Sarah’s cousin Margaret came to spend all summer with her. The two girls were up late the first night she got there, laughing and having so much fun they didn’t think they would wake up early the next morning.
Something did wake them, though, and it was very early. There was a sound coming from outside.
The cousins opened their eyes, looked at each other and asked, “What is that?”
Going over to the window, they saw a very noisy bird in the tree next to Sarah’s window.
“What’s that bird doing?” asked Margaret.
Sarah didn’t know, but said, “This is the first time I’ve ever seen it.”
So they stayed at the window watching.
The bird was chirping and singing, then it flew away. “I guess it saw us,” said Sarah.
“So it probably won't come back,” Margaret replied.
“I’m still sleepy. Let’s get back in bed,” Sarah mumbled as she yawned.
But just as the girls were getting comfortable back in bed, the bird returned, making as much noise as before. The cousins looked at each other and exclaimed, “Not again!”
They went back to the window and there it was. This time they looked more carefully and noticed it seemed to be looking and chirping at something. When they turned that direction, they saw another of the same kind of bird.
“I think they’re talking to each other,” Sarah said.
“It looks like they’re really excited about something,” Margaret added.
The girls sat in their pajamas a few minutes, watching the birds talk to each other. Then the one on the ground flew to the tree, with a twig in its mouth.
Both birds began flying around, bringing twigs and things back to the tree. Sarah and Margaret turned to each other and cheered, “They’re building a nest!”
The two birds stopped, and for a moment, the birds outside were looking at the girls inside and the girls inside were looking at the birds outside. Then the birds began to chirp at the girls.
Sarah said, “It’s okay, you two. You can build your home there.”
Margaret began to whistle and make chirping noises and said, “Look, we can make sounds just like you.” The birds looked at each other, then the bigger one flew to the window ledge.
“You see,” said Sarah, “we’re your friends.” The birds looked carefully at the girls’ smiling faces and knew they would be good neighbors.
Always chirping, the birds flew back and forth gathering more things for their nest. The girls also saw the birds eating some berries growing on one of the bushes in the yard.
Now they felt hungry and went to get some toast for breakfast. While they were eating, Sarah suggested, “We can go pick some more berries out in the yard and see if the birds will eat them.” Margaret thought that was a good idea.
After filling a little basket, they went back inside to the window and were surprised to see how much the birds had gotten done on their nest since they first started early that morning. The cousins called to the birds and put a few berries on the ledge. First only the bigger bird came, but soon both were at the window eating berries.
Sarah whispered, “Let’s see if they’ll eat from our hands!” They put some berries in their hands and held them out. The birds slowly made their way over, and sure enough, started eating right out of their hands!
Sarah and Margaret smiled a big smile at each other. They wanted to scream with excitement, but they didn’t want to frighten the birds. So they just held their breath and watched. When the birds had enough to eat, they went back to work on their nest.
The girls laughed merrily about the birds eating from their hands. They ran and excitedly told Sarah’s mother all about what had been happening. Now she wanted to see the birds too, and the three of them watched together wide-eyed as the birds kept working hard.
Finally, Mom said it was time she got busy like the birds and prepare lunch, so the girls went to help. And the two cousins spent the rest of that day riding their bicycles and drawing on the sidewalk with chalk.
The next time ...
they got to look in on their birds, it was time for bed. The birds had stopped working on their nest for the night too, and the girls couldn’t see them because the tree was so dark.
“I think they must be tired after doing all that work,” Margaret said.
“Maybe they’re so tired they won’t wake up as early tomorrow,” Sarah thought hopefully.
But Sarah’s hope did not come true. The cousins were awakened once again very early by the sound of the busy birds.
“My father sometimes says he has to work as hard as a dog. I think he should start saying he has to work as hard as a bird!” Sarah declared as the girls rolled out of bed.
“That’s true. My dog just sleeps all day,” Margaret added.
Mom came to their room that morning to give the girls a book with pictures of birds. So they were soon wide-awake, looking through it to find what kind of birds these were, building a home outside their window.
They soon found a match. “They’re mockingbirds,” the girls said together. The two birds turned to look at Sarah and Margaret, as if to ask: “Did you call us?” The girls giggled and the birds went back to work.
Margaret thought out loud, “We need to give them names.”
“That’s a good idea!” Sarah replied. “The big one is the loudest. We can call him Loudee,” she laughed and added, “I think he’s the boy -- boys are always making so much noise!”
“That means the other one is the girl,” said Margaret. “Let’s pick a pretty name for her, something short likeLoudee. Short names are the cutest ... I know, let’s call her Birdie.” The girls thought these were just the right names for their little friends.
Later that day, they noticed that Loudee and Birdie were not bringing twigs anymore, but were finding soft things like grass and leaves now. Sarah had an idea and went to get some leftover yarn from her mom. They placed a bit on the ledge and called, “Loudee, would you like to use this to make the nest nice and soft?”
When Loudee and Birdie saw the soft white pieces of yarn, they chirped and danced with excitement. They flew over to get it, and began lining their nest. Birdie then came back to the window, and looking at the girls, she let out a soft sound: “hew, hew.”
The girls made the same sound back to Birdie. She flapped her wings and went back to work on the nest. Sarah turned to her cousin, “I think she was thanking us for the yarn.”
Margaret replied, “She’s going to have the softest nest to sit in. That will be better than having to sit all night on a cold, hard limb.”
Sarah said, “I wonder if this means they’re almost finished.”
Loudie and Birdie were finished, and even though the girls were kept busy with Mom and Dad for the next couple of days, they always started and ended their day by saying “Good morning” and “Goodnight” to the birds. Margaret would be sure to give a whistle and a chirp. Both birds seemed to enjoy seeing and hearing from the girls. They always gave a happy ‘hew’ and a chirp.
Come back next week for more ~
copyright © 2012 by NoeandCindy
