Mr. Pine Grosbeak took him at his word, and plucked a hair from his back.
It made Bumper wince.

"Surely you'll give me one, too, for my nest," added Piney the Purple
Finch, and without waiting for consent he plucked two. Rusty the Blackbird
came swooping down next. "I need some of your beautiful white fur to show
my little ones," he said. "I'll take three."

The other birds expressed their admiration, and then begged a few hairs,
too. There was Mrs. Crested Flycatcher, and Mrs. Phœbe Bird, and little
Towhee the Chewink. The process of extracting a few hairs from his back
caused Bumper exquisite pain, but he wanted to be obliging, especially as
the birds all admired and flattered him.

But when Mr. Woodpecker, who had been rapping on the dead trees of the
woods, appeared, Bumper decided it was time for him to call a halt.
"That's all I can spare," he said, and darted back into the hollow branch.

He was glad to make friends with the birds, but he didn't want to be
robbed of all the clothes he had.




STORY XIII

BUMPER NEEDS A DOCTOR