Page:The Zankiwank & the Bletherwitch (IA zankiwankblether00fitziala).pdf/68

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
52
The Zankiwank

close proximity to the Rooks and the Crows, who were well able to take care of their own caws. Afterwards came the Swifts and the Larks up to all sorts of games. A few Woodpeckers joined their feathered friends, and one Cuckoo was there, because Willie heard him, but he kept somewhere in the background as usual. Owls and Bats and Millards with Wigeons and Pigeons brought up the rear with a few Plovers, including the Lapwing. Jack Snipe came tumbling after in a hurry, with a stranger called the Whimbrel and a Puffin out of breath. There were other birds as well, but I don’t think you would know them if I mentioned them. Maude and Willie did not, and they were quite authorities on ornithology, and perhaps you are not.

The Song of the Birds.

We are the birds of London Town,
Come out to take the air,
To change our coats of grey and brown,
And trim our feathers rare.