Birds in their little nests, . . .

When things got a little contentious, my mother would often say, “Birds in their little nests agree.” She never cited the source but I have now looked it up and can tell you that it is a line from a hymn by Isaac Watts. The verse goes this way:

Birds in their little nests agree;
And ’tis a shameful sight,
When children of one family
Fall out, and chide, and fight.

That’s Common Meter, by the way, and you could sing it to St. Anne: “O God our help in ages past, etc.”

Isaac Watts wrote some good hymns but he didn’t know much about birds.

The bluebirds are back. They like to get an early start on the season. We were having breakfast recently, and suddenly there were four bluebirds, three males and a single female, on the deck railing not ten feet away. If you’ve never seen a bluebird, you’ve never seen blue. Blue Jays aren’t in the same league. Think of a dazzling October sky and that’s maybe close. But bluebirds invented the color. And there they were!

Twenty-four hours later I was downstairs doing my morning exercises and happened to look out the window. There, under the deck, were three bluebirds: one female and two males. The box we have put out for them to nest in is on the southwest deck post maybe ten feet away. It was immediately clear that there was room in that box for one nest and two bluebirds, not three. The two males were each determined that it would be he and not the other and they were having at it: R rated for sex and violence! I have never seen so determined a battle between two of God’s creatures. Over and over they went, beak and claw, the one on top assailing the one underneath so determinedly I expected it was all over. But then the one on top would stop for a minute and the underdog (underbird?) would be up and back at it. The female was an interested bystander, sometimes only inches away from the battle and paying close attention. Occasionally one of the males would fly up to the bird house as if to stake a claim, but the other would be right after him and they would be back on the ground and scruffing it out.

I watched for maybe ten minutes but it was finally more than I could stomach. It’s not fun to watch one of my favorite creatures going all out to eliminate another one. We put the box there to encourage blue birds, not destroy them!

So it turns out my mother was wrong. Isaac Watts was wrong. Tennyson, instructed by Darwin, reminds us that it isn’t always as we might wish in describing the one:

Who trusted God was love indeed
And love Creation’s final law
Tho’ Nature, red in tooth and claw
With ravine, shriek’d against his creed.

And if your children occasionally get into an argument, be thankful they aren’t bluebirds!

Birds in their little nests!

When things got a little contentious, my mother would often say, “Birds in their little nests agree.” She never cited the source but I have now looked it up and can tell you that it is a line from a hymn by Isaac Watts. The verse goes this way:

Birds in their little nests agree;
And ’tis a shameful sight,
When children of one family
Fall out, and chide, and fight.

That’s Common Meter, by the way, and you could sing it to St. Anne: “O God our help in ages past, etc.”

Isaac Watts wrote some good hymns but he didn’t know much about birds.

The bluebirds are back. They like to get an early start on the season. We were having breakfast recently, and suddenly there were four bluebirds, three males and a single female, on the deck railing not ten feet away. If you’ve never seen a bluebird, you’ve never seen blue. Blue Jays aren’t in the same league. Think of a dazzling October sky and that’s maybe close. But bluebirds invented the color. And there they were!

Twenty-four hours later I was downstairs doing my morning exercises and happened to look out the window. There, under the deck, were three bluebirds: one female and two males. The box we have put out for them to nest in is on the southwest deck post maybe ten feet away. It was immediately clear that there was room in that box for one nest and two bluebirds, not three. The two males were each determined that it would be he and not the other and they were having at it: R rated for sex and violence! I have never seen so determined a battle between two of God’s creatures. Over and over they went, beak and claw, the one on top assailing the one underneath so determinedly I expected it was all over. But then the one on top would stop for a minute and the underdog (underbird?) would be up and back at it. The female was an interested bystander, sometimes only inches away from the battle and paying close attention. Occasionally one of the males would fly up to the bird house as if to stake a claim, but the other would be right after him and they would be back on the ground and scruffing it out.

I watched for maybe ten minutes but it was finally more than I could stomach. It’s not fun to watch one of my favorite creatures going all out to eliminate another one. We put the box there to encourage blue birds, not destroy them!

So it turns out my mother was wrong. Isaac Watts was wrong. Tennyson, instructed by Darwin, reminds us that it isn’t always as we might wish in describing the one:

Who trusted God was love indeed
And love Creation’s final law
Tho’ Nature, red in tooth and claw
With ravine, shriek’d against his creed.

And if your children occasionally get into an argument, be thankful they aren’t bluebirds!

Birds in their little nests . . .