 | Birds, Bees and Blossoms |  |
21
ROOKS
High up among the tall elm trees
We build and quarrel, sleep and caw;
But we're terribly troubled with thieves,
Though we give them all Lynch law
When any come within our claw.
We build and quarrel, sleep and caw;
But we're terribly troubled with thieves,
Though we give them all Lynch law
When any come within our claw.
For my own part I never steal,
Though my heart it greatly grieves
To say we have too many that do,
That what one takes another receives,
And we are never safe from thieves.
Though my heart it greatly grieves
To say we have too many that do,
That what one takes another receives,
And we are never safe from thieves.
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To steal the house in which you live,
The very bed on which you lie,
You must admit is theft indeed;
And yet on my poor wife and I
Did fall this great calamity.
The very bed on which you lie,
You must admit is theft indeed;
And yet on my poor wife and I
Did fall this great calamity.
Oh, how hard we both did work
For days and days in early spring!
We went for miles in search of sticks,
From light to dark were on the wing,
And oh, the loads that we did bring!
For days and days in early spring!
We went for miles in search of sticks,
From light to dark were on the wing,
And oh, the loads that we did bring!
It was in autumn I proposed:
Miss Rook said if till spring I tarried
She would help me to build our nest;
And many a heavy stick she carried,
That we might be the sooner married.
Miss Rook said if till spring I tarried
She would help me to build our nest;
And many a heavy stick she carried,
That we might be the sooner married.
“Once get a house that's all our own,”
She said, “then no one can us tease;
We can get up just when we like,
We can lie down just when we please.”
Bless her! she loved to take her ease.
She said, “then no one can us tease;
We can get up just when we like,
We can lie down just when we please.”
Bless her! she loved to take her ease.
We built our nest, and when we'd done,
She one fine morning to me said—
“We are invited out to-day,
My mother gives a splendid spread,
And she was most genteelly bred.”
She one fine morning to me said—
“We are invited out to-day,
My mother gives a splendid spread,
And she was most genteelly bred.”
I said, “My dear, of course we'll go,
And bring her back to see our nest.”
I smoothed the feathers on her back,
Saw that they all were nicely dressed,
And that she had put on her best.
And bring her back to see our nest.”
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Saw that they all were nicely dressed,
And that she had put on her best.
The party went off very well,
And finer grubs I never saw
Than those provided for the feast
By my dear old mother-in-law.
We parted with a loving caw.
And finer grubs I never saw
Than those provided for the feast
By my dear old mother-in-law.
We parted with a loving caw.
When we reached home our nest was gone!
We couldn't find it anywhere;
I looked up, and I looked down,
Then at my wife, and said, “My dear,
All this is very strange and queer.”
We couldn't find it anywhere;
I looked up, and I looked down,
Then at my wife, and said, “My dear,
All this is very strange and queer.”
My wife she had been looking too,
And, as her eye is rather quick,
She pointed to a bough, and said,
“I am quite sure that is our stick;
Just look how crooked it is, and thick.”
And, as her eye is rather quick,
She pointed to a bough, and said,
“I am quite sure that is our stick;
Just look how crooked it is, and thick.”
Said I, “Why, what a burning shame!
I am quite sure of that stick too;
They've stolen our nest while we've been out,—
The job we had to make it do!—
The work to break that stick in two!”
I am quite sure of that stick too;
They've stolen our nest while we've been out,—
The job we had to make it do!—
The work to break that stick in two!”
Said she, “We've but been gone six hours,
And when we went I didn't see
A nest upon that branch at all;
There's no doubt who the thieves can be,
Through its being built so suddenly.
And when we went I didn't see
A nest upon that branch at all;
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Through its being built so suddenly.
“It took us days, and we went miles
To fetch those rafters, joists, and beams.”
I said, “My dear, you scarce could sleep;
I've heard you mutter in your dreams,
‘Oh what hard work this building seems!’
To fetch those rafters, joists, and beams.”
I said, “My dear, you scarce could sleep;
I've heard you mutter in your dreams,
‘Oh what hard work this building seems!’
“Looked on you with a loving eye,
When other Rooks have been at strife,
And thought, ‘Ere we fight may I die;’
For I believe, my own dear wife,
No Rook e'er had a better life.”
When other Rooks have been at strife,
And thought, ‘Ere we fight may I die;’
For I believe, my own dear wife,
No Rook e'er had a better life.”
She put her horny beak to mine,
I saw the tear stand in her eye,
I pressed her head against my wing,
And said, while wiping her cheek dry,
“We now will raise a hue and cry.”
I saw the tear stand in her eye,
I pressed her head against my wing,
And said, while wiping her cheek dry,
“We now will raise a hue and cry.”
Loud as we could we called, “Police!”
Didn't we give a deafening caw?
They came, we told them all our wrongs;
And when the stolen nest they saw,
Didn't they pitch the thieves the law?
Didn't we give a deafening caw?
They came, we told them all our wrongs;
And when the stolen nest they saw,
Didn't they pitch the thieves the law?
The rookery rang with cry of “Thieves!”
The police pecked them with their beaks,
They struck them with their great black wings
About their noses, eyes, and cheeks,
Till they were black and blue for weeks.
The police pecked them with their beaks,
They struck them with their great black wings
About their noses, eyes, and cheeks,
Till they were black and blue for weeks.
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They chased them from the rookery,
And said, “If ever you come here
Again the longest day you live,
Or near our neighbourhood appear,
We will you into pieces tear.”
And said, “If ever you come here
Again the longest day you live,
Or near our neighbourhood appear,
We will you into pieces tear.”
The police Rooks then set to work
And built us up another nest,
And in it we live happily;
With little Rooks we now are blest,
And grandmother's at times our guest.
And built us up another nest,
And in it we live happily;
With little Rooks we now are blest,
And grandmother's at times our guest.
We never let them go to play
With little, dirty, low-bred Rooks;
They sit for hours upon the boughs,
And I see that they mind their books,
While mother cleans our nest and cooks.
With little, dirty, low-bred Rooks;
They sit for hours upon the boughs,
And I see that they mind their books,
While mother cleans our nest and cooks.
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