Little Folks' Land (Yesterday's Classics) by Bigham Madge A

Author:Bigham, Madge A. [Bigham, Madge A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9781599153759
Publisher: Yesterday's Classics
Published: 2010-11-14T23:43:49.994000+00:00

How the Jaybirds Planted Trees

YOU could hardly find a prettier bird than Mr. Jaybird, with his coat of dark, rich blue, trimmed in black, a vest of white, and a most beautiful crest of feathers on his head. And while he could not sing so very well, he was a fine dancer, and did so many funny things you could not help but love him. There was one thing that Mr. and Mrs. Jaybird liked better than anything else in all the world—and that was acorns! Why, they thought acorns were better than ice cream and candy, and you know how good that is. So they always built their nest in an oak grove, because the little bluejays were just as fond of acorns as their mother and father were, and every morning Mr. Jaybird would say, "Hi, there, you little bluejays, come to breakfast, I say, the very finest breakfast in all the land!"

And there would be just acorns for breakfast. Then at noon time Mr. Jaybird would say, "Hi, there, you little bluejays, come to dinner, I say; the very finest dinner in all the land!"

And there would just be acorns for dinner. Then, when night time came, Mr. Jaybird would say, "Hi, there, you little bluejays, come to supper, I say; the very finest supper in all the land!"

And there would just be acorns for supper; and Mr. Jaybird and Mrs. Jaybird and all the little jaybirds got as fat as fat could be, eating acorns. Now, Mr. Jaybird was a farmer—he knew somebody had to plant oak trees if there were to be plenty of acorns to eat, so he said he believed he would plant oak trees himself, and train up the little bluejays to plant acorns, too, and then he felt sure there would always be oak trees growing. So early one morning after breakfast, Mr. Jaybird said, "Who wants to help me work today?"

And all the little bluejays said, "I! I! I!"

"Come along, then," said Mr. Jaybird, "fly down to the ground with me, and do as I do."

So the little bluejays fluttered to the ground by his side, and watched him very closely with their sharp, bright eyes. Mr. Jaybird hunted around in the leaves until he found a nice fat acorn, and then he pecked a little hole in the ground and put that acorn in it, and hammered it quickly down with his strong bill, until you couldn't see even a speck of it. Then he found another fine, fat acorn, and pecked another hole in the ground, and hammered it down in the ground,—and another, and another, and another, and another, and another.

"What are you doing, father?" said all the little bluejays. "We thought acorns were to eat—not to hide in the ground!"

"So they are," said Mr. Jaybird, "but don't acorns have to grow on oak trees, I'd like to know? And if no one plants acorns, how can there be any trees?"

"Oh, oh, oh," chirped the little bluejays, "we want to plant oak trees, too, father.

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