FOR THE CHILDREN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18333, 24 February 1923, Page 8 (Supplement)

FOR THE CHILDREN.

THE HARMONIOUS THRUSH. * J. * BY "EDITH HOWES. (All Right* • Reserved.) ' * f 33. In Australian . hills, where gum "trees lifted their heads 'high to the sun, and raindrops ' from the last spring shower flashed on the wild maidenhair and spider orchids at their feet, a native thrush came carolling dowh the slopes. ," Glee, glee, glee, the World is full of glee! The world lis full .of glee he sang in golden ' tones, every note : harmonious with every other note, quick and loud and, full and rich, and lifting unexpectedly and delightfully at the end of the refrain with a clear octave between the last two notes.

Again and again the lovely melody) pealed forth, ' filling the air with music. hen. a change, ''Full of glee! Full of i Glee!" with a drop of a fifth between I the last two notes. And all the time he ! was . searching, searching for his . food, | probing , crevices, and lifting loosened , bark for the insects that he loved. Up ; and down the trees he flitted, from bough , to bough and trunk to trunk, swift and : active, s hunting under leaves and stems for the" caterpillars and moths and little i beetles that 'tried to hide from his i marauding beak. 1 He found and ate, then ; lifted his head and stood a moment, and j again poured forth those delicious notes, as if ,in gratitude for food so sweet and tasty. : - ~Or perhaps he was singing to please his mate and keep her charmed and well content with him. She was never _ far away. On the next tree, or on a neigh- j bouring branch, she too flitted up and down, searching,, probing, eating, as quick and active as ho. They were very like one another, he and she, both grey-, brown birds tinged with plive down the back and lightened on the underbocly-'by palest grey and white. Fine brown lines ran down the soft lightness of their breasts, and their green-tinged feet were supple and slender. They were not as speckled as most thrushes, and they had no gay colours such as those the parrots and robins and little blue wrens flashed about the hills, but every line and curve of their bodies Was finely moulded. They had a ' thoroughbred look. At the foot of a hill they came to a clearing. Here the tall trees stood like sentinels round garden plots and a playground and a little country school. 'Gardens are good places for grubs," said he. " I am afraid," said she, " a building means people, and people mean danger. " There is no one about," he said, and he flew down. ■ ' , . There were thousands of grub* in the garden. " Come down," he called, and she came and feasted beside him. Very softly, very" slowly th'S school door was opened and the teachor, finger on lip, led her scholars out to watch the birds. " There they are " ■ she said; " harmonious thrushes. Don t frighten them, and-perhaps they will stay about. At" first tlie birds did not see. them, but when they did they flew swiftly up into the trees' And- hid, peering silently through tho leaves. ".I told you so," said she. " Thev look friendly," said he. " I don't believe they will hurt us. I'm going to find out." To her horror he flew down to a plot quite near the watching children, pretended to pick at a grub, and sang hi.4 song of glee. Not a child moved. ; Their faces glowed with pleasure at-the , sweetness of his song and his nearness, and the teacher whispered, Yon brave thing" under her breath. Not for the world would they have harmed him ' He flew back. " You see/' he said. . She was still /a little doubtful, but the garden was very tempting, so they stayed about for a few days, feeding and singing, and charming the children. _ '"It is time to build," she said. Let us go back to the thick bush." V Let us build here," he urged. There is plenty of good food here for the chicks when they come out." _ She . was afraid at first, but again ha won the day, audi they spent hours look- * ing for a suitable site, examining and treading .each likely spot, until they found i a cosy corner in a young wattle tree that j grew at the top of the garden. Here, where two strong branches sprang from the trunk and the leafage was thick above, they brought shredded bark, bit by bit, pullinprit from the gum trees and carrying it swiftly to their hidden corner, and there weaving and twisting it into the cup-shape of the nest. They lined the nest with fibrous roots, and the mother curved and moulded all with the pressure of her rounded breast. Soon in the nest lay > a pearl white egg, about an inch in length, blotched here and there with brown and lightly shadowed with bluish- . grev. When three more eggs were laid the long sitting would begin, and all the care and watching. The slender, bright-eyed mother must make the most of these lovely days, for soon her freedom would be gone. So down the garden and across the wooded hills she flitted, fearless now. love and happiness in her heart, the shimmer of sunlit gum leaves over her head and the gleam of wild flowers below, md her mate beside her flooding the valley with music and filling the children's <■ hearts with joy." " Glee, glee, glee! The l\»orld is full M glee." ' The day came on which she did not > I leave the nest. Her mate went off, singing loudly all through the hours to let her that he was near, but she sat, still and silent, -thrilling her eggs with the heat of her body and tho love of her mother-heart. And still and silent she sat, day after day and night after night, till brooding time was over and the little ones came out. She w.tp not unhappy, j though liberty was gone; golden wattle j waved about her, golden stars peeped through the leaves at night, and her mate was never, far away. When the little ones came out, life was suddenly filled with activity again. Their father came., to help, /and even he had little time for singing now. To and fro they went, to and fro from early dawn -till twilichtj fell, hunting, searching, probing, feeding the four, fast-growing creatures whose appetites seemed never satisfied.,"Didn't I tell you this would be a good place?" said the father. " See how our children*, thrive !" ; y; Then came'.the teaching and the train- . ing. Flishf/'liad to be taught, and the

JC iXKIIU IIUU W UC ttUU UIAO | fiiuHne of food, and caution when enemies j might be near. J But at last all was done. TV and father were once acrain I

free to ,go flitting down the wooded hills, and through the shimmer arid sunlit gum leaves four younglings fed and played and practiced their* pretty notes. By and by Went carolling down the slopes, flooding the".-valley with music and enriching world with jos. "It was beau- ! tiful 'to watch*" said the children in the little school! fof. they had seen it all. •* " ' —— |: ■ • .(~Yr' AN INDOOR GAME. ' v: / "V ' '' *■%) '-I " "About 1 half, the players leave the room, and those remaining are told the secret of. the game. One player is called in at A time, s and is given a chair beside the leader. s The leader 1 says to him, " Will you do exactly as I do, and say .'Boots without shoes '?" The Reader must accompany his words witlTsomo action, such • as clapping his hands, shaking TTia head, lifting his chair, gr anything else he can think of,„ each time asking for boots without shoes ° to be said. The player tries to. copy the actions, and keeps on repeating all the words. The came, of course, is to say simply " boots,' but it is sometimes quite a long time before this is fouhd out; Each player is brought In in turp, affording much amusement to those already in, the room.

:.v 0 ■i i -