141

_The little rascals could practise the art of
camouflage_ 144

_Suppose you should find just one pair_ 153

_Through all the lonesome woods there is not
one dove_ 158

_Once, so many flew by, that the sound of their
wings was like the sound of thunder_ 161

_Oh, the wise, wise look of him_ 165

_Solomon knew the runways of the mice_ 168

_Those five adorable babies of Solomon_ 171

_He passed the brightest hours dozing_ 174

_It was time for the Feast of the Vagabonds_ 185

_Something south of the Amazon kept calling to
him_ 189

_Nature has kept faith with him and brought him
safely back to his meadow_ 195

BIRD STORIES

I

CHICK, D.D.

Right in the very heart of Christmas-tree Land there was a forest of
firs that pointed to the sky as straight as steeples. A hush lay over
the forest, as if there were something very wonderful there, that might
be meant for you if you were quiet and waited for it to come. Perhaps
you have felt like that when you walked down the aisle of a church, with
the sun shining through the lovely glass in the windows. Men have often
called the woods "temples"; so there is, after all, nothing so very
strange in having a preacher live in the midst of the fir forest that
grew in Christmas-tree Land.

And the sermon itself was not very strange, for it was about peace and
good-will and love and helping the world and being happy--all very
proper things to hear about while the bells in the city churches, way,
way off, were ringing their glad messages from the steeples.

But the minister was a queer one, and his very first words would have
made you smile. Not that you would have laughed at him, you know. You
would have smiled just because he had a way of making you feel happy
from the minute he began.

He sat on a small branch, and looked down from his pulpit with a dear
nod of his little head, which would have made you want to cuddle him in
the hollow of your two hands.

[Illustration: _Firs that pointed to the sky._]

His robe was of gray and white and buff-colored feathers, and he wore a
black-feather cap and bib.

He began by singing his name. "Chick, D.D.," he called. Now, when a