Robins

Learning About Birds Through Stories

WHAT BIRDS DO FOR US

Just as we can never tell how well off we are until we have stopped to count our many blessings, and compared our lot with that of others about us, or living in various parts of the great wide world, so we can never correctly estimate the value of any living creature until we have stopped to think of how many ways it serves us.

Few, for instance, realize the value of the cow until they have taken time once to enumerate the almost innumerable ways the cow serves us, such as providing us with milk, cream, butter, cheese, meat, suet, bone, horn, glue, leather, hair for plaster, fertilizer, and chalk.

So with the birds. They serve us in many ways:

1. They sing for us.

2. They lay millions of eggs for us.

3. They give us feathers for our downy pillows.

4. They give us plumes for handsome decorations.

5. They entertain us with their cheerful presence, and brighten up all nature with their delightful songs and their beautiful and gorgeous plumages.

6. Some of them even talk to us in our own language.

7. Last, but not least of all, they fight for us, by destroying millions and billions of destructive insect pests annually-pests which, if not destroyed, would soon destroy the balance of nature and ruin our forests, fruits, and fields.

We are indeed, therefore, deeply indebted to the birds, and should love them, respect them, care for them, and regard them as our near neighbors, our coworkers, helpers, servants, and friends.

CONTENTS

What we may Learn from the Birds

  1. THE STORK'S DEVOTION TO ITS YOUNG
  2. THE DOMESTIC COCK
  3. A FEROCIOUS ROOSTER
  4. ROOSTER AND RAT IN DEADLY COMBAT
  5. MAGPIES RESCUE AN AUSTRALIAN WOMAN
  6. GEESE SAVE A TOWN FROM DESTRUCTION
  7. A KNOW-IT-ALL CHICKEN
  8. WHITE HOUSE CROWS IN A FIGHT
  9. TEACHING A CROW TO TALK
  10. HOW PARROTS ARE TAUGHT TO TALK
  11. THREE HUNDRED DRUNKEN GEESE
  12. THE BELL-WETHER BUZZARD
  13. GOING SNIPE HUNTING
  14. "AS CRAZY AS A LOON "
  15. THE CRUEL SHRIKE, OR BUTCHER-BIRD
  16. THE KING OF BIRDS
  17. AN UNINTENTIONAL SHOT
  18. A FATAL SQUEEZE
  19. OUR OWN CANARY
  20. THE LOST BIRD
  21. CARRIER-PIGEONS
  22. A CARRIER-PIGEON THAT HELPED SAVE VERDUN
  23. HOW FAST BIRDS FLY
  24. LOUIS AGASSIZ, THE NATURALIST
  25. AUDUBON, THE FRIEND OF BIRDS
  26. GEORGE STEPHENSON AND THE MOTHER BIRD
  27. JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL AND THE ROBINS
  28. REVIVING THE FAMISHED HUMMING-BIRD
  29. BE KIND
  30. AUDUBON's DESCRIPTION OF THE HUMMINGBIRD
  31. SENATOR GEORGE F. HOAR'S WONDERFUL PETITION FOR THE BIRDS
  32. BIRDS AND THEIR ENEMIES
  33. MIGRATION OF BIRDS
  34. TO THE CUCKOO
  35. THE PASSING OF THE PASSENGER-PIGEON
  36. TURKEY-BUZZARDS AND THEIR WORK
  37. THE POOR NIGHT-HAWK
  38. BIRD AND ANIMAL SANCTUARIES
  39. HOW BIRDS BUILD THEIR NESTS
  40. BUILDING THE NEST
  41. NESTING MATERIALS
  42. ODD NESTING-PLACES
  43. MY FIRST BIRD-HOUSE
  44. HOW TO BUILD BIRD-HOUSES
  45. HOW MANY EGGS COULD ONE FLICKER LAY?
  46. A YOUNG BIRD'S APPETITE
  47. HOW THE MOTHER BIRD FEEDS HER YOUNG
  48. DRINKING- AND BATHING-PLACES FOR BIRDS
  49. FEEDING BIRDS IN WINTER-TIME
  50. REMEMBER THE BIRDS
  51. LONG-LIVED BIRDS

WHAT WE MAY LEARN FROM THE BIRDS

From the birds we may learn many things.

1. Birds are a busy lot. Much of their time they are on the wing. So should we be busy, and not indolent.

2. Birds are regular in their habits. This is conducive to order and good health.

3. Birds eat and drink only what is good for them. In this they show good sense, and are temperate.

4. Birds are early risers. The most successful people have generally been early risers.

5. Birds are industrious. God provides food for them by making it grow, but He does not put it into their mouths. "That Thou givest them they gather," we read. They "scratch for a living," and seem to enjoy the scratching. So should we work for a living, and enjoy our work.

6. Birds help one another. Watch the rooster call the hens when he has found something good to eat, and the little male birds exchange places with the female birds when they are setting. So may we share in life's blessings and burdens.

7. Birds seem always to be cheerful, happy, and contented. So should we endeavor to be.

8. Birds are great songsters. They brighten their lives and cheer up the world with song. So should we.

9. Birds live in families, and make beautiful homes. They love each other, live peacefully and happily together, tenderly care for their offspring, and keep the vows they made when they mated. So should we live, love, and be true to one another.

10. Birds are neat and clean in their habits, carefully arranging their plumage, and taking frequent baths, especially in warm weather. In this they also set a good example.
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