nter?" asked Peter. "He is such a
tiny fellow I don't see how he can stand a very long journey."

"Huh!" exclaimed Jenny Wren. "Distance doesn't bother Hummer any. You
needn't worry about those wings of his. He goes clear down to South
America. He has ever so many relatives down there. You ought to see his
babies when they first hatch out. They are no bigger than bees. But they
certainly do grow fast. Why, they are flying three weeks from the time
they hatch. I'm glad I don't have to pump food down the throats of my
youngsters the way Mrs. Hummingbird has to down hers."

Peter looked perplexed. "What do you mean by pumping food down their
throats?" he demanded.

"Just what I say," retorted Jenny Wren. "Mrs. Hummer sticks her bill
right down their throats and then pumps up the food she has already
swallowed. I guess it is a good thing that the babies have short bills."

"Do they?" asked Peter, opening his eyes very wide with surprise.

"Yes," replied Jenny. "When they hatch out they have short bills, but it
doesn't take them a great while to grow long."

"How many babies does Mrs. Hummer usually have?" asked Peter.

"Just two," replied Jenny. "Just two. That's all that nest will hold.
But goodness gracious, Peter, I can't stop gossiping here any longer.
You have no idea what a care seven babies are."

With a jerk of her tail off flew Jenny Wren, and Peter hurried back to
tell Johnny Chuck all he had found out about Hummer the Hummingbird.

CHAPTER XXXVI. A Stranger and a Dandy.

Butcher the Shrike was not the only newcomer in the Old Orchard. There
was another stranger who, Peter Rabbit soon discovered, was looked on
with some suspicion by all the other birds of the Old Orchard. The first
time Peter saw him, he was walking about on the ground some distance
off. He didn't hop but walked, and at that distance he looked all black.
The way he carried himself and his movements as he walked made Peter
think of Creaker the Grackle. In fact, Peter mistook him for Creaker.
That was because he didn't really look at him. If he had he would have
seen at once that the stranger was smaller than Creaker.

Presently the stranger flew up in a tree and Peter saw that his tail was
little more than half as long as that of Creaker. At once it came over
Peter that this was a stranger to him, and of course his curiosity was
aroused. He didn't have any doubt whatever that this was a member of the
Blackbird family, but which one i