The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1886-06-02
Birds Nests.
Jour Dumb Animals,l

Jour Dumb Animals,
Little boy, are you going to look for birds
nests? If you are, stop moment and
think.
A birds nest is a very curious thing. You
have hands to work with, speech to ask for
what you want and reason to consider what
you are doing, yet you could not make a nest
if you tried a week. The bird has no hands,
only weak little bill to use; it cannot ask
for anything; is it not wonderful bird can
do what you cannot?
Here then, are two things that seem to me
very plain; one is, the great goodness of
God, who enables the little bird to build its
nest, and who puts green leaves on the trees
to shelter it from the cold winds and hot
sun.
The other is the great love the poor bird
must have for its young, since il can take
such great pains to provide warm house
for them. You see the bird never makes a
nest for itself. No; when night comes it
peIches on the twig of a tree, pops its little
head under its wing, and sleeps till the morn
ing sun begins to shine, and then it wakes
and sings
But when the bird is about to build nest
for its young, it sets itself to work in earn
est 1t gathers straw, wood, feathers and
little sticks, and with some clay it makes all
fast; and then it lays its eggs, and sits pa
tiently upon them till they are Matched; and
then it searches everywhere for insects, small
young ones. 1t returns to the nest, feeds
them, sits over them to keep them warm,
and chirps till they go to sleep.
My dear little boy, perhaps your mother,
or aunt, or some neighbor, has an infant
child. You have seen how fond she is of it,
how she nurses and feeds it, and puts it to
sleep on her bosom; how she grieves If it is
sick, and guards it from danger. And when
il begins 10 go alone, how delighted she isl
How she watches its little steps, and helps it
along, and tells everybody how it walks
Suppose that a strange man were to come
to the village, AID, when the mother is away
and the baby in the cradle were to snatch it
up and carry IL off. Suppose that you saw
him, and knew he would surely cause its
death, not knowing how to feed or tend it,
and that the mother would break her heart
at the loss OF it. what would you do? 1 will
tell you what think you would do; for l
dare say you are kind-hearted little fellow.
! think you would run after the man and tell
him all this, and beg him not to take the
child. You would say so much that at last
he might give you the child. You would
then go to Its mother and say, Though l was
not big enough to get the poor thing out OF
the mans hands, yet reasoned itaway from
him, and here is your dear little child again"
Do you not think it would be delightful to
see the JOY of the mother? and would you
not be thankful to God for making you the
means of restoring it to her again?
Yes, everybody likes courage in a good
cause, and towards deserves to be despised.
The man who would steal the child was both
cowardIy and cruel; and don't you think 1t
is so to rob an innocent bird of its young?
When you take the nest away the bird often
sees you, and if it could speak, it would hop
before you and say, ooh, sir, pity me! Many
a hard days work that nest cost me, and
thought / had put it in a safe place. Many
long hour sat over the eggs; and If you
knew the delight felt when the little heads
of my darlings came out, aud how joyful it
makes me to hear them chirp, and to put
food in their hungry beaks, and how pleased
] am when they begin to hop and fly, indeed,
indeed, you would not take them away.
You don't know the proper food for them,
nor when they have had enough; you can
not keep them so warm as do. Ny heart
will break il lose them; dear little man, do,
pray, oh do restore them to me againm
But not a word can the bird say; ii is
dumb; and its little heart may break, but it
cannot complain. l mean, it cannot COM
plain to you; but there is One who knows the
meaning of every sorrowful chirp it gives.