Chapter 2 of The Children's Book of Birds is here in full — 422 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Children's Book of Birds is here in full — 422 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Most people think that birds sing all summer. They think so because they have not taken notice. We who are very fond of bird song know it is not so. Singing begins when the birds first come in the spring. It goes on while the nest is being built, and the mother bird is sitting.
Chapter 2 of The Children's Book of Birds is here in full — 422 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
plural of “begin” — Israeli statesman (born in Russia) who (as prime minister of Israel) negotiated a peace treaty with Anwar Sadat (then the president of Egypt) (1913-1992)
From this reading “Singing begins when the birds first come in the spring.”
warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading “We who are very fond of bird song know it is not so.”
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading “Most people think that birds sing all summer.”
(used of soaps or cleaning agents) having a substance (an abrasive or filler) added to increase effectiveness
From this reading “It goes on while the nest is being built, and the mother bird is sitting.”
having or displaying warmth or affection
From this reading “We who are very fond of bird song know it is not so.”
a structure in which animals lay eggs or give birth to their young
From this reading “It goes on while the nest is being built, and the mother bird is sitting.”
deliver by singing
From this reading “Most people think that birds sing all summer.”
the act of singing vocal music
From this reading “Singing begins when the birds first come in the spring.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
continue a certain state, condition, or activity
In this reading “It goes on while the nest is being built, and the mother bird is sitting.”
In this reading “They think so because they have not taken notice.”
In this reading “We who are very fond of bird song know it is not so.”
In this reading “Most people think that birds sing all summer.”
to come or go into
In this reading “Singing begins when the birds first come in the spring.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading Most people think that birds sing all summer.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It goes on while the nest is being built, and the mother bird is sitting.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading We who are very fond of bird song know it is not so.
for the reason that
From this reading They think so because they have not taken notice.
plural of “begin” — Israeli statesman (born in Russia) who (as prime minister of Israel) negotiated a peace treaty with Anwar Sadat (then the president of Egypt) (1913-1992)
From this reading Singing begins when the birds first come in the spring.
the -ing form of “be”
From this reading It goes on while the nest is being built, and the mother bird is sitting.
warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading We who are very fond of bird song know it is not so.
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading Most people think that birds sing all summer.
(used of soaps or cleaning agents) having a substance (an abrasive or filler) added to increase effectiveness
From this reading It goes on while the nest is being built, and the mother bird is sitting.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Singing begins when the birds first come in the spring.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading Singing begins when the birds first come in the spring.
having or displaying warmth or affection
From this reading We who are very fond of bird song know it is not so.
plural of “go” — a time period for working (after which you will be relieved by someone else)
From this reading It goes on while the nest is being built, and the mother bird is sitting.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading They think so because they have not taken notice.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Singing begins when the birds first come in the spring.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading We who are very fond of bird song know it is not so.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading We who are very fond of bird song know it is not so.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading We who are very fond of bird song know it is not so.
used to form the superlative
From this reading Most people think that birds sing all summer.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading It goes on while the nest is being built, and the mother bird is sitting.
a structure in which animals lay eggs or give birth to their young
From this reading It goes on while the nest is being built, and the mother bird is sitting.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading They think so because they have not taken notice.
an announcement containing information about an event
From this reading They think so because they have not taken notice.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading We who are very fond of bird song know it is not so.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading It goes on while the nest is being built, and the mother bird is sitting.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading Most people think that birds sing all summer.
deliver by singing
From this reading Most people think that birds sing all summer.
the act of singing vocal music
From this reading Singing begins when the birds first come in the spring.
(photography) the act of assuming a certain position (as for a photograph or portrait)
From this reading It goes on while the nest is being built, and the mother bird is sitting.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading They think so because they have not taken notice.
a short musical composition with words
From this reading We who are very fond of bird song know it is not so.
the season of growth
From this reading Singing begins when the birds first come in the spring.
the warmest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox
From this reading Most people think that birds sing all summer.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading They think so because they have not taken notice.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Most people think that birds sing all summer.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Singing begins when the birds first come in the spring.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They think so because they have not taken notice.
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading Most people think that birds sing all summer.
precisely as stated
From this reading We who are very fond of bird song know it is not so.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We who are very fond of bird song know it is not so.
at the time that
From this reading Singing begins when the birds first come in the spring.
during the time that
From this reading It goes on while the nest is being built, and the mother bird is sitting.
which person or people
From this reading We who are very fond of bird song know it is not so.
Chapter 2 of The Children's Book of Birds by Olive Thorne Miller holds 422 sentences, grouped into 85 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 2 holds 422 sentences of The Children's Book of Birds, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Children's Book of Birds by Olive Thorne Miller exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 422 sentences, grouped into 85 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 2 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading The Children's Book of Birds by Olive Thorne Miller on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3786 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #41141 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #41141, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 315 minutes of reading across 758 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Children's Book of Birds section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 9 chapters of The Children's Book of Birds to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Children's Book of Birds, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
