Thornton W. Burgess - The Adventures of Old Mr. Buzzard

Yes, Sir, it was Ol Mrs. Buzzard who walked out of the end of that hollow log. FRONTISPIECE. See page 54.

The Adventures of
Old Mr. Buzzard

THORNTON W. BURGESS

Illustrations by Harrison Cady

PUBLISHED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE
THORNTON W. BURGESS MUSEUM AND THE
GREEN BRIAR NATURE CENTER,
SANDWICH, MASSACHUSETTS
BY

DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC.
MINEOLA, NEW YORK

DOVER CHILDRENS THRIFT CLASSICS
EDITOR OF THIS VOLUME: JANET BAINE KOPITO

Copyright
Copyright 2013 by Dover Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved.

Bibliographical Note

The Adventures of Old Mr. Buzzard, first published by Dover Publications, Inc., in 2013 in association with the Thornton W. Burgess Museum and the Green Briar Nature Center, Sandwich, Massachusetts, who have provided a new introduction, is an unabridged republication of the work originally published as The Adventures of Ol Mistah Buzzard by Little, Brown, and Company, Boston, in 1919.

International Standard Book Number

ISBN-13: 978-0-486-49726-6
ISBN-10: 0-486-49726-7

Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation
49726701
www.doverpublications.com

Introduction to the Dover Edition

The Adventures of Old Mr. Buzzard is a charming story in which Peter Cottontail learns some lessons from the new visitor to the Green Forest. The book, originally known as The Adventures of Ol Mistah Buzzard, finds Peter afraid at the beginning, convinced that the Buzzard must be some kind of hawk out to eat him, but eventually the two become friends. When Mr. Buzzard tells him things that Peter thinks could not possibly be true, the story takes a turn for the worse. By the end, Peter finds that seemingly simple questions can have surprising answers.

Thornton Burgess was Americas preeminent author of childrens nature stories from 1914 until 1962, when he wrote his last Bedtime Story for the Herald Tribune newspaper syndicate. During those years, he produced 70 books, 15,000 Bedtime Story episodes for the newspapers, and many stories for various magazines that remain uncounted. In each story, Burgess teaches us something about nature and includes at least one portrayal of a universal truth about human behavior.

In addition to his story writing, Thornton Burgess was an early and enthusiastic conservationist, honored for his work by the New York Zoological Society in 1919. Today, the Thornton Burgess Society seeks to continue his work and promote his goals by providing Nature Education for children both inside and outside of school. You can learn more about us at www.Thorntonburgess.org. We are gratified that Dover Publications recognizes the enduring quality of his work; every year they make more of his titles available to the general public at truly affordable prices. Their scholarship and attention to detail have been scrupulous. Together we hope to keep a personal awareness of nature part of a childs reality.

JOHN RICHMOND

The Thornton W. Burgess Society

Contents

Chapter

List of Illustrations

The Adventures of
Old Mr. Buzzard

I
A Great Fear on the Green Meadows

I T had been a bad day on the Green Meadows. Yes, Sir, it had been a very bad day, especially for the littlest folks who live there. From the time jolly, round, red Mr. Sun first began his long climb up the blue, blue sky until it was almost time for him to go to bed behind the Purple Hills there had been great fear on the Green Meadows. And it was all because of a black speck way, way up in the sky, a black speck that kept going round and round and round and round in circles.

Danny Meadow Mouse poked his head out of his doorway and nearly twisted his head off as he watched the black speck go round and round. He shivered and ducked back into his house, only to stick his head out a few minutes later and do it all over again.

Peter Rabbit stuck to the dear Old Briar-patch all that day. He was perfectly safe there, but there wasnt any sweet-clover and he didnt dare go out on the Green Meadows to get any. By noon Peters neck seemed ready to break from being twisted so much to watch that black speck in the sky.

And it was strangely still on the Green Meadows. The little birds forgot to sing. Mrs. Redwing kept close hidden in the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool. Even Sammy Jay kept to the Green Forest. Only Blacky the Crow ventured out on the Green Meadows, but Blacky is so big that he is not much afraid of anything, and though once in a while he rolled an eye up at the black speck high in the sky, he went on about his business as usual.

Jimmy Skunk, who fears nothing and nobody, stopped to visit with Johnny Chuck. Johnny was sticking very close to his doorway that morning and every minute or two he rolled one eye up to see where the black speck was.

I dont know what to make of it, said Johnny Chuck. It isnt Old White-tail the Marsh Hawk, for he always flies close to the tops of the meadow grasses. It isnt fierce Mr. Goshawk, for he spends most of his time in the Green Forest. It isnt old King Eagle, for he never stays so long in one place. It isnt sharp-eyed old Roughleg, for he has gone back to his home in the Far North. And besides, none of them can fly round and round and round without flapping their wings as that fellow does. I wish he would go away.

But he didnt go away, only just kept sailing round and round over the Green Meadows and sometimes over the Green Forest. Every one was sure that it was a Hawk, and you know that most of the little meadow and forest folks are terribly afraid of Hawks, but no one could remember ever having seen such a wonderful flier among the Hawks. This big black fellow just sailed and sailed and sailed. Sometimes he shot down almost to the ground and then all the little meadow people scuttled out of sight. None was brave enough to stay and discover who the stranger was.

Unc Billy pricked up his ears as he listened. Page 4.

Now Unc Billy Possum had been asleep all day and so he hadnt heard of the fright on the Green Meadows. It was just about the time that jolly, round, red Mr. Sun goes to bed when Unc Billy came crawling out of his snug home in the hollow tree. Jimmy Skunk happened along just then. He had just seen the stranger glide down and settle for the night on a dead tree in the Green Forest, and he told Unc Billy Possum all about it. Unc Billy pricked up his ears as he listened. Then he grew very much excited.

Ah reckons that that is mah ol friend, Ol Mistah Buzzard! shouted Unc Billy, as he started for the dead tree in the Green Forest.

II
Unc Billy Meets an Old Friend

U NC BILLY POSSUM lost no time in getting over to the dead tree in the Green Forest where Jimmy Skunk had seen the stranger go to roost for the night. Unc Billy wanted to get there before the stranger had gone to sleep, for if it really were his old friend, Ol Mistah Buzzard, as Unc Billy felt sure it was, he had just got to say howdy that very night.

Now Unc Billy is seldom caught napping, so though he was very sure that this was his old friend, he didnt intend to run any risk of furnishing a good supper for a hungry Hawk. So as Unc Billy drew near the dead tree he crept up very quietly and carefully until he was where he could see the stranger clearly. There he sat on a branch of the dead tree. He was dressed in sooty black and he sat like an old man, his head drawn down and his shoulders hunched up. His head was bald and wrinkled.