Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

Opal “Grandma” Habisch Column 8/24/98



One day, three little girls went for a walk in the forest.
Their names were Mary, Elizabeth, and June.

As they walked in the woods, they heard many birds singing.
But as they came close to a big tree, they thought they heard someone crying.

They went closer and saw a group of crying baby birds sitting
on the ground. The baby birds had no feathers and could not fly up to their
nest in the big tree. The mother was sitting on a branch near by and she
looked very worried.

The baby birds needed to be put back in the nest, but it
was too high up for the girls to reach.

Elizabeth decided to get her brother, Tom. “He can
climb up the tree and put the babies back,” she said.

Mary and June stayed with the baby birds to protect them
from cats or other dangers. When Tom and Elizabeth came back, they were
running.

Tom climbed up to check the nest in the tree. He needed
to be sure that this was the nest that belonged to these baby birds. The
mother bird flew to a branch by the nest, so Tom decided that it must be
the right one. He climbed back down to get the baby birds.

“How will I carry the birds when I’m climbing up the
tree?” he wondered.

Mary said, “I have a bag you could put them in.”

So Tom put the baby birds in the bag and closed it up.
Then he put the top of the bag in his mouth and carried it up the tree by
holding it with his teeth.

The baby birds and the mother bird were making all kinds
of noise now. They didn’t understand what the children were doing to them.

When Tom got to the nest, he sat on a branch and opened
the bag. Carefully, he put the baby birds back in their nest.

The mother bird was flying around and around the tree.
When Tom climbed down, she flew over to the nest. As soon as she landed,
the baby birds quit crying. Then she flew down to the children as if to
say thank you.

Tom said, “She will take care of her babies now. Let’s
go home.”

Three weeks later, Elizabeth, June and Mary decided to
go back in the woods and see if the birds were still there.

When they found the nest, they were surprised and happy
to see the baby birds sitting on a branch by the nest. Now they were big
enough to fly around with their mother.

The bird family flew down to the children. It seemed as
if they wanted to tell the children good-bye. And then they flew away.

Elizabeth, Mary, and June were very happy to know that
the bird family had grown up safely.

The next time you are in the woods, listen very carefully
to all the birds singing. If you hear a bird crying, check to see if you
can help.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.