III.
The robin helps to brighten Winter days
And, if you listen carefully, he says,
“Oh please, oh please do leave some crumbs for me;”
It’s greed, but still he says it cheerily.
The starling rolls his “r’s” with unctuous joy
And, preening, wonders whom he may annoy,
Then imitates a hen, a water-fowl
And next the “Be quick” of a white barn-owl.
The heron has a fierce and yellow eye
And eats up all our fishes on the sly;
There seems to be but one he deigns to like,
For all I hear him say is simply “Pike.”
Tree-creepers, like some busy brown field-mice,
Unwearying chase the furtive fat wood-lice,
Then round the oak-tree’s bole they slyly peep
And tell you what you thought you knew—“We creep.”
This is the way the sparrow calls his mate;
He says it early and he says it late,
He says it softly, but he says it clear:
“Come unto me, come unto me, my dear.”