The Berenstain Bears' Nature Rescue Page 2

“Okay,” said Sister as they walked down the sunny dirt road. “I’ll lend you my feather collection if you’ll let Lizzy and me come along on the Saturday bird walk.”

  “I’m sure Teacher Bob won’t mind,” said Brother. “Come on! Race you to the house!” Brother took off.

  “No fair!” yelled Sister, running to catch up. “You had a head start!”

  The cubs found Mama in the kitchen having a cup of tea with Papa, who was taking a break from his work.

  “Hi, cubs,” said Mama. “How was school?”

  “Tell you later,” said Brother as he headed for the living room.

  Sister told her parents about the upcoming bird walk.

  “Ah, Birder’s Woods . . . ,” said Papa, leaning back in his chair with his hands clasped behind his head. “Wonderful place. Your mother and I used to take long walks there before we were married. That woods has belonged to Squire Grizzly’s family for generations.”

  In the living room, Brother was searching for something in the bookcase. “Hey!” he called. “I have to look up birds in the encyclopedia. Where’s the ‘B’ book?”

  “Out in my shop,” Papa called back. “I had to look up box elder. Squire Grizzly is giving me the wood from some box elder trees he cut down. I wanted to find out what it’s good for.”

  The kitchen phone rang, and Mama answered. “Speaking of the squire,” she said to Papa, “he wants to talk to you.”

  Papa was still on the phone with Squire Grizzly when Brother returned from the workshop and began reading about birds in the encyclopedia. Through the kitchen door, Mama could see him sprawled out on the living room sofa.

  “Your brother seems pretty excited about this new study unit,” she said to Sister.

  “What he’s excited about is going for a walk in the woods with Bonnie Brown,” said Sister.

  “Hush, you two—this is important!” said Papa. “Yes, Squire. I understand. You want to see me at your office downtown at three o’clock Wednesday. I’ll be there.” Papa hung up and looked at Mama.

  “What was that all about?” asked Mama.

  “I don’t know,” said Papa. “All he said was that it was important.”

  Mama rose and went to the stove. “Time to set the table, cubs,” she said. “Dinner’s almost ready.”

  The cubs got out the dishes and silverware and began setting the table. But Brother seemed to be daydreaming. That must have been why he bumped into Sister.

  “Hey, watch out!” said Sister. “I already set that place!”

  “Sorry, Sis,” said Brother. “By the way, did you know that birds have hollow bones? Being so light helps them fly. And their wing muscles are super-powerful—as strong as a lion’s jaw muscles . . .”

  “You aren’t going to dazzle Bonnie with that kind of talk,” said Sister. “What you need is some juicy stuff about lovebirds.”

  “That’s enough teasing, Sister,” said Mama. “And Brother, mind what you’re doing. The knives and spoons go on the right, and the forks go on the left.”

  “Sorry, Mama,” said Brother.

  Meanwhile, Papa was standing by the phone, scratching his head. “Humm,” he said softly, more to himself than to his family. “I wonder what the Squire has in mind . . .”

  6

  When Saturday came, Teacher Bob and his class, along with Sister Bear and Lizzy Bruin, met at Bear Country School to catch the bus to Birder’s Woods.

  Teacher Bob organized the cubs into bird-watching teams. Brother and Bonnie convinced him to let them be a team all on their own. So did Ferdy Factual and Trudy Brunowitz.

  Those were the only twosome teams. Queenie and Too-Tall were almost a twosome, though, because the other gang members had orders from Too-Tall to walk at least five yards behind him whenever he was with Queenie.

  In spite of themselves, many of the cubs were excited about the bird walk. Some had binoculars, and a few carried cameras. Bertha Broom even brought a video camera. In fact, on the way to Birder’s Woods, only Too-Tall and his gang joked and snickered about the new study unit.

  “All right, quiet down, everyone,” said Teacher Bob as the bus pulled to a stop at the woods. “Before we begin, I have some instructions for you bird-watchers.”

  In the back of the bus Too-Tall and Skuzz made chirping noises while Smirk and Vinnie flapped their arms.

  “That’ll be enough, guys,” said Teacher Bob. “Which brings me to the first instruction: Be quiet in the woods. If you’re noisy, you won’t see any birds.

  “Second instruction: If you see a bird whose name you know write it down on your list. If you don’t know the name, check it out in my big bird book here.” He held up a huge book that must have had a least a thousand pages. “Or talk to Ferdy or Trudy—they have bird guides in their heads.”

  The teams entered the woods, being careful to keep some distance apart. It was early May, and the trees were full of new leaves. Before long, the cubs were spotting all sorts of birds. Cardinals, blue jays, sparrows, and starlings were noted on the bird-watchers’ lists.

  Brother had been looking forward to his walk in the woods with Bonnie. But now he wasn’t sure why. Bonnie was acting as if he wasn’t even there at all. Several times he tried to get her to look at a bird he had spotted. But she kept her eyes on the ground in front of her. She seemed lost in thought.

  Finally Brother tapped her on the arm and said, “What’s on your mind, Bonnie?”

  Brother could tell that she had heard him, but she didn’t answer right away. Then she said softly, “This is such a pretty place. It’s a shame that . . .” Suddenly she stopped speaking.

  “It’s a shame that what?” asked Brother.

  “Oh, nothing,” said Bonnie. Just then she noticed something overhead. “Hey, isn’t that a wood thrush?” she asked, pointing.

  Not far behind them, Queenie had just found a blue robin’s egg on the ground.

  “Look at this, Too-Tall,” she said, holding it up. “I found it in this soft patch of grass. It must have fallen from a nest.”

  “Give it here,” said Too-Tall. “Bet I can hit the trunk of that tree over there with it.”

  “You’ll do no such thing!” said Queenie angrily.

  Too-Tall shrugged. “I’d take it home and scramble it for lunch, but it’s too little.”

  “Oh, Too-Tall!” cried Queenie. “Look. It’s not even broken. If we can find the nest, we can put it back. Hey, there’s a nest over in that bush.”

  Too-Tall leaned down to look over Queenie’s shoulder as she gently placed the egg back in its nest, where it rested with three other blue eggs.

  “There,” she said. “Now the baby bird can hatch along with its brothers and sisters.”

  Too-Tall stared at the eggs in the nest.

  “Wow,” he said. “You mean birds are gonna come out of those little eggs?”

  “Of course, you big lug,” said Queenie. “What did you think’s going to come out of them—egg salad?”

  Too-Tall just kept staring in wonderment.

  The rest of the gang came over for a closer look. “What’s takin’ so long, boss?” asked Skuzz.

  “Back off, you clowns!” barked Too-Tall. “You wanna frighten ‘em?”

  Skuzz gave Too-Tall a puzzled look. “How are we gonna frighten eggs?” he said.

  “Never mind that,” said Too-Tall.

  Just then Too-Tall spied a robin on the ground not far away. It ran back and forth dragging one of its wings along the ground.

  “Hey, look!” he said. “That must be the mother. And she has a broken wing!”

  As Too-Tall’s team watched the robin, Ferdy and Trudy came up behind them.

  “What did you find?” asked Trudy.

  “A mother robin with a broken wing!” said Too-Tall. He sounded worried.

  “Oh, she’s only pretending that her wing is broken,” said Ferdy. “She’s acting.”

  “What do we look like—talent scouts?” said Smirk.

  “She thinks you might
want to harm her eggs,” Trudy explained. “So she’s trying to distract you. She wants to make you forget about the nest. Lots of different kinds of birds do that.”

  “Wow . . .” said Too-Tall. He stared at the mother robin for a long time.

  “Hey, Too-Tall,” said Queenie finally. “Say something—what’s wrong with you?”

  “Oh, he’s fine,” said Ferdy with a chuckle. “He’s just beginning to realize that birds aren’t as boring and stupid as he thought.”

  7

  On Monday and Tuesday, Teacher Bob’s class worked on the written reports of their walk in Birder’s Woods. Then, on Wednesday, they went on their class trip to the Hall of Birds at the Bearsonian Institution.

  Professor Actual Factual was their guide. First, he showed them an exhibit about the history of birds. There were fossils to see and charts showing how birds had arisen from other winged creatures millions of years ago.

  Then the professor took them into the section about birds of today. All around the great room were exhibits of birds. Each type of bird was in a special display, with a large window in front and a mural covering the walls behind. Professor Actual Factual explained that the murals were paintings of the birds’ natural habitats.

  “What’s a habitat?” asked Barry Bruin.

  “I’m glad you asked that question,” said the professor. But before he could answer, Cousin Fred’s hand shot up. Fred not only read the dictionary for fun, but he seemed to remember every word in it. “All right, Fred,” said the professor. “Give it a try.”

  “Habitat,” said Fred. “‘The natural environment of a plant or animal, containing everything it needs for its survival and reproduction.’”

  “Right you are,” said the professor.

  As they walked slowly around the room, Professor Actual Factual told them about the natural habitat and the way of life for each kind of bird they saw. There were birds from forests, fields, rivers, lakes, and oceans. There were birds that could run fast but couldn’t fly, like the ostrich. There were birds like the penguin, that couldn’t fly but could swim and dive. There were birds that ate seeds, birds that ate fruit, birds that ate insects, and birds that ate fish.

  “I know what kind of fish birds eat, Professor,” said Barry Bruin.

  “You do?” said Actual Factual. “All right, what kind?”

  “Flying fish!”

  Half of the cubs laughed. The other half groaned.

  “Ah, yes, a witticism. Quite amusing, Barry,” said the professor. “But now I’m afraid I must lead you to an exhibit that isn’t funny at all. It’s called the Hall of Shame.”

  The Hall of Shame? thought the cubs. What could be on display there?

  The exhibit was in a little alcove off the main hall. On display were life-size models of three birds. The first was labeled DODO. The second was labeled PASSENGER PIGEON.

  And the third was labeled YELLOW POPINJAY. On the wall behind them was a sign that said EXTINCT! GONE FOREVER!

  Again, Cousin Fred’s hand shot up. But Professor Actual Factual motioned for him to put it down.

  “Let me handle this one,” said the professor. “Extinct means exactly what is says there on the sign: gone forever. There are no living dodos, passenger pigeons, or yellow popinjays left anywhere in the world. Many kinds of animals have become extinct over the years, and many more are in danger of becoming extinct soon. The most common cause of extinction today is the loss of natural habitat . . .”

  Most of the cubs listened closely to the professor’s talk on extinction. Many had never heard of extinction and were surprised that an animal could disappear completely from the face of the earth—forever.

  But one cub had stopped listening. That cub was Bertha Broom. She had a puzzled frown on her face. Finally, she raised her hand. But Actual Factual didn’t notice her.

  Teacher Bob leaned down to Bertha and whispered, “I’m sure the professor will answer questions when he’s finished talking.”

  The instant Actual Factual asked for questions, Bertha’s hand shot back up.

  “Yes, Bertha,” said the professor.

  “There’s something I don’t understand,” she said. “If the yellow popinjay is extinct, then how come I saw one in Birder’s Woods last Saturday morning?”

  For a moment Professor Actual Factual stared at Bertha with raised eyebrows. Then he tried to smile. “Oh, another joke,” he said.

  “Everyone knows, of course, that the yellow popinjay has been extinct for seventy-five years. Really, Bertha, I don’t think it’s proper to make jokes like that here in the Hall of Shame.”

  “But I’m not joking,” said Bertha. “I saw one, and I can prove it.”

  “You must have seen some other yellow bird,” said the professor. “It’s easy for a beginning birdwatcher to make such a mistake. You probably saw a sulfur titmouse, a yellow-bellied sapsucker, or a . . .” The professor stopped short and looked straight at Bertha. “What do you mean when you say you can prove it?”

  “I mean just that,” said Bertha. “I got it on my video camera. It wasn’t in Teacher Bob’s book, and Ferdy didn’t know what it was. He said to show it to you. Here’s the data stick.”

  “Excellent,” said Actual Factual. “Since you have it on video, we can find out exactly what kind of bird it is. This will be a good lesson on birdwatching, cubs. It’s so easy to be fooled.”

  The professor led the group into his office and inserted the data stick into the computer.

  “Whatever it is,” Ferdy said to Teacher Bob, “Uncle Actual will recognize it instantly. He knows even more about birds than I do.”

  A tiny yellow bird came into focus on the screen. It was pecking at some berries on a bush. The moment the professor saw it, his mouth fell open and his jaw dropped. “I don’t believe it!” he gasped. “A yellow popinjay! I simply don’t believe it!”

  “Seeing is believing, Professor,” said Bertha.

  The professor rushed to the screen. He all but put his nose against it. “But what is that it’s eating? Bugleberries! It’s eating bugleberries! Birder’s Woods is full of bugleberry bushes . . .”

  Actual Factual dashed to the bookshelf and took down a book called Birds of the Past. He thumbed through it hurriedly. “Ah, here it is. Why, yes . . . bugleberries were the yellow popinjay’s main food before it became extinct.” He stared again at the screen, where the yellow bird continued pecking at the small red berries. “Or maybe I should say—before it was thought to be extinct!”

  The professor switched off the computer and held out his hand to Teacher Bob. “Congratulations to you and your class!” he said with a broad smile. “Because of your study unit on birds, a great scientific discovery has been made!”

  8

  The cubs buzzed with excitement at they rode the bus back to school. What a discovery! A bird that everyone thought had been extinct for nearly a century!

  But one cub didn’t seem excited at all. That cub was Bonnie Brown. Brother, who was sitting next to her, couldn’t understand why she looked so gloomy. She didn’t talk or smile. All she did was stare out the window.

  Finally, Brother said, “What’s wrong, Bonnie? Come on, you can tell me.”

  For a while Bonnie said nothing. Then she turned to Brother. “Remember last Saturday in Birder’s Woods?” she said. “When I started to say something and stopped?”

  “Sure,” said Brother. “What about it?”

  “I was going to say that Birder’s Woods is such a beautiful place that it’s a shame Uncle Squire is going to cut it down.”

  “Cut it down?” said Brother. “Why?”

  “He wants to use the wood for the houses he’s going to build on Buzzard Flats.”

  “That would be a terrible thing to do!” said Brother. “It would be . . . greedy and mean! He can’t do that! He just can’t!”

  “I don’t see why not,” said Bonnie angrily. “It’s his woods. Uncle owns it. I guess he can cut it down if he wants to. And he is not greedy a
nd mean! He’s sweet and nice. He’s my uncle, and I love him!”

  “But Birder’s Woods is the home of the yellow popinjay, a bird that been extinct for seventy-five years!” cried Brother.

  “Well, it’s not extinct anymore,” said Bonnie.

  “But your uncle will be helping to make it truly extinct if he destroys this one’s home,” said Brother. “After all, if folks thought the yellow popinjay was extinct for seventy-five years, there can’t be many left!”

  “Well, what about the folks who would live in the houses that Uncle wants to build? What about their homes?” said Bonnie. “Besides, there’s tons of other woods!”

  “There’s also tons of other places to get wood for building houses,” said Brother. “You heard what the professor said about habitat. Don’t you understand?”

  “I understand, all right. I understand that you think my family is greedy and mean!”

  Brother and Bonnie were so angry with each other that they didn’t speak another word all the way back to school.

  Finally, as the bus pulled into the parking lot, Brother said, “Will you at least tell your uncle about the yellow popinjay? Please?”

  Bonnie just shrugged and looked away. “I’ll think about it,” she said.

  9

  News of the discovery of the yellow popinjay spread quickly through Bear Country School. By the time Brother and Sister met in the hall to walk home together, everyone seemed to know about it.

  “What a surprise!” said Sister as they headed home. “An extinct bird—alive and well!”

  “I’ve got another surprise for you,” said Brother gloomily. “The yellow popinjay may be alive, but it isn’t well.”

  “What do you mean?” said Sister.

  Brother told her about Squire Grizzly’s plan to cut down Birder’s Woods.

  “Let’s tell Mama and Papa right away,” said Sister. “I’ll bet they can think of a way to save the yellow popinjay.”