Daddy's Bedtime Bird Stories Read online

  "So it was decided, and the cove was named Bluey Cove because it hadbeen on Bluey's account that they had moved there. And of all theseagulls he was the happiest and most relieved."

  HOW THE LITTLE REDBIRD BECAME RED

  A Gray Bird Was Flying Overhead.]

  Jack and Evelyn had been playing circus all day. Jack had been the bigman who stands in the middle of the ring and cracks his whip, whileEvelyn had turned somersaults and made pretty bows. They told daddy allabout it when he came home that evening, so he said:

  "As you're so fond of circus performing I will certainly have to tellyou about the circus the animals gave.

  "Cub Bear got it all up, and every animal who went to it had to firstagree to do something. And it really was a most marvelous circus. Theyall marched around in a parade, while the little bears beat the drums.The rabbits rode on the backs of the possums, and the monkeys rode onthe backs of the elephants. The chipmunks drove chariots which weredrawn by the gray squirrels, and the clowns were the frogs. The rest ofthe animals caught hands and followed in the march. They laughed andshouted and enjoyed themselves immensely.

  "Then all took their seats and one by one did some sort of an act. Themonkeys won a great deal of applause by their trapeze acting. Cub Bearwalked a rope and danced around on his hind legs. The bunnies rodebicycles, but that ended sadly, as one of them--a son of old PeterRabbit, who was renowned for his bicycle riding--in trying to show off,fell and skinned his nose. All the other animals gathered around to seewhat they could do, while the bunny moaned and moaned.

  "A gray bird flying over the tent heard the sound of moans and cries andflew in to see what the trouble was, for he was a very kind-heartedbird. He saw that the bunny was really more frightened than hurt, andwith his wings he wiped off the blood from the rabbit's face. Theblood-stain never got off the wings of the bird, so ever after he andhis family became known as the redbirds.

  "The bunny fully recovered and once more felt like himself; but, ofcourse, after the accident, the animals didn't care to go on performing,so they all sat around the center of the tent and had a most gloriouspicnic. Refreshments of all kinds were passed around.

  "They had pink lemonade, peanuts, popcorn, ice-cream cones, and watertaffy. After they'd finished eating they sang all the old-time songs andfrisked about, playing and dancing. Bunny Rabbit, who felt quite spryagain, frisked about too, and the redbird flew overhead, flapping hiswings with joy, for he was so glad everything had turned out so merrily.

  "The circus proved such a success and the animals were in such highspirits that they then and there decided to have a circus every year."

  POOR OLD MR. OWL'S TOOTHACHE

  "I'm ready now," said Dr. Raven.]

  Evelyn had been eating a great deal of candy--so much that it had givenher a very bad toothache--and when daddy came home he found her curledup on the bed looking very mournful. Jack had been trying to comforther, but he hadn't been able to help much. So when he heard daddy's stephe called, "Come along, daddy, and tell a story especially for Evelyn tomake her forget about her toothache."

  "That is too bad," said daddy. "I'm sorry my little girl has atoothache. I'll see if I can't tell a good story so you'll feel betterand will be able to sleep and have pleasant dreams. I think I'll tellyou about old Mr. Owl, for he had the most terrible toothache one time.He had been eating a great many sugar-plums and lots of candy, andbefore he knew it one of his teeth was aching so hard he could hardlystand it. 'Oh, dear,' he moaned; 'my tooth, my poor tooth! Whatever willI do?'

  "It ached so badly for several days that he decided at last he'd go tothe dentist. Dr. Raven was considered the very best dentist. So off wentMr. Owl to his office in the pine tree. When he arrived there he saw Dr.Raven busily fixing Mrs. Crow's teeth. She was leaning back on a stumpof wood which Dr. Raven used as his dental chair. She had a rubber bandover her mouth and looked very miserable. It quite frightened Mr. Owl,but he tried to be brave and sat down, put on his spectacles and beganto read one of Dr. Raven's magazines. In a few moments Mrs. Crow got outof the chair, and Dr. Raven said, 'I'm ready for you now, Mr. Owl.' SoMr. Owl took off his spectacles, got into Dr. Raven's chair and leanedhis head back. 'Open wide,' said Dr. Raven. Mr. Owl opened his mouth aswide as he could, and Dr. Raven looked inside. First he looked over hisupper teeth, then over his lower teeth, and finally he began to poke atone back tooth with such energy that Mr. Owl screamed, 'That's my soretooth, and you're hurting it terribly!'

  "'Yes,' said Dr. Raven; 'the tooth is a wisdom tooth, and it is muchinflamed, so I'll take it out right away.' He reached for his pinchers,but Mr. Owl said: 'If you take out my wisdom tooth I'll lose my wisdom,and I'm known all over the world for my wisdom. I simply won't have it.'

  "And before Dr. Raven had a chance to speak Mr. Owl had jumped out ofthe chair and flown off. When he got home his tooth still hurt, but thenext morning it felt much better, and the next day it was all well. 'Iknow what all the trouble was,' said Mr. Owl. 'I ate too much candy.I'll never eat too much again, for I cannot lose any of my wisdom teethwhen I'm known as the wisest bird.'"

  "Daddy," said Jack, "your story would be a very good one, only owlsdon't have teeth." Daddy smiled, and as the children laughingly went tobed, Evelyn said her toothache had gone.

  THE SOLOIST OF THE BIRD CONCERT

  He Sang His Song Several Times.]

  The birds had begun their early morning concerts. "I know why," saiddaddy. "It is because they have been practising for their openingconcert of the season which they gave this morning and which I am goingto tell you about this evening. They have been practising hard everymorning.

  "The vireos, having such lovely voices and being devoted to music, gotit up and made all the arrangements. Yesterday, the day before theconcert, they scratched signs on the trees, which in the bird worldread:

  "'Concert in the village park to-morrow morning at 6 o'clock. All thosewho are taking part will, of course, be present. Those who are nottaking part will be invited to attend. Splendid music. Good seats.Feature of concert to be the soloist. The name of the soloist will notbe made known until the concert.'

  "All the birds were tremendously excited when they read that, for it wasall a surprise arranged by the vireos. They were the only ones who knewwho the soloist was to be. At the rehearsals even the soloist had notappeared.

  "At last the time for the concert came. All the birds were up very earlythat morning, fussing to look their very best.

  "Most of the birds sat around on the grass, but some of them hadreserved boxes in the trees.

  "The program for the concert was delightful. The robins sang in chorus,as did the chirping sparrows. The warblers sang quartets and duets.Several of the chickadees gave little solos. The thrushes and the vireosappeared many times on the program. They were encored again and againand were greatly pleased.

  "The soloist was to appear the very last. A vireo came out and announcedto the audience that the soloist, being slightly nervous, would notstand before them and sing, but would sing from a very short distance.

  "Then they heard from a neighboring tree the strange, lonely song of thewhippoorwill. He sang his song several times over, and the applause wasterrific. The birds were charmed, absolutely charmed.

  "The whippoorwill was very modest and didn't see why they liked his soloat all. He had really been very shy about appearing at the concert. Buthe was encouraged by the vireos, who, as a rule, are nervous, too, whenthey appear in public.

  "At the conclusion of the concert a vote of thanks was given the vireosfor the crowning success of their concert and an additional vote ofthanks for their splendid soloist."

  THE ROBINS OPEN A SPRING SHOP

  The Robins Agreed It was a Good Scheme.]

  "The robins, having left their warm winter home, had settled near agreat, big, lovely park," said daddy. "Now, one of the robins happenedto be a very practical old bird. He suggested that they shouldn't spendall their time singing, especially now, before the summer came. T
hen hethought it was all right to play and sing all day. But it would be nicernow, he thought, to do a little work.

  "The old robin's idea was that certain robins every morning shouldstart out and dig up worms, for then they could get more than theywanted and could help supply the flocks and flocks of newcomers. Thenother robins could go into the woods and get the new little berriesthat had just come up, and the rest of the robins would keep a shop inthe biggest tree of the park. All the birds would do their shoppingthere in the most central place.

  "All the robins agreed that it would be an excellent scheme and so muchbetter than idling away all their time.

  "As soon as a new flock of birds would come to the park the other birdswould tell them about the shop of the robins, and off they would fly toit. And such good things as the robins all had in their shop! It keptthem pretty busy hurrying around to get enough provisions to last forall of their customers as well as themselves. But they thoroughlyenjoyed being so busy and decided that there was nothing in the worldlike work. At night they would feel so much better than if they'd beenidle all day, and then they felt as if they had really been doing somegood, for it was a great, great help to all of the other birds. You canimagine how they wouldn't be able to find things so quickly and theywouldn't know right away where the softest earth was so as to dig forthe worms.

  "Of course some of the early bird families did arrive as early as therobins, but the robins were the thoughtful and unselfish ones whothought of the other birds."

  "Did they charge anything for the things they sold?" asked Jack.

  "No," said daddy; "the old robin said that birds should never chargeeach other anything, and, besides, they really felt that the work wasdoing them good and that then they'd enjoy the summer all the more.

  "And the other birds certainly did appreciate what the robinswere doing for them.

  "The shop of the robins grew to be just like a daily party, for all thebirds would fly there every day just about the same time, and after theyhad picked out the berries and the worms that struck their fanciesthey'd stay around and chirp and chat with the robins and each other."

  THE RACE BETWEEN THE SECRETARY BIRDS

  Mongo Got Quite a Bit Ahead.]

  "The secretary birds had planned to have some field races," began daddy,"and the afternoon of the races had come. You know, the secretary birdshave very, very long thin legs. Their legs are so thin that you canhardly see how it is they can support such big bodies, for the secretarybirds have really fat bodies.

  "Well, on the afternoon of the races they all entered, and you never sawsuch running in all your life! They simply went like the wind, but thechief race of all was between one bird named Sandy and one named Mongo.They were considered the fastest runners of all. They had raced oftenand often before and had always come in a tie. But this time Mongo hadbeen practising very hard and had been very careful not to eat anythingto hurt his wind. Sandy had been practising every day, too, but hethought it was absurd to give up things to eat. However, Mongo hadalways heard that all athletes were very careful of their eating, and,as he had never been able to beat Sandy yet, he was bound he would tryeverything he could so as to win.

  "The prize was to be a fine, great, big snake which had been capturedand killed a few days before the races were to take place."

  "Do secretary birds eat snakes?" asked Evelyn.

  "Yes," said daddy; "they practically live on them."

  "I shouldn't think that would be nice food," added Evelyn.

  "No, we don't think so," answered daddy, "but you know we eat bacon andlike it, so probably the secretary birds think it is as funny for us toeat pigs as we do to hear of their eating snakes."

  "No," said Evelyn thoughtfully, "I suppose not. They soundso horrid, though."

  At that moment Jack, who was growing very impatient, not caring what thesecretary birds ate, chimed in: "Daddy, please hurry and tell us who wonthe race. I can hardly wait to hear. I am sure Mongo did, though."

  "No," said Evelyn; "I think Sandy did because he wasn't such anold fuss as Mongo."

  "Well," continued daddy, "during the race all the secretarybirds shrieked in their cackling voices: 'Go it; go it! Win,Mongo! Win, Sandy!'

  "For a few moments Mongo got quite a bit ahead, but Sandy succeeded incatching up with him, and they passed by the goal side by side.

  "It was a splendid race, but it showed that Mongo and Sandy were reallyabsolutely evenly matched, so they gave a funny cackle, which meant alaugh, and each, taking an end of the prize, said, 'We'll all have ataste of the prize, as neither of us can win it.'

  "So they all sat down to a very jolly supper party."

  THE QUARREL BETWEEN NAUGHTY LITTLE SPARROWS

  One Little Bird Found a Crumb.]

  Jack and Evelyn had been feeding crumbs to the birds every dayfor some time.

  "I fancy they enjoy them pretty well, don't they?" said daddy.

  "Yes; they love them," replied Evelyn.

  "Do they ever scrap over who shall get a crumb first?" added daddy.

  "No," said Jack; "they never seem to. They really are very cunning, andthey seem to be very friendly and get along beautifully."

  "Well, you know," said daddy, "the other day I saw some birds having anawful fight. One little sparrow had found a very big crumb and wastrying to keep it all to himself."

  "Sparrows are supposed to be rather fond of fighting, aren'tthey, daddy?" asked Jack.

  "They do seem to be considered crosser and to have more cranky naturesthan other birds. But perhaps it's because they're always around us, andthey never have a quarrel that we don't see it. But really we ought tobe very grateful to the sparrows, for we always have them with us."

  "Yes; that's true," said Evelyn. "And they're plucky little creatures,too, never minding bad weather, not even the very worst. But do tell usmore about the fight, daddy."

  "Another little sparrow," continued daddy, "was furious when he saw theselfishness of the first sparrow. He completely lost his temper. Heflew at the first little sparrow and hit him with his wings just ashard as ever he could.

  "Then a number of sparrows came and joined in the fight. Some took theside of the first sparrow and some of the second sparrow.

  "It really might have been quite a serious battle had not an oldsparrow stepped in and pitched his voice way up in the air. He simplyshrieked at the sparrows.

  "'Stop; stop at once!' he cried.

  "All the sparrows stopped at once, for they were very much afraid of theold sparrow. He was quite their leader, and, though he was a very jollyold soul and would enter into all their sports, still he was quitestrict.

  "'Aren't you ashamed of yourselves, all of you,' he continued--'you,little first sparrow, for being so selfish, and you, little second one,for losing your temper, and the rest of you for joining in?'

  "And all the little sparrows hung their heads in shame, and they thenand there promised the old sparrow that they would never again be greedyand selfish nor would they fight.

  "The old sparrow then looked very much relieved, for it always made himvery unhappy when the sparrows were naughty."

  THE SUCCESSFUL CONCERT OF THE CHICKADEES

  One Little Chickadee Sang a Solo.]

  Evelyn was very fond of little chickadees, and she was sopleased when daddy said that he was going to tell them a storyabout them that evening.

  "You know," commenced daddy, "the chickadees had a concert the otherevening for the other birds. They sent out invitations on petals offlowers, and on the petals they made little holes with their beaks. Theymade six holes, meaning that the concert would begin at 6 o'clock.Exactly at 6 they all arrived.

  "They were all invited to perch on the nearby apple tree and pear tree,and the chickadees hopped about on the grass below.

  "Then the concert began. First one little chickadee sang a very sweetlittle solo, which won a great deal of applause.

  "The choruses were enjoyed tremendously, too, and the refrain of'chickadee-dee-dee' was
lovely, the other birds thought.

  "But, as you can imagine, the chickadee knew that it was the fashion tohave special features at concerts or at least one special feature.

  "So as a surprise, just before the last number, which was a chorusof all the chickadees, a special feature was announced by theleader of the concert.

  "'We are to have,' said the chickadee leader, 'a different number fromany other on the program.'

  "At this all the birds looked at one another with astonishment.

  "'We are to have,' the chickadee leader continued, 'a ballet.'

  "Now, the birds knew that in 'really real' grand opera there is usuallya ballet, but to have one at their concert was wonderful.

  "But before they had time to talk about it out came all the littlechickadees, dancing and hopping and wearing little wreaths of flowersabout their necks. Each carried a little flower in his beak, and everyflower was of a different color.

  "For some time they danced in and out of a little circle which theymade. They received constant applause.

  "It was something new and different to have a ballet dance at theconcert. The birds were very much impressed with the chickadees forbeing so up to date.

  "The chickadees were delighted that their concert had been such asuccess, for, as a matter of fact, they had been rather nervous ingetting up a concert when the other birds had given such beautifulones during the spring. They knew that their voices were not at alllovely, but the birds had wanted to hear them, and now the chickadeeswere very, very happy."