Mr. Red-winged Blackbird was pleased. Anybody could see that. He bowed and[p. 5] spread his wings and tail, and uttered his well-known call, "Conk-err-ee!" before he made any reply.
"People often compliment me on my taste in colors," he said at last. "And for year-round wear I do think my suit is about as good as anybody could ask for. But you know yourself that during the first half of the summer Bobby Bobolink makes a cheerful sight, when his black and white and buff back flashes above the meadow."
And Mr. Meadowlark couldn't deny it; for he knew that it was true.
II
THE LATEST ARRIVAL
Bobby Bobolink did not reach Pleasant Valley in time to spend May Day with his old friends of the summer before. And although everybody was disappointed not to see him—and hear him—the feathered folk tried to be cheerful and told one another that Bobby ought to arrive almost any day.
"He always finds it hard to leave the rice fields in the South," Mr. Red-winged Blackbird observed with a knowing wink at old Mr. Crow, as the two stopped for a chat on the morning after May Day. "It's rice-planting time in the South,"[p. 7] Mr. Red-winged Blackbird explained. "Somewhat like corn-planting time here!" And he winked once more.
Although Mr. Crow was in the habit of scratching up Farmer Green's newly-planted corn, just as Bobby Bobolink uncovered the freshly-sown rice in the South, Mr. Crow never cared to have any of his neighbors even hint that he did such a thing. And now he glared at Mr. Red-winged Blackbird, who continued to wink at him.