a month yet!"

"I said NESTING," retorted Jumper, speaking rather crossly, for you see
he did not like to have his word doubted. "Hooty the Great Horned Owl
doesn't wait for Mistress Spring. He and Mrs. Hooty believe in getting
household cares out of the way early. Along about this time of year they
hunt up an old nest of Redtail the Hawk or Blacky the Crow or Chatterer
the Red Squirrel, for they do not take the trouble to build a nest
themselves. Then Mrs. Hooty lays her eggs while there is still snow and
ice. Why their youngsters don't catch their death from cold when they
hatch out is more than I can say. But they don't. I'm sorry to hear that
the Hooties have a nest here this year. It means a bad time for a lot
of little folks in feathers and fur. I certainly shall keep away in from
that part of the Green Forest, and I advise you to."

Peter said that he certainly should, and then started on for the dear
Old Briar-patch to think things over. The discovery that already the
nesting season of a new year had begun turned Peter's thoughts towards
the coming of sweet Mistress Spring and the return of his many feathered
friends who had left for the far-away South so long before. A great
longing to hear the voices of Welcome Robin and Winsome Bluebird and
Little Friend the Song Sparrow swept over him, and a still greater
longing for a bit of friendly gossip with Jenny Wren. In the past year
he had learned much about his feathered neighbors, but there were still
many things he wanted to know, things which only Jenny Wren could tell
him. He was only just beginning to find out that no one knows all there
is to know, especially about the birds. And no one ever will.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Burgess Bird Book for Children, by
Thornton W. Burgess

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BURGESS BIRD BOOK FOR CHILDREN ***

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