The Birds Christmas Carol | Page 3

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THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL
BY KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN

To
The Three Dearest Children in the World, BERTHA, LUCY, AND
HORATIO.
"O little ones, ye cannot know The power with which ye plead, Nor
why, as on through life we go, The little child doth lead."

CONTENTS I. A LITTLE SNOW-BIRD II. DROOPING WINGS III.
THE BIRD'S NEST IV. "BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK

TOGETHER" V. SOME OTHER BIRDS ARE TAUGHT TO FLY VI.
"WHEN THE PIE WAS OPENED, THE BIRDS BEGAN TO SING"
VII. THE BIRDLING FLIES AWAY

The Birds' Christmas Carol.
I. A LITTLE SNOW BIRD.
It was very early Christmas morning, and in the stillness of the dawn,
with the soft snow falling on the housetops, a little child was born in
the Bird household. They had intended to name the baby Lucy, if it
were a girl; but they hadn't expected her on Christmas morning, and a
real Christmas baby was not to be lightly named--the whole family
agreed in that. They were consulting about it in the nursery. Mr. Bird
said that he had assisted in naming the three boys, and that he should
leave this matter entirely to Mrs. Bird; Donald wanted the child called
"Maud," after a pretty little curly-haired girl who sat next him in school;
Paul chose "Luella," for Luella was the nurse who had been with him
during his whole babyhood, up to the time of his first trousers, and the
name suggested all sorts of comfortable things. Uncle Jack said that the
first girl should always be named for her mother, no matter how
hideous the name happened to be. Grandma said that she would prefer
not to take any part in the discussion, and everybody suddenly
remembered that Mrs. Bird had thought of naming the baby Lucy, for
Grandma herself; and, while it would be indelicate for her to favor that
name, it would be against human nature for her to suggest any other,
under the circumstances. Hugh, the "hitherto baby," if that is a possible
term, sat in one corner and said nothing, but felt, in some mysterious
way, that his nose was out of joint; for there was a newer baby now, a
possibility he had never taken into consideration; and the "first girl,"
too, a still higher development of treason, which made him actually
green with jealousy. But it was too profound a subject to be settled then
and there, on the spot; besides, Mama had not been asked, and
everybody felt it rather absurd, after all, to forestall a decree that was
certain to be absolutely wise, just and perfect. The reason that the
subject had been brought up at all so early in the day lay in the fact that

Mrs. Bird never allowed her babies to go over night unnamed. She was
a person of so great decision of character that she would have blushed
at such a thing; she said that to let blessed babies go dangling and
dawdling about without names, for months and months, was enough to
ruin them for life. She also said that if one could not make up one's
mind in twenty-four hours it was a sign that--but I will not repeat the
rest, as it might prejudice you against the most charming woman in the
world. So Donald took his new velocipede and went out to ride up and
down the stone pavement and notch the shins of innocent people as
they passed by, while Paul spun his musical top on the front steps. But
Hugh refused to leave the scene of action. He seated himself on the top
stair in the hall, banged his head against the railing a few times, just by
way of uncorking the vials of his wrath, and then subsided into gloomy
silence, waiting to declare war if more "first girl babies" were thrust
upon a family already surfeited with that unnecessary article.
Meanwhile dear Mrs. Bird lay in her room, weak, but safe and happy
with her sweet girl baby by