Who Stole the Bird's Nest?, a poem by Lydia Maria Child

Lydia Maria Child, who is best known for her poem, Over the River and Through the Woods, the famous Thanksgiving poem, also wrote many other poems and was an abolitionist, a women's right activist, and Indian rights activist as well as a novelist and journalist.

 

WHO STOLE THE BIRD'S NEST?

LYDIA MARIA CHILD

"To-whit! to-whit! to-whee!
Will you listen to me?
Who stole four eggs I laid,
And the nice nest I made?"

"Not I," said the cow, "Moo-oo!
Such a thing I'd never do.
I gave you a wisp of hay,
But didn't take your nest away.
Not I," said the cow, "Moo-oo!
[376]Such a thing I'd never do."

"To-whit! to-whit! to-whee!
Will you listen to me?
Who stole four eggs I laid,
And the nice nest I made?"

"Bob-o'-link! Bob-o'-link!
Now what do you think?
Who stole a nest away
From the plum-tree, to-day?"

"Not I," said the dog, "Bow-wow!
I wouldn't be so mean, anyhow!
I gave the hairs the nest to make,
But the nest I did not take.
Not I," said the dog, "Bow-wow!
I'm not so mean, anyhow."

"To-whit! to-whit! to-whee!
Will you listen to me?
Who stole four eggs I laid,
And the nice nest I made?"

"Bob-o'-link! Bob-o'-link!
Now what do you think?
Who stole a nest away
From the plum-tree, to-day?"

"Coo-coo! Coo-coo! Coo-coo!
Let me speak a word, too!
Who stole that pretty nest
From little yellow-breast?"

"Not I," said the sheep; "oh, no!
I wouldn't treat a poor bird so.
I gave wool the nest to line,
But the nest was none of mine.
Baa! Baa!" said the sheep; "oh, no,
I wouldn't treat a poor bird so."

"To-whit! to-whit! to-whee!
Will you listen to me?
Who stole four eggs I laid,
And the nice nest I made?"

"Bob-o'-link! Bob-o'-link!
Now what do you think?
Who stole a nest away
From the plum-tree, to-day?"

"Coo-coo! Coo-coo! Coo-coo!
Let me speak a word, too!
Who stole that pretty nest
From little yellow-breast?"

"Caw! Caw!" cried the crow;
"I should like to know
What thief took away
A bird's nest to-day?"

"Cluck! Cluck!" said the hen;
"Don't ask me again,
Why, I haven't a chick
Would do such a trick.
We all gave her a feather,
And she wove them together.
I'd scorn to intrude
On her and her brood.
Cluck! Cluck!" said the hen,
"Don't ask me again."

"Chirr-a-whirr! Chirr-a-whirr!
All the birds make a stir!
Let us find out his name,
And all cry 'For shame!'"

"I would not rob a bird,"
Said little Mary Green;
"I think I never heard
Of anything so mean."

"It is very cruel, too,"
Said little Alice Neal;
"I wonder if he knew
How sad the bird would feel?"

A little boy hung down his head,
And went and hid behind the bed,
For he stole that pretty nest
From poor little yellow-breast;
And he felt so full of shame,
He didn't like to tell his name.

Related  Activities:

 Look at a Birds Nest is a PDF with a whole slew of Bird's Nest activities

My Backyard has some great Bird Watching activities for kids
 
Education dot com has directions for going outside and making a "real" birds nest

Here's a recipe called Bird's Nest which is basically a fried egg in a toast "nest"


 Make a Spaghetti Birds Nest (Non-edible)
 found at http://www.busybeekidscrafts.com/Spaghetti-Nest.html

Here's what you'll need...
• Spaghetti, cooked and cool
• Paint
• Glue
• 2 Bowls
• Spoon
• Wax paper
• Paper plates (optional)


Here's how you make it...
1. Line your bowl with wax paper. Make sure your bowl will mold a big enough nest for what you want to put in it!


2. Mix 1 Tablespoon of Glue with 1 Tablespoon of paint in a bowl. Add 1 Cup of cooked, cooled spaghetti and stir until the spaghetti is covered (if you want to use more or less spaghetti just remember, one part glue, one part paint). If you are using more than one color just place one color on a paper plate or wax paper and clean out your bowl and mix another color.


3. Line your bowl with spaghetti, one or two pieces at a time. Try to arrange the spaghetti up the sides of the bowl, so that your eggs will sit in it.

4. Put your nest up on a shelf to dry. The amount of time your nest will take to dry and harden depends on the size of your nest. At the very least it will take a day, for larger nests it will take 2 or more. You can speed up the drying process by taking off the wax paper once the 'top' of the nest has dried, so that the bottom can get some air and harden.