Among the Forest People Read online

  THE STORY OF THE COW BIRD'S EGG

  On the edge of the forest next to the meadow, a pair of youngGoldfinches were about to begin housekeeping. They were a handsomecouple, and the birds who were already nesting near by were much pleasedto see them tree-hunting there.

  Mr. Goldfinch was a fine, cheerful little fellow, every feather of whoseblack and yellow coat was always well oiled and lying in its properplace. His wife was dressed in a dull, greenish brown with a touch ofyellow on her breast. "Bright yellow and black does very well for Mr.Goldfinch," she would say, "but for one who has to sit on the nest aslong as I shall have to, it would never do. People would see me amongthe leaves and know just where to find my eggs."

  Mr. Goldfinch thought that there was never a bird who had a prettier,dearer, or harder-working little wife than he, and he would wonder howhe was ever happy before he knew her. That is a way that people have offorgetting the days that are past; and the truth is that Mr. Goldfinchhad made fun of the Robins and other birds all spring, because they hadto build nests and hunt worms for their babies, while he had nothing todo but sing and sleep and feed himself. In those days the Robins used tocall after him as he flew away, "Silly fellow! Silly fellow! Silly!"They knew that there is something sweeter in life than just taking goodcare of one's self.

  One afternoon Mr. Goldfinch saw a tiny green-brown bird on a sweetbriarbush, and as he watched her he thought her the most beautiful creaturehe had ever seen. She had such a dainty way of picking out the seeds,and gave such graceful hops from one twig to another. Then Mr. Goldfinchfluffed up his feathers and swelled out his throat and sang her suchsongs as he had never sung before. He did not want her to speak toanybody else, and yet he could not help her doing so, for Goldfinchesalways go together in crowds until they have homes of their own, and atthis time they were having concerts every morning. He showed her wherethe finest dandelion seeds could be found, and one bright and sunshinyday she became Mrs. Goldfinch, and they went together to find a placefor their home.

  They began one nest and had it nearly done, when Mr. Goldfinch said itwas not in a good place, and tore it all to pieces. Mrs. Goldfinch feltvery badly about this and talked it over with some of her Goldfinchneighbors. They told her not to mind it at all, that their husbandsoften did the same thing, and that sometimes they came to like the newplace much better than the old. At any rate, there was no use in gettingcross about it, because that was something she would have to expect.

  Mr. Goldfinch was sure that they had built too near the ground, and hehad chosen a crotch above. Toward this he was dragging the bits ofgrape-vine and cedar-bark which were woven into their first nest. Hesaid they could also use some of the grasses and mosses which they hadgotten together, and he even told his wife of some fine thistle-downwhich he could bring for the inside, where the eggs were to be laid.Mrs. Goldfinch watched him tugging with bill and both feet to loosen thebits of bark, and she said to herself: "Dear fellow! what a helper heis! I won't mind rebuilding if it makes him happy," and she went to workwith a will.

  When the sun went down in the west the next night the second nest wasdone, and it was the last thing at which the Goldfinches looked beforetucking their heads under their wings and going to sleep. It was thefirst thing that they saw the next morning, too, and they hopped allaround it and twittered with pride, and gave it little tweaks here andlittle pokes there before they flew away to get breakfast.

  While they were gone, Mrs. Cowbird came walking over the grass and dryleaves to the foot of the tree. She wagged her head at every step, andput on as many airs as though she were showily dressed, instead ofwearing, as she always does, a robe of dull brownish gray. She had seenthe Goldfinches fly away, and she was looking for their home. She was alazy creature in spite of her stirring ways, and she wished to find anice little nest in which to lay an egg. You know Cowbirds never thinkof building nests. They want all of their time to take care ofthemselves, which is a very foolish way of living; but then, you couldnever make a Cowbird think so!

  "That nest is exactly right," said Mrs. Cowbird. "I will lay my eggthere at once, and when Mrs. Goldfinch has laid hers she will have tohatch them all together and take care of my baby for me. What an easyway this is to bring up one's family! It is really no work at all! And Iam sure that my children will get along well, because I am alwayscareful to choose the nests of small birds for them. Then they arelarger and stronger than the other babies, and can get more than theirshare of food."

  So she laid a big white egg with gray and brown spots on it in theGoldfinches' new home, and then she flew off to the Cowbird flock, asgay and careless as you please. When the Goldfinches came back, they sawthe egg in their nest and called all their neighbors to talk it over."What shall I ever do?" said Mrs. Goldfinch. "I wanted my nest for myown eggs, and I meant to lay them to-morrow. I suppose I shall have tosit on this one too, but it won't be at all comfortable."

  "I wouldn't," said one of her neighbors, a Yellow Warbler. "I left mynest once when such a thing happened to me, and built a new one for myown eggs."

  "Oh dear!" cried Mrs. Goldfinch, "we have built two already, and Icannot build another."

  "Well, whatever you do," said a Vireo, "don't hatch the big egg out withyour own. I did once, and such a time as I had! The young Cowbird pushedtwo of my little Vireos out onto the ground, and ate so much that I wasquite worn out by the work of hunting for him."

  "My dear," said Mr. Goldfinch, "I have an excellent plan. We will putanother floor in our nest, right over this egg, and then by adding a bitall around the sides we can have plenty of room for our own children. Itwill be much less work than beginning all over again, and then theCowbird's egg will be too cool to hatch."

  Everybody called this a most clever plan, and Mr. Goldfinch was veryproud to have thought of it. They went to work once more, and it was notso very long before the new floor was done and the new walls raised.Then, oh, wonder of wonders! there were soon four tiny, pearly eggs oftheir own lying on the thistle-down lining of the nest.

  Mrs. Goldfinch had to stay very closely at home now, but her husbandwent off with his friends a great deal. He bathed and sang and preenedhis feathers and talked about his queer nest and his bright little wife,after the manner of Goldfinches everywhere.

  His friends laughed at him for helping so much about the nest, for, youknow, Goldfinches do not often help their wives about home. He cockedhis handsome head on one side and answered: "My wife seemed to need methen. She is not so very strong. And I do not know what she would everhave done about the strange egg, if I had not been there to advise her."

  When he got back to his home that night, Mrs. Goldfinch said: "I havebeen wondering why we did not roll the Cowbird's egg out on the ground,instead of going to all that trouble of building around it."

  And Mr. Goldfinch declared that he believed she was the only bird whohad ever thought of such a thing. "It could have been done just as wellas not," he said. "I must tell that to the other birds in the morning.How lucky I am to have such a bright wife! It would be dreadful if sucha clever fellow as I had a dull mate!"