Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1902-07-25

why. where is it," she asked, after
searching lawn and porch, parlor and
| hall.
She ran to the gate thinking that
perhaps her father had left it there,
to be brought to the house in wheel
barrow
But no, there was no box at the
gate.
q can't find it, papa" she an.
nonnced, appearing in the garden,
where Mr.. Carter was at work on the
strawberries.
I've hunted everywhere. You're
just fooling me-"
Her father laughed, a twinkle in his
eye.
Mamma" he called, come and help
Cecily find her package"
BY and by both Cecily and her moth
er returned to the garden.
Really Henry said Mrs. Carter,
there is no package"
ITS plain that l have the best eyes
of the family And he left his ber-
ries, and led the way to the lawn. He
stopped just under a great maple
shading the lawn. "There!" he said,
| and pointed upward.
From the limb above them hung a
birds nest, shaped like long pouch,
horse hairs.
The wind was swaying it to and
fro, and above ii fluttered two birds,
one glossy black on the head, throat,
and upper part Of the back it's wings
edged with white, and all under the
breast and about the tail orange-color
shading to flame; the other, yellowish-
olive, with dark brown wings and
quilts margined with white.
20, papa!" cried Cecily, and 20,
Henry" cried her mother.
For dangling by a string which was
woven into the nest was an express
tag labelled Miss Cecily Carter, Pc
wee Valley, Ky"
Il remember dropping that tag when
| opened Cecily's present from Aunt
Mabel" explained Mrs Carter. I'VE
looked at the things on the porch, you
remember"
And those darling orioles have just
put it on that nest, and now it's my
very own" And Cecily jumped up
and down in her glee.
Nobody ever had such an express
package before in all their lives, did
they, papa?"
Il think not, Cecily. Keep your eye
on it now, and see what will come out
of it," And she did.
From an upper window she could
look directly down upon the nest, and
by the help of her mothers opera
glasses she discovered that the pack
age was far from empty The mouth
of the nest, however, was partly closed
for fear of hawks; and she could not
count the eggs. They were whitish
and marked with scrawls of dark
brown. Day after day she watched,
until at last the nest was filed with
white orioles.
Papa" she said one day, "a papa
bird has to work as hard as a real
papa-harder. too; for those baby
birds just swallow from morning till
night. They eat grubs and worms,
flies and caterpillars; and today saw
mamma oriole give one of them a CO.
coon. The moment she touches the
edge of the nest, their mouths go open
like traps"
Mrs. Carter persuaded Cecily to
write down all her discoveries about
the birds in a little blank book, and
her papa drew picture of the nest on
one of its pages.
Cecily watched her package faith
fully until the small orioles made
their start in the world
Then she came in grief to her moth.
err.
That ends the express package"
she said 1T was the incest anybody
ever sent me. Only | wish it had last
ed longer"
why not study other birds?" in
quired her mamma, "Ill tell you
what we'll do, Cecily. l will buy you
a nice book about birds and lend you
my glasses, and you can find out
about the orioles friends and neigh
bors" Cecily was delighted.
You know" said her mother, that
express packages are always coming
from Mother Nature. They don't often
have express tags on them, but they
are just as interesting But, come,
Cecily, let us find papa; and he will
get the nest for you, and you can keep
it for curiosity"
When Cecily had it in her hand,
she found that it was woven with
wonderful skill. Bits of string,
threads, and some gay yarns were
woven in with shreds of bark and
stalks of milkweed
That afternoon her mamma read
her some pretty verses about the orr
oles and their nest. When she ended,
Cecily gave a long sigh
Mamma, that was the very finest
express package | ever saw-more
things came out of it."-Eva A. Mad
den, in Primary Education.