Then one of them answered, after a pause, “I guess so.”
“Why did you do it?” asked Father Thrift.
“Well,” replied the other boy, “most of the birds are no good, anyway. They just eat everything we plant.”
“What of yours have they eaten?” asked Father Thrift.
“The robins have been stealing our cherries,” said the boy, “until we have hardly any left for ourselves.
“The bluebirds eat our berries and grapes.
“The kingbirds eat not only our fruit, but our honeybees as well.
“The brown thrashers eat our raspberries and currants, while whole flocks of bobolinks get their food from our oat fields.
“The meadow larks eat our grain.
“And as for the blackbirds and crows, they are the worst thieves in the world. They even pull up our sprouting grain.