
Please see the Transcriber’s Notes at the end of this text.
In a tranquil gentleman’s park, an ancient oak spreads its ivy‑clad arms over a gentle river, offering shelter to a bustling family of rabbits, a diligent squirrel, a wise old owl, chirpy songbirds, a noisy troupe of jackdaws, and a solitary heron perched high above. Their lives intertwine in peaceful routine: the rabbit’s brood darts in and out of their burrow, the owl leads nightly choirs, and the squirrel scurries for winter stores, all under the watchful eye of the Squire who marvels at the tree’s harmonious chorus.
The calm is disrupted when a flamboyant pair of blue‑crested jays make the oak their new home. Their sharp, boastful calls and inquisitive meddling stir unease among the long‑standing residents, prompting snide remarks and uneasy adjustments. As the jays’ chatter grows louder, the once‑serene community finds its daily rhythms unsettled, hinting at a clash between tradition and the disruptive allure of novelty.
Language
en
Duration
~19 minutes (19K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Charlene Taylor, Harry Lamé and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
Release date
Jul 17, 2020
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
A little-known writer remembered for a charming animal tale set in the branches of a great old tree. The surviving record is slim, but the work that remains has the gentle, storybook feel of late-19th-century children's fiction.
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