Gus Talks to the Birds

It was a sunny spring day and Gus knew exactly what he wanted to do. He had not spent anytime checking to see if all the birds had returned from their winter away. Usually in the very early spring Gus would go around to all the nests and make sure that all his bird friends had made the trip back from the south ok. Gus had been so busy watching Trudy think that he hadn't had the chance to check all the nests. But this morning when Gus woke up, Trudy had left a little ladder for him to climb out of the nest. She had also left a note: Going to look around for some twigs and stuff to build a big nest. Use the ladder to climb out of the nest. See you tonight. Trudy. "Well, well Trudy," Gus laughed, "You certainly are determined to build the big nest." Gus was still laughing when he went into his small cottage to make some porridge for breakfast. Gus sat down at his table and ate his porridge and drank some tea. he felt that it was time to walk around and see if his bird friends were all home. Gus met his friend Robin, BlueBird, Cardinal, and a few of his squirrel friends. He spent the day listening to all of the stories about flying home from the south. The birds coud not believe the wonderful weather. They al felt like it was summer already! Gus was tired when he returned home. He looked up at Trudy's nest. It was about 3:00 in the afternoon and Trudy was not back. Gus had a small snack and climbed intot his hammock to take a quick nap. Gus thought he hadjust fallen asleep when he heard Trudy's familiar hoot hoot. He blinked his eyes. It was dark out! he must have slept for a while. He turned over and looked at his clock - it was 9:00!!! he had missed his dinner - slept right through dinner! "Gus, what did you do today that you are so tired?" Trudy hooted. "Trudy I really just spent the day walking around checking up on our bird friends," Gus answered," I only had a small snack and then fell asleep for a quick nap." "Well Gus, I think you took more than a quicknap. Are you hungry?" Gus thought about that. Was he hungry? He was always hungry! "Climb up on my back Gus - let's head over to the beach for a dinner in the dunes." Gus climbed on Trudy's back for the short flight to the beach. Trudy and Gus met some friends in the dunes and had a wonderful clambake dinner. They had such a good time - they didn't evennotice that the sun was begiining to come up. "Good thing you had that 'quick' nap Gus," Trudy hooted, "We have spent the whole night talking and laughing!" Trudy flew Gus back to her nest and they watched the sun come up. "I think I coud use a quick nap," Gus said. "So could I Gus, so could I."