Transcriber’s note
To preserve the character of the original book, background images and small font sizes are used. Separate links to the images and text are provided.
CAW! CAW!
or
The Chronicle of Crows
A Tale of the Spring-time
by
RM
Illustrated by
JB
LONDON; Grant & Griffith, successors to Newbery & Harris:
THE CORNER OF ST PAUL’S CHURCHYARD.
[1]WHAT HAPPENS IN SPRING WHEN THE LITTLE BIRDS SING.
In the merry spring time, thus says my song,
When the sun shines bright and the days grow long,
And the crocuses brilliant, in purple and gold,
Bloom in the gardens in numbers untold;
When in the fields the grass grows green,
And a few early lambs are seen;
When daffodils in gaudy gowns
Look gay upon the verdant downs,
And fair spring flowers of each degree
In every sheltered nook you see.
[2]HOW MANY STICKS GO TO THE NEST OF A CROW.
Upon a bright and sunny day
The Crows to one-another say,
“Caw! Caw! our nests now let us build.”
Away they fly: each beak is fill’d
With little sticks of beechen wood,
With which they build their houses good:
When all is done, with joy they see
The work of their community.
[3]THE NESTS NOW MADE, THE EGGS ARE LAID.
And, circling widely, Caw! they say,
Caw! Caw! our eggs now let us lay.
Two spotted eggs in every nest
For warmth await the mother’s breast.
And all the Crows around them fly
With flapping wings and joyful cry:
“Caw! Caw!” they say, “now it is fit
That we upon our eggs should sit.”