Baby Bear saw hundreds of birds in the garden, searching for bugs
"How about the kingbirds?" questioned Mother Bear.
"Kingbirds must have gadflies," grumbled Father Bear, "gadflies by the peck!"
"How about the swallows?" asked Mother Bear, who saw Baby Bear winking hard to keep back the tears.
"Swallows must have flies!" roared Father Bear, for he was all out of patience. "And spotted squash beetles! I'd look well stooping over in our garden five or six hours trying to catch squash beetles for company!"
"We might ask chickadees," ventured Mother Bear. She saw two big tears rolling down Baby Bear's cheeks, so she mentioned chickadees. "They like crumbs."
"One chickadee," said Father Bear, in gentler tones, "would much prefer five thousand five hundred and fifty cankerworm eggs in a day. We can't invite chickadees!"
"Cedar birds?" murmured Mother Bear.
"Cedar birds dine on caterpillars. We could fill the washtubs, I suppose, and pass them round!
"Blackbirds spend half their lives chasing insects and eating weed seeds. The phœbe bird works for the farmers. She eats weevils that spoil wheat and peas and beans. The wood pewees eat flies. Woodpeckers and meadow larks, hawks, and all owls have strange appetites!"