A scuffle and a cackle in the hen-coop near at hand
Give token where the mother hen broods o’er her fledgling band,
And Spotty seeks the hay-mow, purring loudly in her pride,
For there, in safety waiting her, three kittens do abide.
The Robins and the Bluebirds call and answer all around,
And the cheerful little peeptoads seem to crowd the air with sound,—
And yet it is not noisy. Joyous peace is everywhere,
And a consciousness of Heaven makes the twilight hour more fair.
—Ruth R. Hayden.
[This poem was written by a student in The Rhode Island State Normal School. It is of unusual interest since the author, although blind, undertook the course in nature-study and succeeded so well that her instructor writes: “I am tempted to say that only those are blind who won’t see. I am convinced that the subject is most valuable for classes in schools of the blind.” See Bird-Lore, Vol. XIII, No. 6, p. 316.—A. H. W.]
FEMALE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, NEST AND YOUNG
Photographed by E. Jack
THE CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER
By T. GILBERT PEARSON