“Meanwhile his wife stays quietly on the nest, where her brown back matches the dead leaves of which it is made outside, keeping her quite safe from sight.

“In the afternoon, when the work of the day is almost over, and her mate is tired of scratching about for food, he takes a little rest and goes up high in a tree to boldly declare his whereabouts.

“‘Jore-e Blur-re, Jore-e Blur-re, willy-nilly, willy-nilly!’ he calls defiantly, as if he did not like having to keep quiet all day, and meant to tell his name at last.

“In early autumn the Joree family grow sociable enough to come into the garden, but they seldom linger late; vigorous as they are, they hurry southward before any hard frosts come.”

The Towhee

Length about eight and a half inches.

Male:  black with chestnut sides, white belly, tan-colored under the tail, the side feathers of which are white-tipped.

Female:  reddish-brown where the male is black.

A Summer Citizen of the United States east of the plains, and along the southern border of Canada.  Nests northward from Georgia.  Winters south of the Middle States.

A Ground Gleaner, Seed Sower, and Weed Warrior.

THE CARDINAL (THE CARDINAL GROSBEAK)

“There is a legend about this Cardinal—­the soldier with a red uniform,” said the Doctor; “one of Mammy Bun’s strange stories that came from the Indians to the negroes, always growing larger and stranger.

“There were two Indian warriors of the southwest that hated each other.  One had an only daughter and the other a son.  While their fathers were at war, this boy and girl met in the green forest.  The old women of their tribes told them that they must never speak to each other, or their fathers would surely kill them.  But the children said, ’There is no war or hate in our forest; the birds meet—­why may not we?’ One summer evening they stayed too long, watching the fish swim in the river and floating little sticks for canoes.  The two warriors returned suddenly to their villages, missed their children, and then some one told them tales.

[Illustration:  Cardinal.]

“The wind whispered to the trees, ’Trouble, trouble!  These warriors hate each other more than they love their children.  Hide them, O trees!’ Then the trees whispered to the birds, ‘Help the poor children—­help, help!’ And the birds said, ’They shall be turned into birds and escape, if you will make a little fire, O wind, to delay the warriors and give us time.’

“So the trees told the fireflies to light the dead leaves that covered the ground; the wind breathed on the fire, and soon the wood was all aflame!

“’What birds do you choose to be, that you may always live in the forest together?’ asked the Bird Brothers of the children.  ’Answer quickly, for the time is short.’

“‘I will be a large brown Sparrow,’ said the girl; ’then none will trap me for my feathers.’