Citizen Bird Part 6

"Wheat, I think," said Nat.

"Rye, too--mother's rye-bread is drea'fly good," said Rap.

"Don't forget Mammy Bun's corn-bread," added Olive.

"All your answers are right, for many different kinds of bread are used in various parts of the country; but whether it is made from wheat-flour, or rye-flour, or corn-meal, it all grows from the ground, does it not?

"Now the next sort of food--meat, the flesh of animals--oxen, sheep, pigs, and poultry--what do they feed on?"

"Oxen eat gra.s.s and hay and meal," said Dodo, in great haste lest some one else should speak first.

"Sheep eat gra.s.s and hay too. I've seen them over in the pasture on the hill," said Nat.

"Pigs will eat any old sort of thing," said Rap. "Sour milk and snakes and swill and rats."

"Ugh!" shivered Dodo. "Are all those nasty things in sausages?" "No, Dodo," laughed the Doctor; "when pigs are shut up they eat a great many dirty things, but naturally they prefer clean food like other cattle-- corn, acorns, apples, and so forth. Besides, those 'nasty things,' as you call them, turn into pork before they are put in sausages, for pigs know how to make pork. So you see that all the food of the animals whose flesh we eat comes out of the ground; and that is what the Bible means where it says, 'All flesh is gra.s.s.' But what other things are there that grow up out of the earth, tall and strong, each one holding a beautiful green screen to keep the sun from drawing all the moisture from the ground and making it too dry; shading the rivers that their waters may not waste away; some making cool bowers for House People to sit under, others bearing delicious fruits for them to eat, and all in good time yielding their bodies to make fires and give out heat to warm us?"

"Trees! Yes, trees of course," cried the children eagerly; "all kinds of trees, for trees grow apples and pears and plums and cherries and chestnuts and firewood too."

"Now what is there that preys upon all this vegetable life--upon every plant, from the gra.s.s to the tree, destroying them all equally?"

"Bugs and worms and all kinds of crawlers and flyers and hoppers," said Rap.

"Yes, every plant has an insect enemy which feeds upon its life juices.

So a set of animals has been developed by Heart of Nature to hold the plant destroyers in check, and these animals are the birds.

"Man may do all he can to protect his gardens, his orchards, his fields and forests, but if the birds did not help him the insects that work by night and day--tapping at the root, boring inside the bark, piercing the very heart of the plant, chewing off the under side of leaves, nipping off the buds--would make the earth bare and brown instead of green and blooming. Yet House People, both young and old, forget this. They shoot and frighten away the birds, either because some few of their feathered friends take grapes or other fruits and berries by way of pay, or merely from thoughtlessness, to see how many they can hit."

"Do _all_ birds eat bugs and such things?" asked Nat. "Olive said she used to put out grain and crumbs in winter for some kinds."

"Some birds eat animal food and some seed food, while others eat both; but almost all birds feed their babies upon insects. The nesting season is chiefly in spring, when all plants begin or renew their growth.

Spring is also the season when the eggs of many insects hatch out and when others come from the coc.o.o.ns in which they have slept all winter.

"Then the farmer begins his annual war upon them, and day after day he fights the Battle of the Bugs. But if he stops to think, and remembers that Heart of Nature has a use for everything, he will win this battle against the creeping, crawling, squirming regiments more easily. For above him in the trees of his forest, in the hedgerows and bushes of his pasture and garden, on the rafters of his barn, even in the chimney of his house, live the birds, willing and eager to help him. And all the wages they ask is permission to work for a living and protection from those of his fellowmen who covet the Oriole and Cardinal for their gay feathers and the Robin and Meadowlark for pot-pie."

"Singing-bird pie is wicked. I would like to pound them all," said Dodo, striking her fists together, as Nat did sometimes, not making it clear whether it was pie or people she wanted to pound. "But uncle, it is right to eat some birds--Ducks and Chickens and Geese and Turkeys."

"Yes, Dodo, they belong to another cla.s.s of birds--a lower order that seem made for food--not singing nor helping the farmers; but even these should not be shot needlessly or in their nesting season. But the higher order--the perching Song Birds--should never be shot, except the common Sparrow of Europe that we call the English Sparrow. His habits are wholly bad; he meddles with the nests of useful birds and is a nuisance to his human as well as bird neighbors.

"To prevent confusion Heart of Nature has divided the habits and appet.i.tes of Birdland, so that instead of a great many families all building in one kind of tree, or eating the same sort of insects or seeds, each has its own manners and customs. Thus they divide among themselves the realms of the air, the water, the trees, and the ground.

Some birds, as the Swallows and Flycatchers, skim through the air to catch winged insects. Others, like the Woodp.e.c.k.e.rs and Warblers, take the scaly insects from the bark of trees. Others that walk on the ground, like the Robin, the Thrush, Meadowlark, Crow, and Red-winged Blackbird, eat ground things, such as the fat cutworms which mow with sharp jaws the young plants of corn, cabbage, and onions."

"Please, Doctor Hunter," asked Rap, "I thought Crows and Blackbirds were wicked birds that ate up grain and corn, for the miller always puts up scarecrows to keep them away."

But before the Doctor could answer the children caught sight of Mammy Bun coming down from the house carrying a tray. Upon this was a pitcher, some gla.s.ses, and a plate full of cakes, which, when she came under the tree, they saw were delicious-looking buns, as light and brown as good yeast and careful baking could make them.

"Ah, mammy, mammy," cried Olive, Dodo, and Nat together, "how did you know that we should be hungry now, and we are simply famishing?"

"Well, honeys, I jess guessed it, I reck'n. I know'd ma.s.sa was a-learnin' you'uns suffin', and it allers 'peared to me that learnin'

was mighty empty work. I know'd Ma.s.sa Doctor was never a one to keep his patients holler, and least his own folks!" Mammy gave a big comfortable laugh as the Doctor took the tray from her hands and the children thanked her heartily, while little Rap smiled hopefully on seeing that there were six buns on the plate--that meant one for each and two for the Doctor, he thought.

"No one can make such buns as mammy," said Olive, old as she was breaking hers in half, to find the lump of sugar soaked with lemon juice that she knew was inside. "She used to make them for me when I was a little girl; that is why I named her Mammy Bun, and we've called her that ever since."

"I thought it was a funny name," said Rap.

"One for each of us, and one for the dish," said Olive, pa.s.sing the plate around. "One for the dish? What do you mean?" said Dodo.

"Mammy says it is always nice to have more food on a dish, than people are likely to eat, so that they shall see there is enough and the dish shan't feel lonely. You see, that last bun belongs to the dish."

"This time the dish will have to feel lonely," said the Doctor, who had noticed that Rap was looking at his bun, and not eating it; "for I think that Rap would like to take that one home to his mother by and by."

From that day Rap always believed that the Doctor could look into his head and see what he was thinking of.

"As we have been talking about the insect-killing that Citizen Bird does in order to pay his rent and taxes, as a good citizen should, I will tell you of the six guilds in Birdland, into which these citizens are divided in order to do their work thoroughly."

"What is a guild?" asked Rap.

"A guild is a band of people who follow the same trade or occupation, and birds are banded together according to the ways in which they work, though some may belong to several guilds. We will name each of the six guilds:

"1. Ground Gleaners.

"The birds who feed largely upon the insects which live in, on, or near the ground.

"2. Tree Trappers.

"The birds who feed on insects which lurk about the trunks and branches of trees and shrubs.

"3. Sky Sweepers.

"The birds who, while on the wing, catch flying insects.

"4. Wise Watchers.

"The large, silent birds, who sit in wait for their prey of field-mice and other little gnawing mammals, as well as insects.

"5. Seed Sowers.

"The birds who eat wild fruits and berries, and after digesting the pulp and juice, sow the seeds with their bodily wastage.

"6. Weed Warriors.

"The birds who crack seeds in their stout beaks, eat the kernels, and so destroy millions of harmful weed-seeds.

"You must write the names and definitions of these six guilds down in your books, because when you hear about each bird I will tell you to which guild he belongs, and if you know where and upon what a bird feeds it will be easier for you to find him. All the Land Birds belong to one or more of these guilds; but perhaps we shall find before we are through that some of the Water Birds have a guild of Sea Sweepers."

For a few minutes the children scribbled away in silence.