CHAPTER XXI

SPRING'S HARBINGERS


Amy was awakened on the following morning by innumerable bird-notes, not
songs, but loud calls. Hastening to the window, she witnessed a scene
very strange to her eyes. All over the grass of the lawn and on the
ground of the orchard beyond was a countless flock of what seemed to her
quarter-grown chickens. A moment later the voice of Alf resounded through
the house, crying, "The robins have come!" Very soon nearly all the
household were on the piazza to greet these latest arrivals from the
South; and a pretty scene of life and animation they made, with their
yellow bills, jaunty black heads, and brownish red breasts.

"_Turdus migratorius_, as the doctor would say," remarked Burt; "and
migrants they are with a vengeance. Last night there was not one to be
seen, and now here are thousands. They are on their way north, and have
merely alighted to feed."

"Isn't it odd how they keep their distance from each other?" said Webb.
"You can scarcely see two near together, but every few feet there is a
robin, as far as the eye can reach. Yes, and there are some high-holders
in the orchard also. They are shyer than the robins, and don't come so
near the house. You can tell them, Amy, by their yellow bodies and brown
wings. I have read that they usually migrate with the robins. I wonder
how far this flock flew last--ah, listen!"

Clear and sweet came an exquisite bird-song from an adjacent maple. Webb
took off his hat in respectful greeting to the minstrel.