Project Gutenberg's The Bird and Insects' Post Office, by Robert Bloomfield

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Title: The Bird and Insects' Post Office

Author: Robert Bloomfield

Release Date: March 26, 2010 [EBook #31787]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE BIRD AND INSECTS' POST-OFFICE.

[Illustration: _Frontispiece._

THE BIRD AND INSECTS' POST-OFFICE.]

THE BIRD AND INSECTS' POST-OFFICE.

BY

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD,

_Author of "The Farmer's Boy," "Rural Tales", &c. &c._

WITH THIRTY-FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS

NEW YORK:

E. P. DUTTON AND CO.

GRIFFITH AND FARRAN: ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD, LONDON.

[_The Rights of Translation and Reproduction are Reserved._]

PREFACE.

"THE BIRD AND INSECTS' POST-OFFICE" was projected and written by ROBERT
BLOOMFIELD, author of the "Farmer's Boy," &c., excepting Letters VIII.,
X., XI., and XVI. by his eldest son, Charles. It was the author's
intention to publish it uniformly with his other juvenile work, the
"HISTORY OF LITTLE DAVY'S NEW HAT," but he did not live to do so, and it
was therefore included in his literary _Remains_, published in 1824--a
year after the poet's death--in two volumes, price twelve shillings. Its
circulation, in consequence, has been extremely limited, its form of
publication preventing its introduction to children; for this reason,
and because I think it would be a pity for it to be shut up for ever in
a dusty old volume from the little ones, for whom it was written, I
have sent it forth in the form originally intended for it to assume.

The original manuscript, in the author's autograph, I recently presented
to the Trustees of the British Museum.

WALTER BLOOMFIELD.

_March 1st, 1879._

CONTENTS.

LETTER PAGE

I.--FROM THE MAGPIE TO THE SPARROW 19

II.--THE SPARROW'S REPLY 22

III.--FROM A YOUNG GARDEN