THE FARMER AND THE BIRDS.
It was springtime. The birds were singing merrily as they built their nests.
But the farmers were angry. They did not want the birds to eat the corn in the fields, and the cherries on the trees.
The farmers said that all the birds must be killed. But the birds had one friend.
This friend stood up before the farmers and said, “Think of your woods and fields without the birds! Who will drive the worms from your fields and gardens?
“The birds pay you well for the grain and thecherries that they eat. What will you do without their sweet music?”
The farmers laughed and would not listen to the friend.
They sent men and boys into the fields and the woods to kill the birds. The little ones were left to die in their nests.
When summer came, there was not a bird to be seen. Hundreds of worms ate everything that grew in the gardens and fields.
That autumn there were no red and yellow leaves on the trees. The branches were dry and brown.
Then the farmers were sorry. The next spring they sent a man away to bring the birds from all the country around.
One day the man drove a wagon covered with green branches into the village. Cages filled with singing birds hung upon the branches.
The farmers opened the doors, and the birds flew out.
Once more the woods and the fields were filled with sweet music.
Suggested byLongfellow’spoem, “The Birds of Killingworth.”