 | The Poems of John Clare |  |
342
THE NUTHATCH
In summer showers a skreeking noise is heard,Deep in the woods, of some uncommon bird;
It makes a loud and long-continued noise
And often stops the speed of men and boys.
They think somebody mocks and goes along,
And never think the nuthatch makes the song,
Who always comes along, the summer's guest;
But bird-nest hunters never found the nest.
The schoolboy hears the noise from day to day,
And stoops among the thorns to find a way,
And starts the jay-bird from the bushes green;
He looks, and sees a nest he's never seen,
And bears the spotted eggs with many joys,
And thinks he's found the bird that made the noise.
| The Poems of John Clare | |