The Tale of Rusty Wren

"There's a new bird in there!" Rusty Wren exclaimed to himself as soon as the sound reached his ears. He listened intently. But the call was not repeated.

"Farmer Green is not satisfied with my singing!" Rusty cried. And thereupon he flew into such a rage that when his wife came home, a few minutes later, she was actually frightened.

"What in the world is the matter?" she asked her husband anxiously.

"Matter?" cried Rusty Wren. "Here I've sung my best for Farmer Green all summer, and waked him at dawn every morning without fail! And what do you suppose he's done? He has brought home a strange bird from the village, because he doesn't care for my singing."

Mrs. Rusty Wren told her husband that he must be mistaken.

"Maybe a bird flew inside the farmhouse by accident," she said. "What kind of bird is it?" she inquired.

"It said 'Cuckoo!'" Rusty explained. "But if it's a cuckoo, it's different from any other I've ever heard. You know yourself that Bla