by mice.
• 1:41:55
  Speaker 14: Crowd around the birds splashing through the mud.
• 1:41:58
  Speaker 3: The young people and the workmen sold hands for cocks,
• 1:42:01
  Speaker 3: young birds for old ones. They know very little about birds,
• 1:42:06
  Speaker 3: But there is no deceiving the bird. Fancier he sees
• 1:42:08
  Speaker 3: and understands he's a bird from a distance. There's no
• 1:42:11
  Speaker 3: relying on that bird, a fancier will say. Looking into
• 1:42:14
  Speaker 3: the shishkin's beak and counting the feathers on its tail,
• 1:42:17
  Speaker 3: he sings, Now, it's true, But what of that? I
• 1:42:20
  Speaker 3: sing in company too, No, my boy, shout sing to
• 1:42:23
  Speaker 3: me without company, sing in solitude. If you can you
• 1:42:27
  Speaker 3: give me that one yonder, that sits and hold its tongue.
• 1:42:29
  Speaker 3: Give me the quiet one that one says nothing, so
• 1:42:32
  Speaker 3: he thinks the more. Among the wagons of birds, there
• 1:42:35
  Speaker 3: is some full of other live creatures. Here you see hares, rabbits, hedgehogs,
• 1:42:40
  Speaker 3: guinea pigs, polcats. The hair sits sorrowfully nibbling the straw.
• 1:42:45
  Speaker 3: The guinea pigs shiver with cold, while the hedgehogs look
• 1:42:48
  Speaker 3: out with curiosity from under their prickles at the public.
• 1:42:52
  Speaker 3: I have read somewhere, says a post office official, and
• 1:42:54
  Speaker 3: the faded overcoat, looking lovingly at the hair and addressing
• 1:42:57
  Speaker 3: no one in particular. I have read that some learned
• 1:43:00
  Speaker 3: man had a cat and a mouse, and a falcon
• 1:43:03
  Speaker 3: and a sparrow, who all ate out of one bowl.
• 1:43:06
  Speaker 3: It's very possible, sir, the cat must have been beaten,
• 1:43:09
  Speaker 3: and the falcon, I dare say, had all its tail
• 1:43:11
  Speaker 3: pulled out. There's no great cleverness in that, sir. A
• 1:43:14
  Speaker 3: friend of mine had a cat who, saving your presents,
• 1:43:17
  Speaker 3: used to eat his cucumbers. He thrashed her with a
• 1:43:20
  Speaker 3: big whip for a fortnight till he taught her not to.
• 1:43:23
  Speaker 3: The hair can learned to light matches if you beat
• 1:43:25
  Speaker 3: it does that surprise you. It's very simple. It takes
• 1:43:28
  Speaker 3: the match in its mouth and strikes it. Animals like
• 1:43:32
  Speaker 3: a man.
• 1:43:33
  Speaker 14: Man's made wiser by beating, and it's the same with
• 1:43:35
  Speaker 14: a beast. Men in long, full.
• 1:43:37
  Speaker 3: Skirted coats move backwards and forwards in the crowd, with
• 1:43:40
  Speaker 3: cogs and ducks under their arms.
• 1:43:43
  Speaker 14: The fowls are all lean and hungry.
• 1:43:45
  Speaker 3: Chickens poke their ugly, maiging looking heads out of their
• 1:43:47
  Speaker 3: cages and pecket something in the mud. Blades with pigeons
• 1:43:51
  Speaker 3: stare into your face and try to detect in you
• 1:43:53
  Speaker 3: a pigeon fancier. Yes, indeed, it's no use talking to you,
• 1:43:57
  Speaker 3: someone shouts angrily. You should look before you speak. You
• 1:44:00
  Speaker 3: call this a pigeon, It is an eagle, not a pigeon.
• 1:44:03
  Speaker 3: A tall, thin man with a shaven upper lip and
• 1:44:05
  Speaker 3: side whiskers looks like a sick and drunken footman is
• 1:44:09
  Speaker 3: selling a snow white lap dog. The old lap dog whinds.
• 1:44:13
  Speaker 3: She told me to sell the nasty thing, says the
• 1:44:14
  Speaker 3: footman with a contemptuous snigger. She is bankrupt in her
• 1:44:18
  Speaker 3: old age, has nothing to eat, and here now is
• 1:44:20
  Speaker 3: selling her dogs and cats. She cries and kisses them
• 1:44:24
  Speaker 3: on their filthy snouts. And then she is so hard
• 1:44:26
  Speaker 3: up that she sells them on my soul.
• 1:44:29
  Speaker 14: It is a fact why, gentlemen, the money is wanted
• 1:44:32
  Speaker 14: for coffee, but no one laughs.
• 1:44:34
  Speaker 3: The boy who's standing by a screws up one eye
• 1:44:37
  Speaker 3: and looks at him gravely with compassion. The most interesting
• 1:44:40
  Speaker 3: of all is the fish section. Some dozen peasants are
• 1:44:43
  Speaker 3: sitting in a row. Before each of them is a pail.
• 1:44:46
  Speaker 3: In each pail there is a veritable little hell. There
• 1:44:48
  Speaker 3: In the thick greenish waters are swarms of little carp eels,
• 1:44:52
  Speaker 3: small fry water snails, frogs and newts. Big water beetles
• 1:44:57
  Speaker 3: with broken legs scurry over the small surface, climb bring
• 1:45:00
  Speaker 3: on the carp and jumping over the frogs. The creatures
• 1:45:03
  Speaker 3: have a strong hold on life. The frogs climb on
• 1:45:06
  Speaker 3: the beetles, the nutes on the frogs. The dark green
• 1:45:09
  Speaker 3: tench as more expensive fish enjoy an exceptional position. They
• 1:45:14
  Speaker 3: are kept in a special jar where they can't swim,
• 1:45:16
  Speaker 3: but still they are not so cramped. The carp is
• 1:45:19
  Speaker 3: a grand fish. The carps the fish to keep your honor.
• 1:45:22
  Speaker 3: Plague taken, you can keep him for a year and
• 1:45:25
  Speaker 3: a pail, and he'll live. It's a week since I
• 1:45:27
  Speaker 3: caught these very fish. Caught them, sir and erva, and
• 1:45:30
  Speaker 3: have come from there on foot. The carp are two
• 1:45:33
  Speaker 3: copex each, the eels are three, and the manows are
• 1:45:36
  Speaker 3: ten copex a dozen plague take them five copex worth
• 1:45:40
  Speaker 3: of minow, sir, won't you take some worms? The seller
• 1:45:43
  Speaker 3: thrust his coarse, rough fingers into the pail and pulls
• 1:45:46
  Speaker 3: out of it a soft minow or a little car.
• 1:45:49
  Speaker 14: The size of a nail.
• 1:45:51
  Speaker 3: Fishing lines, hooks, and tackle are laid out near the pails,
• 1:45:54
  Speaker 3: and pond worms glow with a crimson light in the sun.
• 1:45:58
  Speaker 3: An old fancier in her fur cap iron rim spectacles
• 1:46:01
  Speaker 3: and glanshes that look like two dreadnoughts walks about are
• 1:46:05
  Speaker 3: the wagons of birds and the pails of fish.
• 1:46:07
  Speaker 14: He is, as they call him here, a type.
• 1:46:10
  Speaker 3: He hasn't a farthing to bless himself with, But in
• 1:46:12
  Speaker 3: spite of that, he haggles, gets excited, and pastes purchasers
• 1:46:16
  Speaker 3: with advice. He has certainly examined all the hairs, pigeons
• 1:46:19
  Speaker 3: and fish. Examine them in every detail, fixed the kind,
• 1:46:22
  Speaker 3: the age, and the price of each one of them
• 1:46:24
  Speaker 3: a good hour ago. He is as interested as a
• 1:46:27
  Speaker 3: child in the goldfinches. The carp and the minnows. Talk
• 1:46:30
  Speaker 3: to him, for instance, about thrushes, and the queer old
• 1:46:33
  Speaker 3: fellow will tell you things you could not find any book.
• 1:46:36
  Speaker 3: He will tell you them with enthusiasm, with passion, and
• 1:46:39
  Speaker 3: will scold you too for your ignorance of goldfinches and bullfinches.
• 1:46:42
  Speaker 3: He is ready to talk endlessly, opening his eyes wide
• 1:46:45
  Speaker 3: and gesticulating violently with his hands. He is only to
• 1:46:48
  Speaker 3: be met here at the market in the cold weather.
• 1:46:51
  Speaker 3: In the summer, he is somewhere else in the country,
• 1:46:54
  Speaker 3: catching quails with a bird call and angling for fish.
• 1:46:57
  Speaker 3: And here is another type, a very tall, very thin,
• 1:47:00
  Speaker 3: close shaven gentleman in dark spectacles, wearing a cat with
• 1:47:04
  Speaker 3: a cockade, and looking like a shrigner of bygone days.
• 1:47:08
  Speaker 3: He is a fancier. He is a man of decent position,
• 1:47:11
  Speaker 3: a teacher in a high school, and that is well
• 1:47:13
  Speaker 3: known to the abbatoy of the market, And they treat
• 1:47:16
  Speaker 3: him with respect, greet him with bowels, and have even
• 1:47:19
  Speaker 3: invented for him a special title, your.
• 1:47:21
  Speaker 14: Scholarship at too high rev market.
• 1:47:23
  Speaker 3: He rummages among the books and a trip NOI looks
• 1:47:27
  Speaker 3: out for good pigeons, Please, sir, the pigeon sellers shout
• 1:47:30
  Speaker 3: to him, mister schoolmaster, your scholarship, take notice of my tumblers,
• 1:47:34
  Speaker 3: Your scholarship, Your scholarship, is shouted at him from every side,
• 1:47:38
  Speaker 3: Your scholarship, A nurchant repeats somewhere on the boulevard, and
• 1:47:41
  Speaker 3: his scholarship, apparently quite accustomed to this title, grave and severe,
• 1:47:46
  Speaker 3: takes a vision in both hands, and, lifting it above
• 1:47:48
  Speaker 3: his head, begins examining it, and as he does so, frowns.
• 1:47:52
  Speaker 14: And looks braver than ever, like a conspirator.
• 1:47:55
  Speaker 3: At Troop Noise Square, that little bit of Moscow, where
• 1:47:58
  Speaker 3: animals are so tenderly loved and where they are so tortured,
• 1:48:01
  Speaker 3: lives its little life grows noisy and excited, and the
• 1:48:05
  Speaker 3: businesslike for pious people who passify along the boulevard cannot
• 1:48:09
  Speaker 3: make out, has brought this crowd of people, this medley
• 1:48:12
  Speaker 3: of caps, per hats and chimney pots together. What they
• 1:48:16
  Speaker 3: are talking about there, what they are buying and selling?
• 1:48:21
  Speaker 3: End of the Bird Market by Anton Chekhov.
• 1:48:30
  Speaker 13: The Wood Peewee a monograph Coffeebery collection thirty seven more birds.
• 1:48:37
  Speaker 13: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
• 1:48:41
  Speaker 13: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
• 1:48:44
  Speaker 13: visit LibriVox dot org. Read by Tom Merritt. The wood
• 1:48:49
  Speaker 13: Peewee a monograph. Almost every person living in the country
• 1:48:54
  Speaker 13: or in the suburbs of a town is familiar with
• 1:48:57
  Speaker 13: the house peewee or feebe bird. It is usually looked
• 1:49:02
  Speaker 13: upon as the sure harbinger of spring. In my boyhood days,
• 1:49:07
  Speaker 13: my parents and grandparents were wont to say spring is here,
• 1:49:12
  Speaker 13: the phoebe is singing. And if blithesomeness of tone and
• 1:49:16
  Speaker 13: good cheer have anything to do with the advent of
• 1:49:20
  Speaker 13: the season of song and bursting blossoms, the pee wit,
• 1:49:26
  Speaker 13: as he is often called, must be a true herald
• 1:49:30
  Speaker 13: and prophet. He seems to carry the subtle essence of
• 1:49:35
  Speaker 13: spring in his tuneful larnings and in the graceful sweep
• 1:49:40
  Speaker 13: of his flight as he pounces upon an insect. It
• 1:49:43
  Speaker 13: is quite easy to make the transition from his familiar
• 1:49:47
  Speaker 13: song of phoebe to the exclamation springs here by a
• 1:49:52
  Speaker 13: little stretch of the fancy. But the phoebe has a
• 1:49:55
  Speaker 13: woodland relative a first cousin with which most persons are
• 1:50:00
  Speaker 13: not so well acquainted, because he is more retiring in
• 1:50:04
  Speaker 13: his habits, and seeks out of the way places for
• 1:50:07
  Speaker 13: his habitat. I refer to the wood peewee. If your
• 1:50:11
  Speaker 13: eyes and ears are not so sharp as they should be,
• 1:50:15
  Speaker 13: you may get these two birds confounded. Yet there is
• 1:50:18
  Speaker 13: no need of making such a blunder. The woodland bird
• 1:50:22
  Speaker 13: is smaller, slenderer, and of a darker caste than his relative.
• 1:50:28
  Speaker 13: And besides, there is a marked difference in the musical
• 1:50:33
  Speaker 13: performance of these birds. The song of the Phoebe is
• 1:50:36
  Speaker 13: sprightly and cheerful, and the syllables are uttered rather quickly,
• 1:50:41
  Speaker 13: while the whistle of the wood peewee is softer and
• 1:50:45
  Speaker 13: more plaintive, and is repeated with less emphasis and more deliberation.
• 1:50:51
  Speaker 13: There is indeed something inexpressibly sad and dreamy about the
• 1:50:57
  Speaker 13: strain of the wood peewee, especially if at a distance.
• 1:51:01
  Speaker 13: In the emerald twilight of the woodland privacies. Mister Lowell
• 1:51:06
  Speaker 13: seldom erred in his attempts to characterize the songs and
• 1:51:10
  Speaker 13: habits of the bird, but in his exquisite poem entitled Phoebe,
• 1:51:15
  Speaker 13: he certainly must have referred to the wood peewee, and
• 1:51:19
  Speaker 13: not to the Phoebe bird, as his description applies to
• 1:51:22
  Speaker 13: the former, but not to the latter. He calls the
• 1:51:25
  Speaker 13: bird the loneliest of its kind, while the peewit is
• 1:51:31
  Speaker 13: a familiar species about many a country home. Taking it
• 1:51:35
  Speaker 13: for granted that he meant the wood peewee, how happy
• 1:51:38
  Speaker 13: is his description? It is the wee sad colored thing,
• 1:51:43
  Speaker 13: as shy and secret as a maid that air inquire
• 1:51:48
  Speaker 13: the robin's ring pipes its own name like one afraid.
• 1:51:53
  Speaker 13: It seems pain prompted to repeat the story of some
• 1:51:57
  Speaker 13: ancient ill. But Phoebe, Phoebe sadly sweet, is all it says.
• 1:52:04
  Speaker 13: And then is still Phoebe. It calls and calls again,
• 1:52:09
  Speaker 13: And ovid could he but have heard, had hung a
• 1:52:12
  Speaker 13: legendary pain about the memory of the bird. Phoebe is
• 1:52:18
  Speaker 13: all it has to say, in plaintive cadence ore and
• 1:52:22
  Speaker 13: or like children who have lost their way and know
• 1:52:26
  Speaker 13: their names, but nothing more. This poetical tribute is certainly
• 1:52:31
  Speaker 13: very graceful, and would be true to life if the
• 1:52:35
  Speaker 13: fanatic representation were a little more accurate. Instead of Phoebe
• 1:52:40
  Speaker 13: imagining the song to be pee wee or bee, and
• 1:52:46
  Speaker 13: you will gain a clear idea of the minstrelsy of
• 1:52:50
  Speaker 13: this Songster of the wild Wood. However, he frequently varies
• 1:52:55
  Speaker 13: his tone to prevent it becoming monotonous iopine. He sometimes
• 1:53:01
  Speaker 13: closes his refrain with the falling inflection or circumflex, and
• 1:53:07
  Speaker 13: sometimes with the rising as the mood prompts him. In
• 1:53:12
  Speaker 13: the former case, the first syllable receives the greater emphasis
• 1:53:17
  Speaker 13: and is the more prolonged, and in the latter this
• 1:53:22
  Speaker 13: order is precisely reversed. When the last syllable is uttered
• 1:53:28
  Speaker 13: with a rising circumflex, it is usually, if not always,
• 1:53:33
  Speaker 13: cut off somewhere abruptly. Moreover, this minstrel often runs the
• 1:53:38
  Speaker 13: two syllables of the song together, a peculiarity that I
• 1:53:43
  Speaker 13: have represented in my notes taken while listening to the
• 1:53:47
  Speaker 13: song in this way, Fee, there is a characteristic swing
• 1:53:55
  Speaker 13: about the melody that refuses to be caught in the
• 1:53:58
  Speaker 13: mesh of letters and syllables. In some of the Peewee's
• 1:54:03
  Speaker 13: vocal efforts, he does not go farther than the end
• 1:54:08
  Speaker 13: of the first syllable. The song seems to be cut
• 1:54:11
  Speaker 13: off short, as if the notes had stuck fast in
• 1:54:15
  Speaker 13: the singer's throat, or as if something had occurred to
• 1:54:19
  Speaker 13: divert his mind from the song. Perhaps this hiatus is
• 1:54:24
  Speaker 13: caused by the sudden appearance of an insect glancing by,
• 1:54:28
  Speaker 13: which attracts the musician's attention. This bird usually chooses a
• 1:54:34
  Speaker 13: dead twig or limb in the wood as a perch
• 1:54:38
  Speaker 13: on which he sits and sings, turning his head from
• 1:54:42
  Speaker 13: side to side so that no flitting moth may escape him.
• 1:54:47
  Speaker 13: And what a persistent singer he is. He sings not
• 1:54:52
  Speaker 13: only in the spring, when other vocalists are in full tune,
• 1:54:56
  Speaker 13: but also all summer long, never growing this hard garten,
• 1:55:01
  Speaker 13: even when the mercury rises far up into the ninties.
• 1:55:06
  Speaker 13: What a pleasant companion he has been in my midsummer strolls.
• 1:55:10
  Speaker 13: Is I have wearily patrolled the woods on the sultriest
• 1:55:15
  Speaker 13: August days, when all other birds were glad to keep mute,
• 1:55:21
  Speaker 13: sitting on their shady perches with open mandibles and drooping wings.
• 1:55:27
  Speaker 13: The dreamful, faraway strain of the wood peewee has drifted
• 1:55:33
  Speaker 13: a welcome sound to my ears through the dim aisles.
• 1:55:38
  Speaker 13: He seems to be a friend in need. How often
• 1:55:42
  Speaker 13: when the heat has almost overcome me as I pursued
• 1:55:46
  Speaker 13: my daily beat, that song has put new vigor in
• 1:55:50
  Speaker 13: my veins. When mister Lowell wrote that the phoebe Scarce
• 1:55:57
  Speaker 13: whistles once an hour, to his fellow, he must have
• 1:56:01
  Speaker 13: been listening to a far lazier specimen than those which
• 1:56:05
  Speaker 13: I am acquainted. Most birds fall occasionally into a kind
• 1:56:10
  Speaker 13: of ecstasy of song, and the wood peewee is no exception.
• 1:56:16
  Speaker 13: One evening, after it had grown almost dark, a peewee
• 1:56:20
  Speaker 13: flew out into the air directly above my head from
• 1:56:23
  Speaker 13: a tree by the wayside, and began to sing in
• 1:56:27
  Speaker 13: a perfect transport as he wheeled about. Then he swung
• 1:56:31
  Speaker 13: back into the tree, keeping up his song in a
• 1:56:34
  Speaker 13: continuous strain and in sweet, half caressing tones, until it
• 1:56:40
  Speaker 13: finally died away, as if the bird had fallen into
• 1:56:44
  Speaker 13: a doze during his vocal recital. I lingered about for
• 1:56:50
  Speaker 13: some time, but he did not sing again. Why should
• 1:56:54
  Speaker 13: he repeat his good night's song? I have frequently heard
• 1:56:58
  Speaker 13: young peewee's in midsummer singing in a continuous way instead
• 1:57:03
  Speaker 13: of whistling the intermittent song of their elders. It sounds
• 1:57:08
  Speaker 13: very droll, giving you the impression that the little neophyte
• 1:57:12
  Speaker 13: has begun to turn the crank of his music box
• 1:57:16
  Speaker 13: and can't stop. His voice is quite sweet, but his
• 1:57:21
  Speaker 13: execution is crude. Wait, however, until he is eight or
• 1:57:26
  Speaker 13: nine months older, and he will show you what a
• 1:57:30
  Speaker 13: winged orpheus can do. My notes say that on the
• 1:57:35
  Speaker 13: thirtieth of July eighteen ninety one, I heard of Peewee's
• 1:57:41
  Speaker 13: quaint prolonged whistle interlarded with his ordinary notes. Thus it
• 1:57:49
  Speaker 13: will be seen that he is a somewhat versatile singer,
• 1:57:53
  Speaker 13: proving the poet's lines half true and half untrue. The
• 1:58:00
  Speaker 13: birds but repeat without ending the same old traditional notes,
• 1:58:06
  Speaker 13: which some, by more happily blending, seem to make over
• 1:58:11
  Speaker 13: new in their throats. Younger readers may perhaps need to
• 1:58:17
  Speaker 13: be informed that the wood pewee belongs to the family
• 1:58:20
  Speaker 13: of flycatchers, as do also the kingbird or b Martin,
• 1:58:27
  Speaker 13: the phoebe bird, the great crested flycatcher, and a number
• 1:58:32
  Speaker 13: of other interesting species, all of which have a peculiar
• 1:58:36
  Speaker 13: way of taking their prey. The peewee will sit almost
• 1:58:41
  Speaker 13: motionless on a twig, lisping his plaintive tune at intervals
• 1:58:47
  Speaker 13: until a luckless insect comes buzzing by, all unconscious of
• 1:58:53
  Speaker 13: its peril. When the bird will make a quick dash
• 1:58:56
  Speaker 13: at it sees it dexterously between his mantels, and then
• 1:59:01
  Speaker 13: circle around gracefully to the same or another perch, having
• 1:59:06
  Speaker 13: made a splendid catch on the fly. If the quarry
• 1:59:11
  Speaker 13: he has taken is small, its lips at once down
• 1:59:14
  Speaker 13: his throat, but should it be too large to be
• 1:59:17
  Speaker 13: disposed of in that summary way, he will beat it
• 1:59:20
  Speaker 13: into an edible form upon a limb before gulping it down.
• 1:59:25
  Speaker 13: Agile as he is, he sometimes misses his aim, being
• 1:59:29
  Speaker 13: compelled to make a second, and occasionally even a third
• 1:59:32
  Speaker 13: attempt to secure his prize. I have witnessed more than
• 1:59:36
  Speaker 13: one comedy which turned out to be a tragedy for
• 1:59:40
  Speaker 13: the ill starred insect. Sometimes the insect will resort to
• 1:59:44
  Speaker 13: the roots of dropping toward the ground when it sees
• 1:59:48
  Speaker 13: the bird darting toward it, and then a scuffle ensues
• 1:59:52
  Speaker 13: that is really laughable, the pursuer whirling tumbling, almost turning
• 1:59:58
  Speaker 13: somersault in his desperate efforts to capture his prize. Once
• 2:00:03
  Speaker 13: an insect flew between me and a peewee perched on
• 2:00:06
  Speaker 13: a twig, when the bird darted down toward me, with
• 2:00:09
  Speaker 13: a directness of aim that made me think for a
• 2:00:12
  Speaker 13: moment he would fly right into my face. But he
• 2:00:15
  Speaker 13: made a dexterous turn in time, caught his quarry, and
• 2:00:20
  Speaker 13: swung to a bough near by. If one were disposed
• 2:00:24
  Speaker 13: to be speculative, one might well raise Sydney Lanier's pregnant
• 2:00:30
  Speaker 13: inquiry at this point, the reference being to the southern
• 2:00:34
  Speaker 13: mocking bird, and not to the peewee, How may the
• 2:00:38
  Speaker 13: death of that dull insect be the life of Yon
• 2:00:41
  Speaker 13: Trim Shakespeare? On the tree, it has been my good
• 2:00:46
  Speaker 13: fortune to find one, but only one nest of this bird.
• 2:00:51
  Speaker 13: It was placed on a horizontal branch about fifteen feet
• 2:00:55
  Speaker 13: above the ground, and was a neat, compact structure, decorated
• 2:01:00
  Speaker 13: on the outside with grayish lichens and moss, giving it
• 2:01:04
  Speaker 13: the appearance of an excrecence on the limb. It is
• 2:01:08
  Speaker 13: said by those who have closely examined the nest that
• 2:01:12
  Speaker 13: they are handsomely built and ornamented, and are equalled only
• 2:01:18
  Speaker 13: by the dainty houses of the humming bird and the
• 2:01:21
  Speaker 13: blue gray gnatcatcher. The eggs, usually four in number, are
• 2:01:27
  Speaker 13: of a creamy white hue, beautifully embellished with a wreath
• 2:01:31
  Speaker 13: of lavender and purplish brown around the larger end or
• 2:01:36
  Speaker 13: near the center. Though our bird prefers solitary places for
• 2:01:40
  Speaker 13: his home, he is far from shy. If you call
• 2:01:44
  Speaker 13: on him in his haunt in the wild wood, he
• 2:01:47
  Speaker 13: will sit fearless on his perch, even if you come
• 2:01:52
  Speaker 13: quite near, looking at you in his staid philosophical way,
• 2:01:58
  Speaker 13: as if you were scarcely worth notice sing. Nor will
• 2:02:01
  Speaker 13: he hush his song at your approach, although he does
• 2:02:04
  Speaker 13: not seem to care whether you listen to him or not.
• 2:02:08
  Speaker 13: It is seldom that he can be betrayed into doing
• 2:02:10
  Speaker 13: an undignified act. And even if he does almost turn
• 2:02:15
  Speaker 13: a somersault in pursuing a refractory miller, he recovers his
• 2:02:20
  Speaker 13: poise the next moment and settles upon his perch with
• 2:02:23
  Speaker 13: as much sang foi as if nothing unusual had occurred altogether.
• 2:02:30
  Speaker 13: The wood Peewee is what Bradford Tory would call a
• 2:02:35
  Speaker 13: character in feathers End of the Wood Peewee by Leander
• 2:02:41
  Speaker 13: s Kaiser. Waiting for the Music by Bradford Tory, Coffee
• 2:02:52
  Speaker 13: Break Collection thirty seven more birds. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 2:02:57
  Speaker 13: All LibriVox recordings are in the public. For more information
• 2:03:01
  Speaker 13: or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Waiting for
• 2:03:07
  Speaker 13: the music, I am impatient for the concert to begin.
• 2:03:11
  Speaker 13: It is the seventh of February. For three weeks I
• 2:03:15
  Speaker 13: have been in Miami. Birds are plentiful. The country, one
• 2:03:20
  Speaker 13: may almost say, is full of them. The weather, mostly
• 2:03:24
  Speaker 13: a few shades too warm for a pedestrian's comfort, seems
• 2:03:28
  Speaker 13: to be all that birds could wish for. But thus
• 2:03:31
  Speaker 13: far there has been scarcely a sign of the grand
• 2:03:35
  Speaker 13: vernal awakening, warm or cold. For the birds, it is
• 2:03:41
  Speaker 13: still winter. Phoebe's, to be sure, have sung ever since
• 2:03:46
  Speaker 13: my arrival. I cannot help wondering why. And the same
• 2:03:50
  Speaker 13: is true of white eyed vireos. It is impossible to
• 2:03:55
  Speaker 13: walk through the Hammock woods without getting somewhat more than
• 2:03:59
  Speaker 13: one's fill of their saucily emphatic deliverances. For aught, I
• 2:04:05
  Speaker 13: can see they are quite as loquacious now as they
• 2:04:09
  Speaker 13: will be two or three months. Hence, once in a while,
• 2:04:13
  Speaker 13: hardly oftener than once a week, I should say I
• 2:04:17
  Speaker 13: have heard a mocking bird letting himself loose, and rather
• 2:04:22
  Speaker 13: more frequently, especially during the last few days, Cardinal grosbeaks
• 2:04:27
  Speaker 13: have sweetened the air with their whistle, but for much
• 2:04:31
  Speaker 13: of the greater part the birds are dumb. On the
• 2:04:35
  Speaker 13: morning of February one, as I stepped out upon the piazza,
• 2:04:40
  Speaker 13: a house wren sang from a live oak by the
• 2:04:43
  Speaker 13: kitchen door. I remembered the date. Good, said I to myself.
• 2:04:49
  Speaker 13: The time of the singing birds is come. But I
• 2:04:53
  Speaker 13: was too much in haste. Since then I have heard
• 2:04:56
  Speaker 13: plenty of wren chattering, but not another note of ren music. Still,
• 2:05:03
  Speaker 13: the opening of the annual concert cannot be much longer delayed.
• 2:05:08
  Speaker 13: When I was in Florida nine years ago, mockingbirds were
• 2:05:12
  Speaker 13: in free song at Saint Augustine before the middle of February,
• 2:05:16
  Speaker 13: and at this point three hundred miles and more farther south.
• 2:05:20
  Speaker 13: The season must be earlier rather than later. Some of
• 2:05:24
  Speaker 13: the more distinctly southern of the birds about me. I
• 2:05:27
  Speaker 13: am especially desirous of hearing the Florida yellowthroats, for example,
• 2:05:33
  Speaker 13: a local race of the Maryland yellow throats. So called
• 2:05:37
  Speaker 13: they are everywhere in sight, the dark brown of the
• 2:05:41
  Speaker 13: flanks distinguishing them readily, and as their music is said
• 2:05:45
  Speaker 13: to be very unlike that of their familiar northern relative,
• 2:05:49
  Speaker 13: I am naturally desirous of adding it to my memorized collection.
• 2:05:55
  Speaker 13: It will be nothing great, presumably, but it will be
• 2:05:59
  Speaker 13: something new. Still more interesting will be the song of
• 2:06:03
  Speaker 13: the painted bunting or non parrel. A beauty of beauties
• 2:06:08
  Speaker 13: that I had never seen a wild one, I mean,
• 2:06:12
  Speaker 13: until this winter. About Miami. It is decidedly common, though
• 2:06:18
  Speaker 13: the green females show themselves ten times as often as
• 2:06:23
  Speaker 13: the red, blue and yellow green males. What a superbly
• 2:06:28
  Speaker 13: dressed creature, the masculine non parrel is, and he carries
• 2:06:33
  Speaker 13: himself as if he knew it. Dear me, he seems
• 2:06:37
  Speaker 13: always to be saying this, Joseph's coat of mine makes
• 2:06:40
  Speaker 13: me so conspicuous. Some day it will be my undoing.
• 2:06:45
  Speaker 13: My readers will most likely have seen the gorgeous little
• 2:06:49
  Speaker 13: creature in cages. I found one many years ago in
• 2:06:52
  Speaker 13: the Boston public garden. I remember, though the chances are
• 2:06:57
  Speaker 13: that they have never seen him in anything like his
• 2:07:01
  Speaker 13: brightest and liveliest feather. A bird like a butterfly, was
• 2:07:06
  Speaker 13: born to be looked at out of doors with the
• 2:07:09
  Speaker 13: sunlight on him. So far, I have heard no note
• 2:07:14
  Speaker 13: from the nonparrel except his rather soft chip, the bird's
• 2:07:20
  Speaker 13: frequent weedy tangles in open grounds, showing special fondness for
• 2:07:25
  Speaker 13: patches of the white bird marigold, and seemed to be
• 2:07:29
  Speaker 13: well scattered over the country day after day I walked
• 2:07:34
  Speaker 13: down through the hammock. I have spoken of it before,
• 2:07:38
  Speaker 13: and most likely shall do so again. Between my amy
• 2:07:43
  Speaker 13: and cocoanut grove. Indeed, so constant are my pereganations thither
• 2:07:49
  Speaker 13: that I begin to find my innocent self treated as
• 2:07:53
  Speaker 13: a kind of mysterious personage, one of the features of
• 2:07:58
  Speaker 13: the place, so to speak, an object of interest, like
• 2:08:02
  Speaker 13: the gumbo limbos, the air plants, and the blossoming lime trees.
• 2:08:09
  Speaker 13: Three times at least I have overheard a driver describing
• 2:08:13
  Speaker 13: me to his fares as the man who comes down
• 2:08:17
  Speaker 13: through the hammock every day, with strong emphasis on the
• 2:08:22
  Speaker 13: last two words. One passenger was good enough to surmise
• 2:08:26
  Speaker 13: quite audibly that I might be a botanist, while another
• 2:08:29
  Speaker 13: loudly proclaimed his belief I must be a sort of
• 2:08:34
  Speaker 13: bird fiend. So much for being useful in one's day
• 2:08:38
  Speaker 13: In generation, the tourist's mind like the tourist's stomach abhors
• 2:08:45
  Speaker 13: a vacuum. It must have something to browse upon, and
• 2:08:49
  Speaker 13: the drivers know it. It is a bad day for
• 2:08:53
  Speaker 13: the cow when she loses her cut. In sober truth,
• 2:08:57
  Speaker 13: the hammock is well worth the daily visit. And almost
• 2:09:01
  Speaker 13: as often as I am here it comes over me.
• 2:09:05
  Speaker 13: What a glorious concert hall it will be when all
• 2:09:08
  Speaker 13: these thousands of birds find their voices, if they ever do,
• 2:09:15
  Speaker 13: for it may be I know that the great majority
• 2:09:18
  Speaker 13: will start on their journey northward before that happy day arrives.
• 2:09:25
  Speaker 7: Here.
• 2:09:25
  Speaker 13: To name only some of the more common species here
• 2:09:29
  Speaker 13: are mocking birds, catbirds, cardinals, house wrens, Carolina wrens, ruby
• 2:09:37
  Speaker 13: crowned kinglets, palm warblers, myrtle warblers, parula warblers, prairie warblers,
• 2:09:45
  Speaker 13: black and white warblers, Florida yellowthroats, ovenbirds, blue gray netcatchers,
• 2:09:51
  Speaker 13: a host white eyed vireos, another host solitary vireos, chewings,
• 2:10:00
  Speaker 13: painted buntings, Phoebe's crested flycatchers, and blue jays. What a
• 2:10:06
  Speaker 13: chorus there would be if the springs should get into
• 2:10:09
  Speaker 13: all their throats at once. Might I be here to listen? Then? Indeed,
• 2:10:15
  Speaker 13: I could make a list with a hearing to help
• 2:10:18
  Speaker 13: the eye sight. Now I followed the road and find
• 2:10:22
  Speaker 13: only such birds as happened to be near it at
• 2:10:25
  Speaker 13: the moment when I pass. Then it would be another story.
• 2:10:30
  Speaker 13: I should need a stenographer. The names would crowd upon
• 2:10:35
  Speaker 13: the pencil. It is really an astonishing, unnatural seeming thing,
• 2:10:40
  Speaker 13: this multitude of birds, in this cloudless summer weather, with
• 2:10:45
  Speaker 13: mating time so close at hand, and no impulse to sing.
• 2:10:50
  Speaker 13: Yet that expression is a trifle too strong, or at
• 2:10:54
  Speaker 13: least too sweeping. This forenoon I heard a gnatcatcher warbling softly,
• 2:11:00
  Speaker 13: as if to himself, tuning his instrument. It may be,
• 2:11:05
  Speaker 13: or more likely dreaming. The cardinals, too, are certainly growing amorous.
• 2:11:12
  Speaker 13: I see the bright males quarreling among themselves here and there.
• 2:11:16
  Speaker 13: They are constantly in the road, and not infrequently. As
• 2:11:20
  Speaker 13: I have said, they whistle with all sweetness at that work.
• 2:11:25
  Speaker 13: There is no bird to excel them. How any female
• 2:11:30
  Speaker 13: heart can resist such appeals is more than any bachelor's
• 2:11:34
  Speaker 13: heart can imagine. I rejoice in their numbers.
• 2:11:38
  Speaker 4: I should love to.
• 2:11:39
  Speaker 13: Walk through the hammock and hear them all whistling together
• 2:11:42
  Speaker 13: a chorus, a good mile in length, and no rod
• 2:11:46
  Speaker 13: without a bird loggerhead shrikes are paired or pairing. The
• 2:11:51
  Speaker 13: other day I saw one fly up from the ground
• 2:11:53
  Speaker 13: and feed another perched on a telegraph wire. He was
• 2:11:57
  Speaker 13: doing no more than was meet or cool, appearing unresponsive.
• 2:12:01
  Speaker 13: Manner seemed to say mockingbirds. Also those singing little are
• 2:12:06
  Speaker 13: beginning to manifest symptoms of jealousy. If all the mockers
• 2:12:12
  Speaker 13: and all the cardinals should break into voice at once,
• 2:12:15
  Speaker 13: the air itself would hardly contain the music. Two palliated
• 2:12:21
  Speaker 13: woodpeckers that I see every few days at a particular
• 2:12:24
  Speaker 13: spot in the hammock have already come to an understanding,
• 2:12:28
  Speaker 13: or so I fancy, from certain bits of conduct that
• 2:12:32
  Speaker 13: I have been privileged to witness. This morning, I stood
• 2:12:35
  Speaker 13: watching the female as she hammered to pieces a decayed
• 2:12:39
  Speaker 13: branch close to me, when all at once her mate
• 2:12:42
  Speaker 13: called in the distance. Instantly she held up her head
• 2:12:46
  Speaker 13: as much as to say, hark was that he? And
• 2:12:51
  Speaker 13: the next moment she was gone. Then I heard low
• 2:12:54
  Speaker 13: conversational notes, followed presently by loud drumming on a resid
• 2:13:00
  Speaker 13: stub or branch. I thought of what I have heard
• 2:13:04
  Speaker 13: preachers say that heaven is a state, not a place.
• 2:13:09
  Speaker 13: Polliated woodpeckers or birds good to look at, and wild
• 2:13:13
  Speaker 13: as they look. It is pleasant to find them so approachable.
• 2:13:18
  Speaker 13: But in fact this is most productive woodpecker country. Here
• 2:13:23
  Speaker 13: are flickers in abundance, red bellies almost as many, and
• 2:13:28
  Speaker 13: along with them the red headed, the red cockaded in
• 2:13:32
  Speaker 13: the pine lands, the yellow bellied least common of all,
• 2:13:36
  Speaker 13: the downy, and the hairy. All in short that could
• 2:13:41
  Speaker 13: be expected, with the exception of the ivory build and
• 2:13:46
  Speaker 13: such as human nature, I would give more to see
• 2:13:49
  Speaker 13: him than all the rest together. Well, I will not
• 2:13:54
  Speaker 13: wish time away, as the saying is. I begin to
• 2:13:58
  Speaker 13: perceive that I have none to despair. But I shall
• 2:14:02
  Speaker 13: rejoice when some morning I go out and find the
• 2:14:05
  Speaker 13: conductor's arm lifted and the chorus minding the beat and
• 2:14:12
  Speaker 13: of waiting for the music by Bradford Tory read by
• 2:14:18
  Speaker 13: Tom Merritt.
• 2:14:25
  Speaker 11: Were I a Bird by Edward Smith Jones Coffee Break Collection,
• 2:14:29
  Speaker 11: thirty seven More Birds. This is a LibriVox according all
• 2:14:34
  Speaker 11: LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information
• 2:14:38
  Speaker 11: or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Were I
• 2:14:43
  Speaker 11: a Bird born free to fly aloof on two lee
• 2:14:46
  Speaker 11: downy wings. My canopy would be the sky when Rosie
• 2:14:49
  Speaker 11: moore and it's downing springs. Where I a bird, I'd
• 2:14:53
  Speaker 11: sweetly sing Earth's vesper song in treetops, high enchant the
• 2:14:57
  Speaker 11: carol of the spring to every very as are bye.
• 2:15:01
  Speaker 11: Were I a bird, the sweetest voice that human ear
• 2:15:04
  Speaker 11: has ever heard, the mocking bird would be my choice,
• 2:15:07
  Speaker 11: for he's the sweetest singing bird. Where I a bird,
• 2:15:10
  Speaker 11: my life would be in keeping with the will divine.
• 2:15:13
  Speaker 11: I'd sing his carols full and free in spreading oak
• 2:15:16
  Speaker 11: and coney pine. Were I a bird through air, I'd roam,
• 2:15:20
  Speaker 11: just flitting on the morning breeze, in search of summer's
• 2:15:23
  Speaker 11: sunny dome to live contently at ease. Were I a bird,
• 2:15:27
  Speaker 11: I'd sing a tune for farmers seeking shady rest beneath
• 2:15:31
  Speaker 11: the spreading oak and june and swinging boughs that rock
• 2:15:34
  Speaker 11: my nest. For I a bird, I'd scale the cliff
• 2:15:37
  Speaker 11: when dawns the bleak December day, far from the ice
• 2:15:40
  Speaker 11: and snow.
• 2:15:41
  Speaker 4: I'd shift until the fairest day and may.
• 2:15:44
  Speaker 11: Were I a bird, a mocking bird, the king of birdies,
• 2:15:47
  Speaker 11: singing sons. My music would forever be heard as I
• 2:15:50
  Speaker 11: sweet sang to cheerless ones. Were I a bird, I'd
• 2:15:53
  Speaker 11: seek my rest when Jocun day blows out his light
• 2:15:56
  Speaker 11: in boughs that hover o'er my nest, I'd sweetly sing
• 2:16:00
  Speaker 11: good night, good night, and of warre a bird by
• 2:16:03
  Speaker 11: Edward Smith Jones. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.