The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-04-01
Ldtest Styles
Your Children
By Olive Roberts Barton

tan open letter to boys about
 birds.)
 Dear children:
 have just come in from 2 long ride in the country, and here's what I saw; chickens, turkeys and ducks, COWS, sheep and pigs, all out en- toying the sun.
 The chickens were scratching for bugs, and the ducks were diving for tender morsels under the water, but the dignihed turkeys were pretty full and were just walking around.
 Of course the pigs were roofing for dear knows what, and the cows were still munching the lunches they had had in their barns, but both were contented out in the sun. The sheep seemed to be doing very well, too, finding enough short grass here and there to help out.
 But every one of these animals and each of the fowl knew that he had good regular evening meal coming to him as soon as he got back to the barn. The farmer would see to that. SThey had homes that were warm and dry and secure. and all the food they could eat. It didn't really matter much whether they scratched or grazed, at all. They would all be taken care of, and they knew it. If an enemy came near, the farmer, their master, would chase him away.
 Early Birds Are Hungry
 Now that is not all that saw when I was out in the country, not by any means.
 On you guess what else there was to interest me. It was the birds the little wild birds that had just come up from the warm south to sing for us and be friends all sum- mer.
 I saw two bluebirds, three robins, 8 flock of red-winged blackbirds, and some song sparrows, who have the loveliest song of all the early birds.
 The little bluebirds are SO blue. and their stomachs so pink in the sun that you want to hug them, if one could hug bird. And the rob- inS are SO kind and trusting that you feel you just must do solne- thing fine for them. They came, you know, and so did the bluebirds, be- fore the cold weather was over-so anxious were they to get here that they risked the snow. What they ate then, I don't know. But they must have been hungry on icy days.
 I said to myself, and I know you will think of 1t too, that these wild birds never ask anyone to feed them or keep them safe from hawks or other enemies. They don't know, even, where they will sleep.
 Spare Them From Death
 No farmer gives them regular meals, and they ask nothing, not single favor, of anyone. They are all trying just to live in this lovely spring world, and to give us joy by their songs.
 It would be grand if every one of US could help these visitors along, and all the other birds that will come soon, the flickers and wood- peckers, the wrens and the warblers, the red birds and the thrushes. Some of them are brown, and you may not know them, but all of them are lovely.
 These earnest little workers, these brave little soldiers, only ask us for life. It isn't much to give them, is 1t?
 So we'd better put away the slings and all the guns, or any, thing that would hurt them. And just because they need some kind of help, and safety, how nice it would be to build bird houses. where danger cannot reach them. Copyright, 1887, NEA Service, Incl one loggy, fiabby, overweight. Best way~to reduce in such circumstance