Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889
The Baltimore Bird
By Alexander Wilson (1766–1813)H
The orange, black-capped Baltimore is seen;
The broad-extended boughs still please him best,
Beneath their bending skirts he hangs his nest;
There his sweet mate, secure from every harm,
Broods o’er her spotted store, and wraps them warm,—
Lists to the noon-tide hum of busy bees,
Her partner’s mellow song, the brook, the breeze;
These day by day the lonely hours deceive,
From dewy morn to slow-descending eve.
Two weeks elapsed, behold a helpless crew
Claim all her care, and her affection too;
On wings of love the assiduous nurses fly,—
Flowers, leaves, and boughs, abundant food supply;
Glad chants their guardian, as abroad he goes,
And waving breezes rock them to repose.