Dickey Downy: The Autobiography of a Bird

about the

s, and both of

those strains o

om one

soon be putting on our new fall attire, as toward the close of the summer our family exchange their pretty black-and-white suits, so much admired, for a bec

to see the country. The return trip to the North is always made by night. A great many people have wondered why we do this, and those

ops of the leafless trees, swayed by the icy winds from the upper lakes, and with perhaps but little to eat. I would not have exchanged places with them for the world. But my older comrades assured me the jays were not in need of my sympathy or pity. They liked the invigorating cold and chattered merrily in the

igh up in the blue sky, over housetops and tops of trees, skimming along above rushing waters or tranquil streams in quiet meadows. Mere existence was a keen del

a time. A thick undergrowth of young saplings prevented any roads, and on

of the wood. I could imagine how cut off from the whole world the women and children in these cabins would feel, for it is natural for human beings to love society. The

ves do. One day while we were there two travelers camped under the tree where our family was roosting. They had evidently had a hard time making their wa

ched with the thorns and bushes; and I haven't seen a newspaper for a week. If the

mountaineers who stay here all their lives. Your little tramp of a few days is nothing to what they do all the time and never think of complaining. The half of them are too poor to own a mul

s so determined to look on the dark side, while the other took a cheerful view of everything. Growler

t several articles and set them on the ground in front of him. In the box was a bottle stoutly corked containing a dark liquid, some of which

be when your stomach is warmed up with a few ham and mustard sandwiches, some ch

Growler sarcastically; but he rose and flicked the leaves and twigs fr

when it came his turn to take some. "My! but it tastes good

cream," objected Growler, c

y to-night, and then possibl

was slung a leather strap in which were a few books. He carried a rifle, and from his coat pocket bulged a small packa

?" he asked of Cheery as

ery. Then as the new-comer advanced he called: "Hello, friend! Who

k against a tree, "I know the paths through here fairly well, for I come this way several times through the summer. But this will

middle-aged man, with a m

wler, nodding toward the books in the strap. "I've just been w

not a commercial traveler in any sense. I'm a pastor at a town near here,

es and among these wildcats to preach to the m

em. They have souls to be saved, my friend. I feel it is my duty to carry the word to them. As for the wildca

wildcat bounty to pay expenses as you go along-or else keep it f

from St. Thomas, I

d said he was the pasto

I understand you've done a great dea

you in these mountains

e on this mountain side. I am well repaid for all the sacrifice of comfort I make, in knowing how glad they are to have me come. To many of them I am the connecting link with the rest of mankind. Ah! the world knows nothing of t

o make him willing to tramp right into the wildest part of the Allegheny. Mountains to p

estly, "the world is full of Christian me

ul words that minister speaks and see what he is doing,

r would profit by the sunshiny example of Chee

utlook was the grandest I had ever seen, and though I have traveled much since then I have never found anything to exceed it in

attle above the clouds." There was still a part of a cannon wagon in the yard which visitors came to see and examined with much interest. They also of

where this regiment stood, or where that officer fell, as if war and the taking of life were the most pleasant rather than the most distressful subject

ess. Far below the lights of the city glowed like spangles in the darkness. Above us was the sta

rries, though I could not taste any at that time, as the season was past. I heard the landlady compl

ey must have eaten bushels of

ling to see who it was. And who should it be but dear little Marion. And there too was her aunty, Miss Dorothy, and the pr

she was thinking the mountain birds were very greedy to eat u

ur cherries too," she said, "bu

. We couldn't possibly have used the rest if the birds had not eaten them. We had a cellar full of cann

mpatiently; "but for all that I don't bel

, drive them off, break up their nests, starve them out, and have a crop of caterpillars instead of cher

it, for I didn't consider it either kind o

ser inspection it was seen that she was propelling a strange-looking vehicle. Two of her carriage wheels were gone, and between the remaining two the lady was perched. At sight of it I was immediately reminded of the queer thing that Johnn

e awaiting her approach. As she bowled along the f

s grand! It is almost as if I were

rider but three feet from the ground, to the exhilaration felt by a bird spurning the

r, when we noticed that the lady's

his millinery exhibition of d

e land. We will find them wherever we go, north, south, east, and west. No town is too small,

ir was soft and balmy, and the atmosphere filled us with a serene, restful languor quite new to those who had been accustomed to the brisker habits of a colder clime. Besides the birds there were many human visitors

ting; they are the most deliberate creatures one can find, but very foppish and neat in their dress. Never will you find a particle of dust on their silky plumage, and the p

hey alighted in circles as is their habit. As they came down in dense droves to get their food, the red dots on their wing tips almost overlapping those of their fellows, dozens were slain by a single shot. They were very fond of the berries of the cedar tree

oast, but here too, on these sunny plains, the death

. Another firm shipped seventy thousand to the city, and still the market c

must have seemed appalling to my mother, for I

se magnificent feathers appear upon the bird only through the mating and nesting season, the cruelty of the act is still more dastardly. The attachment of the parent birds for their young is very beautiful to witness, yet this dev

ns. Unlike the American human species, in whom local attachment is not largely developed, and who take a new house every moving day, the egret repairs and fixes over the old house year

oding over her darlings with every demonstration of maternal affection. She was a beautiful

ld her babies were piteous, but the hunters did not want them. Their scant plumage is worthless for millinery purposes. Possibly the mother might have escaped had

that bunch of feathers on her bon