The Tale of Bobby Bobolink | Page 7

their new home. "If I can't see it as near as I am,
Henry Hawk will never find it as he sails high above the meadow, for
all his eyes are terribly sharp."
Mrs. Bobolink then told her husband that his improvement was a fine
one. And Bobby was so well pleased that he sang a song for his wife,
while she rested from her labors.

After that they flew off and told all their friends that their new home
was built. But they didn't invite anybody to a house-warming, for that
was not their way. They never so much as told people where their
house was hidden. They were afraid that some gossip might drop a hint
to old Mr. Crow, or his noisy cousin, Jasper Jay, or perhaps Mr.
Blackbird. And later there would be something in the nest that would
have made a dainty meal for any one of those rascals. No! Mr. and Mrs.
Bobolink did not intend to have their nest robbed of its treasure--not if
they could help it!
Now, it was only a short time later that Bobby Bobolink and his wife
shared a wonderful secret. Five grayish-white eggs, each quite pointed
at one end, lay in their nest. And nobody but themselves was a bit the
wiser.
To be sure, the neighbors remarked that Bobby Bobolink was simply
bursting with song. He was more musical than ever. But they never
dreamed what it was that could make him even happier than he had
always been.
At last there came a time when Bobby--though he was just as
happy--seemed to have less leisure for singing. And then it was easy for
the neighbors to guess the reason for that, because it was plain that the
Bobolink family was not gathering great numbers of grasshoppers and
caterpillars merely for the fun of it.
Hidden as the little Bobolinks were in the tall grass, no stranger found
them. Of course, Mrs. Bobolink went to some trouble to keep the secret
of her nest in the family. Whenever she left her home she moved along
the ground a little way before rising into view. And when she returned
she alighted some distance off and scurried through the grass until she
reached home.
By taking such pains she kept others from knowing exactly where her
nest was. And nothing had happened to alarm her until one day she
caught sight of Johnnie Green. He had come into the meadow to hunt
for strawberries. And to Mrs. Bobolink's dismay he was headed straight
for her house.

X
FOOLING JOHNNIE GREEN
WHEN Mrs. Bobolink saw Johnnie Green, carrying a tin pail, come
walking through the meadow straight towards her house she was
terribly frightened. She was not afraid for herself. Her only thought was
of her children, who were still too young to leave the nest.
Somehow Mrs. Bobolink felt sure that Johnnie was searching for her
nest, for he had his head bent toward the ground, as if he were looking
for something. And that bright tin pail! Mrs. Bobolink viewed it with
alarm. She just knew that it was meant to carry off her children!
Of course Johnnie Green was only looking for strawberries. But Mrs.
Bobolink didn't know that. All at once she remembered how she had
objected to having her nest in the very center of the meadow, although
her husband had told her that he thought it the safest place. And it came
back to her, too, how she had said that Johnnie Green would never
come into the lower end of the meadow, near Cedar Swamp, for fear of
getting his feet wet.
Poor Mrs. Bobolink choked as she thought how foolish she had been.
But it was too late to move now. And she didn't see what she was going
to do. She wished Bobby was at home, though she had no idea how he
could have headed off Johnnie Green who was fast drawing nearer.
As soon as she could speak she called "Chenk, chenk!" at the top of her
voice. She could think of nothing else to say.
Luckily Bobby was not far away. And hearing his wife's alarm call, he
turned to hurry home. But seeing Johnnie Green, he swerved sharply
aside and dropped down upon a tuft of grass not too near the nest.
And then Bobby Bobolink made a great fuss. He cried "Chink, chink!"
over and over again, now fluttering into the grass, now bobbing into
sight again. Johnnie Green couldn't help noticing him.

"There must be a nest there!" he exclaimed under his breath. And he
ran quickly to the spot where Bobby was acting so queerly. But when
he got there Johnnie found nothing.
Bobby Bobolink had fooled him. He never knew how near he came to