Vitaly Bianchi. Sinichkin calendar

SINICHKIN CALENDAR

Zinka was a young Titmouse, and she did not have her own nest. All day long she flew from place to place, jumped on fences, on branches, on roofs - tits are a lively bunch. And in the evening he will look for an empty hollow or some crack under the roof, huddle there, fluff up his feathers, and somehow sleep through the night.

But once - in the middle of winter - she was lucky enough to find a free sparrow's nest. It was placed above the window behind the window. Inside was a whole feather bed of soft down.

And for the first time, after flying out of her native nest, Zinka fell asleep in warmth and peace.

Suddenly at night she was awakened by a loud noise. There was noise in the house, a bright light was shining from the window. The titmouse got scared, jumped out of the nest and, clinging to the frame with its claws, looked out the window.

There, in the room, there was a large Christmas tree, right up to the ceiling, all covered in lights and snow and toys. Children were jumping and screaming around her.

Zinka had never seen people behave like this at night before. After all, she was born only last summer and still didn’t know much in the world.

She fell asleep long after midnight, when the people in the house finally calmed down and the light went out in the window.

And in the morning Zinka was awakened by the cheerful, loud cry of sparrows. She flew out of the nest and asked them:

Are you sparrows screaming? And people made noise all night today and didn’t let me sleep. What happened?

How? - the sparrows were surprised. - Don't you know what day it is today? After all, today is the New Year, so everyone is happy - both people and us.

How is this New Year? - Titmouse didn’t understand.

Oh, you yellow-mouthed one! - the sparrows chirped. - Yes, this is the biggest holiday of the year! The sun returns to us and begins its calendar. Today is the first day of January.

What is this - “January”, “calendar”?

“Ugh, how small you are,” the sparrows were indignant. - The calendar is the schedule of the sun for the whole year. The year consists of months, and January is its first month, the tip of the year. It is followed by another ten months - as many as your toes: February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November. And the very last month, the twelfth, the tail of the year is December. Do you remember?

No, said Titmouse. - Where can I remember so much at once! I remembered “nose”, “ten fingers” and “tail”. And they are all called too cleverly.

“Listen to me,” Old Sparrow said then. - You fly around the gardens, fields and forests, fly and take a closer look at what is happening around you. And when you hear that the month is ending, fly to me. I live here, on this house under the roof. I will tell you what each month is called. You will remember them all one by one.

Well, thank you! - Zinka was delighted. - I will definitely fly to you every month. Goodbye!

And she flew - and flew for thirty whole days, and on the thirty-first she returned and told the Old Sparrow everything that she had noticed. And Old Sparrow said to her:

Well, remember: January - the first month of the year - begins with a cheerful Christmas tree for the guys. Every day the sun begins to rise a little earlier and go to bed later. The light is growing day by day, but the frost is getting stronger. The sky is all over clouds. And when the sun comes out, you, Titmouse, want to sing. And you quietly try your voice: “Zin-zin-tyu!” Zin-zin-ty!”

JANUARY

Zinka was a young titmouse, and she did not have her own nest. All day long she flew from place to place, jumped on fences, on branches, on roofs - tits are a lively bunch. And in the evening he will look for an empty hollow or some crack under the roof, huddle there, fluff up his feathers, and somehow sleep through the night.

But one day - in the middle of winter - she was lucky enough to find a free sparrow's nest. It was placed above the window behind the window. Inside was a whole feather bed of soft down. And for the first time, after flying out of her native nest, Zinka fell asleep in warmth and peace.

Suddenly at night she was awakened by a loud noise. There was noise in the house, a bright light was shining from the window.

The titmouse got scared, jumped out of the nest and, clinging to the frame with its claws, looked out the window. There in the room there was a large Christmas tree, right up to the ceiling, all covered in lights, and snow, and toys. Children were jumping and screaming around her.

Zinka had never seen people behave like this at night before. After all, she was born only last summer and still didn’t know much in the world.

She fell asleep long after midnight, when the people in the house finally calmed down and the light went out in the window.

And in the morning Zinka was awakened by the cheerful, loud cry of sparrows. She flew out of the nest and asked them:

Are you sparrows screaming? And people made noise all night today and didn’t let me sleep. What happened?

How? - the sparrows were surprised. - Don't you know what day it is today? After all, today is the New Year, so everyone is happy - both people and us.

How is this New Year? - the titmouse did not understand.

Oh, you yellow-mouthed one! - the sparrows chirped. - Yes, this is the biggest holiday of the year! The sun returns to us and begins its calendar. Today is the first day of January.

What is this “January”, “calendar”?

Wow, how small you are! - the sparrows were indignant. - The calendar is the schedule of the sun for the whole year. The year consists of months, and January is its first month, the tip of the year. It is followed by another ten months - as many as people have fingers on their front paws: February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November. And the very last month, the twelfth, the tail of the year is December. Do you remember?

No, said the titmouse. - Where can I remember so much at once! I remembered “nose”, “ten fingers” and “tail”. And they are all called too cleverly.

Well, thank you! - Zinka was delighted. - I will definitely fly to you every month. Goodbye!

And she flew and flew for thirty whole days, and on the thirty-first she returned and told the Old Sparrow everything that she had noticed.

And Old Sparrow said to her:

Well, remember: January - the first month of the year - begins with a cheerful Christmas tree for the guys. Every day the sun begins to rise a little earlier and go to bed later. The light is growing day by day, but the frost is getting stronger, the sky is still in clouds. And when the sun comes out, you, titmouse, want to sing. And you quietly try your voice: “Zin-zin-tyu!” Zin-zin-ty!”

FEBRUARY

The sun came out again, so cheerful and bright. It even warmed up a little, icicles hung from the roofs, and water flowed over them.

“So spring begins,” Zinka decided. She formed herself and sang loudly:

Zin-zin-tan! Zin-zin-tan! Take off your caftan!

“It’s early, little bird,” Old Sparrow told her. - Look how cold it will be. We'll cry some more.

Well, yes! - The titmouse didn’t believe it. “I’ll fly into the forest today and find out what the news is.”

And she flew away.

She really liked the forest: so many trees! It’s okay that all the branches are covered with snow, and whole snowdrifts are piled on the wide legs of the fir trees. It's even very beautiful. And if you jump on a branch, the snow just falls and sparkles with multi-colored sparks.

Zinka jumped on the branches, shook off the snow from them and examined the bark. Her eye is sharp and alert - she won’t miss a single crack.

Zinka pokes the bale with its sharp nose into the crack, gouges the hole wider - and drags some bug out from under the bark.

Many insects cram under the bark for the winter - from the cold. Zinka will pull it out and eat it. This is how he feeds. And she herself notices what’s all around.

He looks: a forest mouse jumped out from under the snow. She's shaking and all tousled up.

What are you doing? - Zinka asks.

Ugh, I'm scared! - says the forest mouse.

She caught her breath and said:

I was running in a pile of brushwood under the snow, and suddenly I fell into a deep hole. And this, it turns out, is the bear’s den. There is a bear lying in it, and she has two tiny newborn bear cubs. It’s good that they were fast asleep and didn’t notice me.

With his strong faceted nose, he breaks large pieces of bark and takes out fat larvae. Titmouse also gets something after him.

Zinka flies after a woodpecker and rings a cheerful bell through the forest:

Every day everything is brighter, more and more cheerful, more and more fun!

Suddenly there was a hissing sound all around, drifting snow ran through the forest, the forest began to hum, and it became dark in it, like in the evening. Out of nowhere, the wind blew, the trees swayed, snowdrifts flew from the spruce paws, snow fell, curled - a blizzard began.

Zinka calmed down, curled up into a ball, and the wind kept tearing her from the branch, ruffling her feathers and freezing her little body under them. It’s good that the woodpecker let her into his spare hollow, otherwise the titmouse would have disappeared.

The blizzard raged day and night, and when it subsided and Zinka looked out of the hollow, she did not recognize the forest, it was all covered with snow. Hungry wolves flashed between the trees, getting stuck up to their bellies in loose snow. Below under the trees lay branches broken off by the wind, black, with stripped bark.

Zinkya flew onto one of them to look for insects under the bark. Suddenly, from under the snow - a beast! He jumped out and sat down. He himself is all white, his ears with black dots are held straight up. He sits in a column, his eyes bulging at Zinka.

Zinka lost his wings from fear.

Who are you? - she squeaked.

I'm a hare. I'm a hare. And who are you?

Ah, hare! - Zinka was delighted. - Then I'm not afraid of you. I'm a titmouse.

Although she had never seen hares before, she heard that they don’t eat birds and are afraid of everyone.

Do you live here on earth? - Zinka asked.

This is where I live.

You'll be completely covered in snow here!

And I'm glad. The blizzard covered all traces and carried me away - so the wolves ran nearby, but they didn’t find me.

Zinka also became friends with the hare. So I lived in the forest for a whole month, and everything was: it was snowing, then there was a blizzard, and sometimes the sun would come out - it would be a fine day, but it was still cold.

She flew to the Old Sparrow, told him everything she noticed, and he said:

Remember: blizzards and blizzards flew away in February. In February, wolves are fierce, and a mother bear will give birth to cubs in her den. The sun shines more cheerfully and longer, but the frosts are still severe. Now fly to the field.

MARCH

Tit Zinka flew into the field. After all, a titmouse can live wherever you want: if only there were bushes, she would feed herself.

In the field, in the bushes, lived gray partridges - such beautiful field hens with a chocolate horseshoe on their chests.

A whole flock of them lived here, digging grains out from under the snow.

Where can I sleep here? - Zinka asked them.

“Do as we do,” say the partridges. - Look.

They all took to their wings, flew away, and crashed into the snow! The snow was pouring and fell and covered them. And no one will see them from above, and they are warm there, on the ground, under the snow.

“Well, no,” thinks Zinka, “tits can’t do that. I’ll look for a better place to stay for the night.”

I found a wicker basket abandoned by someone in the bushes, climbed into it, and fell asleep there. And it’s good that I did so. The day was sunny. The snow above melted and became loose. And at night the frost hit.

In the morning Zinka woke up, waiting - where are the partridges? They are nowhere to be seen. And where they dived into the snow in the evening, the crust glitters - an ice crust.

Zinka realized what kind of trouble the partridges were in: now they are sitting, as if in prison, under an icy roof and cannot get out. Every single one of them will disappear under her! What to do here?

But titmouses are a fighting people. Zinka flew onto the crust - and let’s peck at it with his strong, sharp nose. And she continued and made a big hole. And she released the partridges from prison.

They praised her and thanked her! They brought her grains and various seeds:

Live with us, don't fly away anywhere!

She lived. And the sun is brighter day by day, hotter day by day. The snow is melting and melting in the field. And there is so little of it left that partridges no longer spend the night in it: the chalk has become too small. The partridges moved into the bushes to sleep, under Zinka’s basket.

And finally, land appeared in the field on the hills. And how happy everyone was about her!

Not even three days have passed here - out of nowhere, black rooks with white noses are already sitting on the thawed patches.

Hello! You are welcome! They walk in importance, their tight feathers gleam, their noses pick at the ground: they drag worms and larvae out of it.

And soon the larks and starlings came after them and began to sing.

Zinka rings with joy and chokes:

Zing-zing-na! Zin-zin-na! Spring is upon us! Spring is upon us! Spring is upon us!

So with this song I flew to the Old Sparrow. And he told her:

Yes. This is the month of March. The rooks have arrived, which means spring has truly begun. Spring begins in the field. Now fly to the river.

APRIL

Zinka flew to the river.

He flies over the field, flies over the meadow, hears: streams are singing everywhere. Streams are singing, streams are flowing - everyone is going to the river.

I flew to the river, and the river was terrible: the ice on it had turned blue, water was coming out near the banks. Zinka sees: every day, more streams run to the river.

A stream will make its way through a ravine unnoticed under the snow and from the shore - jump into the river! And soon many streams, rivulets and rivulets crowded into the river - they hid under the ice.

Then a thin black and white bird flew in, ran along the shore, swayed its long tail, and squealed:

Pee-lick! Pee-lick!

What are you squeaking! - asks Zinka. - Why are you waving your tail?

Pee-lick! - answers the thin bird. - Don't you know my name? Icebreaker. Now I’ll swing my tail, and when I crack it on the ice, the ice will burst and the river will flow.

Well, yes! - Zinka didn’t believe it. - You're bragging.

Ah well! - says the thin bird. - P-lick!

And let's swing our tail even more.

Then suddenly there’s a boom somewhere up the river, as if from a cannon! The icebreaker fluttered and, in fright, flapped its wings so much that in one minute it disappeared from sight.

And Zinka sees: the ice has cracked like glass. These are the streams - all that ran into the river - as they strained, pressed from below - the ice burst. It burst and disintegrated into ice floes, large and small.

The river has flown. She went and went, and no one could stop her. The ice floes swayed on it, floated, ran, circled each other, and those on the side were pushed onto the shore.

Immediately, all sorts of water birds swooped in, as if they were waiting somewhere here, nearby, around the corner: ducks, seagulls, and long-legged sandpipers. And, lo and behold, Icebreaker is back, scurrying along the shore with her little legs, shaking her tail.

Everyone squeaks, screams, and has fun. Those who catch a fish dive into the water after them, those who poke their noses into the mud and look for something there, those who catch flies over the shore.

Zin-zin-ho! Zin-zin-ho! Ice drift, ice drift! - Zinka sang. And she flew to tell the Old Sparrow what she saw on the river. And old Sparrow said to her: “You see: first spring comes to the field, and then to the river.” Remember: the month in which our rivers are free of ice is called April. Now fly back into the forest: you will see what will happen there.

And Zinka quickly flew into the forest.

The forest was still full of snow. He hid under bushes and trees, and it was difficult for the sun to reach him there. The rye sown in the fall had long been green in the field, but the forest was still bare.

But it was already fun, not like in winter. Many different birds flew in, and they all fluttered between the trees, jumped on the ground and sang - they sang on the branches, on the tops of the trees and in the air.

The sun now rose very early, went to bed late and shone so diligently for everyone on earth and warmed so much that life became easy. The titmouse no longer had to worry about lodging for the night: he would find a free hollow - good, he wouldn’t find it - and so he would spend the night somewhere on a branch or in a thicket.

And then one evening it seemed to her as if the forest was in fog. A light greenish fog enveloped all the birch, aspen, and alder trees. And when the next day the sun rose over the forest, on every birch tree, on every branch, like little green fingers appeared: the leaves began to bloom.

This is where the forest festival began.

The nightingale whistled and clicked in the bushes.

Frogs purred and croaked in every puddle. Trees and lilies of the valley were blooming. May beetles buzzed among the branches. Butterflies fluttered from flower to flower. The cuckoo crowed loudly.

Zinka’s friend, the red-capped woodpecker, doesn’t even bother that he can’t sing: he will find a drier twig and drum on it with his nose so dashingly that the ringing drumbeat can be heard throughout the forest.

And wild pigeons rose high above the forest and performed dizzying tricks and loops in the air. Everyone had fun in their own way, depending on how they knew how.

Zinka was curious about everything. Zinka kept up everywhere and rejoiced along with everyone.

In the mornings at dawn, Zinka heard someone’s loud screams, as if someone was blowing trumpets somewhere beyond the forest. She flew in that direction and now she sees: a swamp, moss and moss, and pine trees growing on it.

And there are such big birds walking in the swamp that Zinka has never seen before - as tall as rams, and their necks are long, long. Suddenly they raised their necks like trumpets, and how they trumpeted, how they thundered:

Trrrru-rru-u! Trrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

They completely stunned the titmouse. Then one spread his wings and fluffy tail, bowed to the ground to his neighbors and suddenly began to dance: he began to mince, minced with his legs and walked in a circle, all in a circle; first he will throw out one leg, then the other, then he will bow, then he will jump, then he will squat - it’s hilarious!

And others look at him, gathered around, flapping their wings at once. There was no one for Zinka to ask in the forest what kind of giant birds these were, and she flew to the city to the Old Sparrow.

And Old Sparrow said to her:

These are cranes; the birds are serious, respectable, and now you see what they are doing. Because the cheerful month of May has come, and the forest is dressed, and all the flowers are blooming, and all the birds are singing. The sun has now warmed everyone and given bright joy to everyone.

JUNE

Zinka decided: “Today I’ll fly to all places: to the forest, and to the field, and to the river... I’ll look at everything.”

First of all, I visited my old friend - the red-capped woodpecker. And when he saw her from afar, he shouted:

Kick! Kick! Away, away! This is my domain!

Zinka was very surprised. And she was deeply offended by the woodpecker: here’s a friend for you!

I remembered field partridges, gray, with a chocolate shoe on their chest. I flew to their field, looking for partridges - there are none in the old place! But there was a whole flock. Where did everyone go?

She flew and flew across the field, searched and searched, and with the effort of one she found a cockerel: sitting in the rye, and the rye was already high, screaming:

Chir-vik! Chir-vik!

Zinka - to him. And he told her:

Chir-vik! Chir-vik! Chichire! Let's go, get out of here!

How so! - the titmouse got angry. - How long ago did I save you all from death - released you from an icy prison, and now you won’t let me anywhere near you?

Chir-vir! - the partridge cockerel was embarrassed. - True, she saved me from death. We all remember this. But still, fly away from me: now the time is different, this is how I want to fight!

It’s good that the birds have no tears, otherwise Zinka would probably cry, she’s so offended, she’s so bitter! She turned around silently and flew to the river.

Flying over the bushes, suddenly from the bushes - a gray beast! Zinka shied away to the side.

I did not recognize? - the beast laughs. - But you and I are old friends.

And who are you? - asks Zinka.

I'm a hare. Belyak.

What kind of hare are you when you are gray? I remember a hare: he is all white, only there is black on his ears.

It’s me who is white in winter: so that I won’t be visible in the snow. And in the summer I'm gray.

Well, we started talking. Nothing, they didn’t quarrel with him.

And then Old Sparrow explained to Zinka:

This is the month of June - the beginning of summer. All of us birds have nests at this time, and in the nests are precious eggs and chicks. We do not allow anyone near our nests - neither enemy nor friend: even a friend may accidentally break an egg. Animals also have cubs, animals also will not let anyone near their hole. One hare without worries: he lost his kids all over the forest, and forgot to think about them. But bunnies need a mother hare only in the first days: they drink mother’s milk for several days, and then they cram the grass themselves. Now,” added Old Sparrow, “the sun is at its strongest, and his working day is the longest. Now everyone on earth will find something to fill their little ones' bellies with.

JULY

“Six months have passed since the New Year’s tree,” said Old Sparrow, “exactly six months.” Remember that the second half of the year begins in the midst of summer. And now the month of July has come. And this is the best month for both chicks and animals, because there is a lot of everything around: sunshine, warmth, and a variety of delicious food.

Thank you,” said Zinka.

And she flew away.

“It’s time for me to settle down,” she thought. - There are a lot of hollows in the forest. I’ll borrow whatever free time I like, and I’ll live in it as my own home!”

I thought about it, but it wasn’t so easy to do it. All the hollows in the forest are occupied. There are chicks in all nests. Some still have tiny ones, naked, some with fluff, and some with feathers, but they are still yellow-mouthed, squeaking all day long, asking for food.

The parents are busy, flying back and forth, catching flies, mosquitoes, catching butterflies, collecting worm caterpillars, but they themselves do not eat: they carry everything to the chicks. And nothing: they don’t complain, they still sing songs.

Zinka is bored alone. “Let me,” he thinks, “let me help someone feed the chicks. They will thank me."

I found a butterfly on a spruce tree, grabbed it in its beak, and is looking for someone to give it to. He hears little goldfinches squeaking on an oak tree, their nest is on a branch there. Zinka quickly went there - and stuck the butterfly into one goldfinch’s gaping mouth. The goldfinch took a sip, but the butterfly did not climb: it was too big and painful.

The stupid chick tries, chokes, but nothing comes of it. And he began to choke. Zinka screams in fear, doesn’t know what to do. Then the goldfinch arrived. Now - once! - she grabbed the butterfly, pulled it out of the goldfinch’s throat and threw it away.

And Zinke says:

Get out of here! You almost killed my chick. Is it possible to give a little one a whole butterfly? She didn’t even tear off her wings!

Zinka rushed into the thicket and hid there: she was both ashamed and offended. Then she flew through the forest for many days - no, no one would accept her into their company!

And every day, more children come to the forest. All with baskets, cheerful; They go and sing songs, and then they disperse and collect berries: both in their mouths and in baskets. The raspberries are already ripe.

Zinka keeps spinning around them, flying from branch to branch, and the titmouse and the boys are having more fun, even though she doesn’t understand their language, and they don’t understand hers.

And it happened once: one little girl climbed into a raspberry field, walked quietly, took berries. And Zinka flutters through the trees above her. And suddenly he sees: a big scary bear in a raspberry field. The girl is just approaching him, but she doesn’t see him.

And he doesn’t see her: he’s also picking berries. He will bend the bush with his paw and into his mouth.

“Now,” Zinka thinks, “a girl will stumble upon him - this monster will eat her! We must save her, we must save her!”

And she screamed from the tree in her own way, in the titmouse’s way:

Zin-zin-wen! Girl, girl! There's a bear here. Run away!

The girl didn’t pay any attention to her: she didn’t understand a word. And the scary bear understood: he immediately reared up and looked around: where is the girl? “Well,” Zinka decided, “the little one has disappeared!”

And the bear saw the girl, dropped on all four paws - and how he would run away from her through the bushes!

Zinka was surprised: “I wanted to save the girl from the bear, but I saved the bear from the girl!” Such a monster, but he’s afraid of the little man!”

Since then, when meeting children in the forest, the titmouse sang to them a ringing song:

Zin-zan-le! Zan-zin-le!

Who gets up early

He takes mushrooms for himself,

And sleepy and lazy

They go after the nettles.

This little girl, from whom the bear ran away, always came into the forest first and left the forest with a full basket.

AUGUST

After July, said Old Sparrow, comes August. The third - and, mind you, this is the last month of summer.

“August,” Zinka repeated. And she began to think about what she should do this month.

Well, she was a titmouse, and titmouses cannot sit in one place for a long time. They would flutter and jump around, climb branches up and down, upside down. You can't think of that much.

I lived in the city for a while - it was boring. And without even noticing, she found herself in the forest again.

She found herself in the forest and wondered: what happened to all the birds there? Just now everyone was chasing her, they didn’t let her close to themselves or their chicks, and now all she hears is: “Zinka, fly to us!”, “Zinka, here!”, “Zinka, fly with us!”, “Zinka, Zinka, Zinka!

He looks - all the nests are empty, all the hollows are free, all the chicks have grown and learned to fly. Children and parents all live together, fly in broods, and no one sits still, and they no longer need nests. And everyone is happy to have a guest: it’s more fun to wander around in company.

Zinka will pester one, then another; He will spend one day with tufted titmice, another with puffy chickadees. Lives carefree: warm, light, as much food as you want.

And then Zinka was surprised when she met a squirrel and talked to it. He looks - a squirrel has descended from a tree to the ground and is looking for something in the grass.

She found a mushroom, grabbed it in her teeth - and marched with it back to the tree. She found a sharp twig there, poked a mushroom at it, but there was no eating it: she galloped on. And again to the ground - look for mushrooms.

Zinka flew up to her and asked:

What are you doing, squirrel? Why don't you eat mushrooms and stick them on twigs?

What do you mean why? - the squirrel answers. - I collect for future use and dry it for storage. Winter will come - you will be lost without a supply.

Here Zinka began to notice: not only squirrels - many animals collect supplies for themselves. Mice, voles, and hamsters carry grains from the fields into their burrows and fill their pantries there.

Zinka also began to hide something for a rainy day; will find tasty seeds, peck them, and what is unnecessary will be shoved somewhere in the bark, in a crack.

The nightingale saw this and laughed:

What, titmouse, do you want to make supplies for the whole long winter? This way it’s time for you to dig a hole too.

Zinka was embarrassed.

What do you think, he asks, in winter?

Whoops! - the nightingale whistled. - When autumn comes, I will fly away from here. I’ll fly far, far away, to where it’s warm in winter and roses bloom. It's as filling as it is here in the summer.

“But you’re a nightingale,” says Zinka, “what do you mean: today you sang here, and tomorrow – there.” And I'm a titmouse. Where I was born, I will live there all my life.

And I thought to myself: “It’s time, it’s time for me to think about my house! Now people are out in the field, harvesting grain and taking it away from the field. Summer is ending, ending..."

SEPTEMBER

Now what month will it be? - Zinka asked the Old Sparrow.

Now it will be September,” said Old Sparrow. - The first month of autumn.

And it’s true: the sun no longer burned so much, the days became noticeably shorter, the nights longer, and it began to rain more and more often.

Then one evening the wind died down and the clouds cleared from the sky. In the morning, Zinka did not recognize the field: it was all covered in silver, and thin, thin silver threads floated through the air above it.

One such thread, with a tiny ball at the end, landed on a bush next to Zinka. The ball turned out to be a spider, and the titmouse, without thinking twice, pecked at it and swallowed it. Delicious! Only the nose is covered in cobwebs.

In the forest, the leaves have already begun to turn yellow, red, and brown. Bird families-broods were already gathering into flocks, and flocks into flocks. They wandered more and more widely through the forest: they were preparing to take off.

Every now and then, flocks of birds completely unfamiliar to Zinka would suddenly appear from somewhere - long-legged motley waders, unprecedented ducks. They stopped at a river, in swamps; During the day they feed, rest, and at night they fly further - in the direction where the sun is at noon. Flocks of marsh and water birds were flying from the far north.

Once Zinka met in the bushes in the middle of a field a cheerful flock of tits just like herself: white-cheeked, with a yellow breast and a long black tie right up to the tail. The flock flew across the field from forest to forest.

Before Zinka had time to get to know them, a large brood of field partridges flew up from under the bushes with noise and screaming. There was a short, terrible thunder - and the titmouse, sitting next to Zinka, fell to the ground without a squeak. And then two partridges, turning over their heads in the air, hit the ground dead.

Zinka was so frightened that she remained sitting where she was, neither alive nor dead.

When she came to her senses, there was no one near her - no partridges, no tits. A bearded man with a gun approached, picked up two dead partridges and shouted loudly:

Aw! Manyunya!

Running past the bush, she saw a titmouse falling from a branch on the ground, stopped, bent down, and took it in her hands. Zinka sat in the bush without moving.

The girl said something to her father, the father gave her a flask, and Manyunya sprinkled water on the titmouse from it. The titmouse opened her eyes, suddenly fluttered up and hid in a bush next to Zinka.

Manyunya laughed cheerfully and skipped after her father as he left.

OCTOBER

Hurry, hurry! - Zinka hurried the Old Sparrow. - Tell me what month it is, and I will fly back to the forest: I have a sick friend there.

And she told the Old Sparrow how a bearded hunter knocked a titmouse sitting next to her from a branch, and the girl Manyunya sprinkled water and revived her.

Having learned that the new month, the second month of autumn, is called October, Zinka quickly returned to the forest.

Her friend's name was Zinziver. After being hit with a pellet, the wings and legs still did not obey him well. He barely reached the edge. Then Zinka found a nice nest for him and began to carry caterpillar worms there for him, like for a little one. And he was not small at all: he was already two years old, and that means he was a whole year older than Zinka.

A few days later he completely recovered. The flock with which he flew disappeared somewhere, and Zinziver remained to live with Zinka. They became very good friends.

And autumn has already come to the forest. At first, when all the leaves were painted in bright colors, it was very beautiful. Then the angry winds blew. They tore off yellow, red, brown leaves from the branches, carried them through the air and threw them to the ground.

Soon the forest thinned out, the branches were exposed, and the ground beneath them was covered with colorful leaves. The last flocks of wading birds arrived from the far north, from the tundra. Now new guests arrived from the northern forests every day: winter was already beginning there.

Not all angry winds blew in October, and not all it rained: there were also fine, dry and clear days. The cool sun was shining welcomingly, saying goodbye to the falling asleep forest. The leaves that had darkened on the ground then dried out and became hard and brittle. Here and there, mushrooms peeked out from under them - milk mushrooms, boletus.

But Zinka and Zinziver never met the good girl Manyunya in the forest again.

The titmice loved to go down to the ground, jump on the leaves, and look for snails on mushrooms. One day they jumped up to a small mushroom that was growing between the roots of a white birch stump. Suddenly, on the other side of the stump, a gray animal with white spots jumped out.

Zinka started to run away, and Zinziver got angry and shouted:

Ping-ping-cherr! Who are you?

He was very brave and flew away from the enemy only when the enemy rushed at him.

Ugh! - said the gray spotted animal, squinting his eyes and trembling all over. - How you and Zinka scared me! You can’t stomp on dry, crunchy leaves like that! I thought it was a fox running or a wolf. I'm a hare, I'm a white hare.

Not true! - Zinka shouted to him from the tree. - White hare is gray in summer, white in winter, I know. And you're kind of half-white.

So it’s neither summer nor winter now. So I am neither gray nor white. - And the hare whined: - I’m sitting by a birch stump, trembling, afraid to move. There is no snow yet, but tufts of white fur are already falling out of me. The ground is black. I’ll run along it during the day - now everyone will see me. And the dry leaves crunch so terribly! No matter how quietly you sneak, there’s just thunder from under your feet.

You see what a coward he is,” Zinziver said to Zinka. - And you were afraid of him. He is not our enemy.

NOVEMBER

An enemy - and a terrible enemy - appeared in the forest the following month. Old Sparrow called this month November and said that it was the third and last month of autumn.

The enemy was very scary because he was invisible. Small and large birds, mice, and hares began to disappear in the forest. As soon as an animal gapes, as soon as a bird lags behind the flock - it doesn’t matter whether it’s night or day - and lo and behold, they are no longer alive.

No one knew who this mysterious robber was: an animal, a bird or a man? But everyone was afraid of him, and all the forest animals and birds talked about him. Everyone was waiting for the first snow to identify the killer from the footprints around the torn victim.

The first snow fell one evening. And the next morning, one little hare was missing from the forest. We found his paw. Right there, on the already melted snow, there were traces of large, terrible claws. These could be the claws of an animal, or the claws of a large bird of prey. But the killer left nothing else: not a feather, not a hair of his own.

“I’m afraid,” Zinka said to Zinziver. - Oh, how I'm afraid! Let's quickly fly away from the forest, from this terrible invisible robber.

They flew to the river. There were old hollow willows where they could find shelter.

You know,” said Zinka, “the place is open here.” If a terrible robber comes here, he cannot sneak up here as unnoticed as in a dark forest. We will see him from afar and hide from him.

And they settled across the river.

Autumn has already come to the river. The willow willows have fallen off, the grass has turned brown and drooped. Snow fell and melted. The river was still running, but in the morning there was ice on it. And with every frost it grew. There were no waders along the banks. Only the ducks remained. They quacked that they would stay here all winter if the river was not completely covered with ice. And the snow fell and fell - and never melted anymore.

As soon as the titmice began to live peacefully, suddenly there was alarm again: at night, a duck sleeping on the other side, on the edge of its flock, disappeared unknown where.

“It’s him,” Zinka said, trembling. - It's invisible. He is everywhere: in the forest, in the field, and here on the river.

There are no invisible people, said Zinziver. - I'll track him down, just wait!

And all day long he hovered among the bare branches on the tops of old willow willows: looking out from the tower for a mysterious enemy. But I didn’t notice anything suspicious.

And then suddenly - on the last day of the month - there was a river. The ice covered it at once - and never melted again. The ducks flew away at night.

Here Zinka finally managed to persuade Zinziver to leave the river: after all, now the enemy could easily cross to them across the ice. And all the same, Zinka had to go to the city: to find out from the Old Sparrow what the new month is called.

DECEMBER

The titmice flew to the city. And no one, not even Old Sparrow, could explain to them who this invisible terrible robber was, from whom there was no salvation either day or night, neither big nor small.

But calm down, said Old Sparrow. “Here in the city, no invisible person is afraid: even if he dares to come here, people will shoot him right away.” Stay live with us in the city. The month of December has already begun - the tail of the year. Winter has come. And in the field, and on the river, and in the forest, it is now hungry and scary. And people always have shelter and food for us little birds.

Of course, Zinka happily agreed to settle in the city and persuaded Zinziver. At first, however, he did not agree, he swaggered around and shouted:

Ping-ping-cherr! I'm not afraid of anyone! I'll find the invisible one!

But Zinka told him:

That’s not the point, but here’s the thing: New Year will be soon. The sun will start to look out again, everyone will rejoice at it. But no one can sing him the first spring song here in the city: sparrows can only chirp, crows can only croak, and jackdaws can make noise. Last year I sang the first spring song to the sun here. And now you must sing it.

Zinziver will shout:

They began to look for a room for themselves. But it turned out to be very difficult. In the city it’s not like in the forest: here even in winter all the hollows, birdhouses, nests, even the cracks behind the windows and under the roofs are occupied. In that sparrow nest behind the window where Zinka met the Christmas tree last year, a whole family of young sparrows now lived.

But even here Zinka was helped by Old Sparrow. He told her:

Fly to that house over there, with the red roof and garden. There I saw a girl who was still picking something in a log with a chisel. Isn't she preparing a nice little nest for you - the titmice?

Zinka and Zinziver immediately flew to the house with a red roof. And who was the first thing they saw in the garden, on the tree? That terrible bearded hunter who almost shot Zinziver to death.

The hunter pressed the nest box to the tree with one hand, and held a hammer and nails in the other. He leaned down and shouted:

So, what?

And from below, from the ground, Manyunya answered him in a thin voice:

So good!

And the bearded hunter firmly nailed the hollow to the trunk with large nails, and then climbed down from the tree.

Zinka and Zinziver immediately looked into the nest and decided that they had never seen a better apartment: Manyunya hollowed out a cozy deep hollow in the log and even put soft, warm feathers, down and wool in it.

The month flew by; no one bothered the titmice here, and Manyunya brought them food every morning on a table specially attached to a branch.

And just before the New Year, another important event happened - the last of this year: Manyunin’s father, who sometimes went out of town to hunt, brought an unprecedented bird, which all the neighbors came running to see.

It was a huge snow-white owl, so snow-white that when the hunter threw it into the snow, it was only with great difficulty that the owl could be seen.

“This is our evil winter guest,” father explained to Manyuna and the neighbors, “a polar owl.” She sees equally well both day and night. And from her claws there is no escape for a mouse, a partridge, a hare on the ground, or a squirrel in a tree. It flies completely silently, but you can see for yourself how difficult it is to notice when there is snow all around.

Of course, neither Zinka nor Zinziver understood a word from the bearded hunter’s explanation. But they both understood perfectly well who the hunter had killed. And Zinziver shouted so loudly: “Pin-pin-cherr! Invisible! - that immediately all the city sparrows, crows, and jackdaws flew from all the roofs and courtyards to look at the monster.

And in the evening Manyuni had a Christmas tree, the children screamed and stomped, but the titmice were not at all angry with them for this.

Now they knew that the New Year comes with a Christmas tree decorated with lights, snow and toys, and with the New Year the sun returns to us and brings many new joys.

Zinka was a young titmouse, and she did not have her own nest. All day long she flew from place to place, jumped on fences, on branches, on roofs - tits are a lively bunch. And in the evening he will look for an empty hollow or some crack under the roof, hide there, fluff up his feathers, and somehow sleep through the night.

But one day - in the middle of winter - she was lucky enough to find a free sparrow's nest. It was placed above the window outside the outskirts. Inside was a whole feather bed of soft down.

And for the first time, after flying out of her native nest, Zinka fell asleep in warmth and peace.

Suddenly at night she was awakened by a loud noise. There was noise in the house, a bright light was shining from the window.

The titmouse got scared, jumped out of the nest and, clinging to the frame with its claws, looked out the window.

There in the room there was a large tree, right up to the ceiling, all covered in lights, and snow, and toys. Children were jumping and screaming around her.

Zinka had never seen people behave like this at night before. After all, she was born only last summer and still didn’t know much in the world.

She fell asleep long after midnight, when the people in the house finally calmed down and the light went out in the window.

And in the morning Zinka was awakened by the cheerful, loud cry of sparrows. She flew out of the nest and asked them:

- Are you sparrows screaming? And people made noise all night today and didn’t let me sleep. What happened?

- How? - The sparrows were surprised. - Don't you know what day it is today? After all, today is the New Year, so everyone is happy - both people and us.

- How is this New Year? - The titmouse did not understand.

- Oh, you yellow-mouthed one! - the sparrows chirped. - But this is the biggest holiday of the year! The sun returns to us and begins its calendar. Today is the first day of January.

- What is this “January”, “calendar”?

- Ugh, how small you are! - The sparrows were indignant. — The calendar is the schedule of the sun for the whole year. The year consists of months, and January is its first month, the tip of the year. It is followed by another ten months, as long as people have fingers on their front paws: February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November. And the very last month, the twelfth, the tail of the year is December. Do you remember?

“No,” said the titmouse. - Where can I remember so much at once! I remembered “nose”, “ten fingers” and “tail”. And they are all called too cleverly.

- Well, thank you! - Zinka was happy. - I will definitely fly to you every month. Goodbye!

And she flew and flew for thirty whole days, and on the thirty-first she returned and told the Old Sparrow everything that she had noticed.

And Old Sparrow said to her:

- Well, remember: January - the first month of the year - begins with a merry Christmas tree for the guys. Every day the sun begins to rise a little earlier and go to bed later. The light is growing day by day, but the frost is getting stronger. The sky is all over clouds. And when the sun comes out, you, titmouse, want to sing. And you quietly try your voice: “Zin-zin-tyu!” Zin-zin-ty!”

Zinka flew to the river.

He flies over the field, flies over the meadow, hears: streams are singing everywhere. The streams are singing, the streams are flowing, and everyone is going to the river.

I flew to the river, and the river was terrible: the ice on it had turned blue, water was coming out near the banks.

Zinka sees: every day, more streams run to the river.

Then a thin black and white bird flew in, ran along the shore, swayed its long tail, and squealed:

- Peek! Pee-lick!

- What are you squeaking!? - asks Zinka. - Why are you waving your tail?

- Peek! - answers the thin bird. - Don't you know my name? Icebreaker. Now I’ll swing my tail, and when I crack it on the ice, the ice will burst and the river will flow.

- Well, yes! - Zinka didn’t believe it. - You're bragging.

- Ah well! - says the thin bird. - Peek!

And let's swing our tail even more.

Then suddenly there’s a boom somewhere up the river, as if from a cannon! The icebreaker fluttered and, in fright, flapped its wings so much that in one minute it disappeared from sight.

And Zinka sees: the ice has cracked like glass.

These are the streams - all that ran into the river - as they strained, pressed from below - the ice burst. It burst and disintegrated into ice floes, large and small.

The river has flown. she went and went, and no one could stop her. The ice floes swayed on it, floated, ran, circled each other, and those on the side were pushed onto the shore.

- Zin-zin-ho! Zin-zin-ho! Ice drift, ice drift! - Zinka sang.

And she flew to tell the Old Sparrow what she saw on the river.

And old Sparrow said to her:

“You see: first spring comes to the field, and then to the river.” Remember: the month in which our rivers are free of ice is called April. Now fly back into the forest: you will see what will happen there.

And Zinka quickly flew into the forest. July.

“It’s been six months since the New Year’s tree,” said Old Sparrow, “six months, exactly six months.” Remember that the second half of the year begins in the midst of summer. And now the month of July has come. And this is the best month for both chicks and animals, because there is a lot of everything around: sunshine, warmth, and a variety of delicious food.

“Thank you,” said Zinka.

And she flew away.

“It’s time for me to settle down,” she thought. — There are a lot of hollows in the forest. I’ll borrow whatever free time I like, and I’ll live in it as my own home!”

I thought about it, but it wasn’t so easy to do it.

All the hollows in the forest are occupied. There are chicks in all the nests. Some still have tiny ones, naked, some with fluff, and some with feathers, but they are still yellow-mouthed, squeaking all day long, asking for food.

Zinka is bored alone.

“Let me,” he thinks, “let me help someone feed the chicks.” They will thank me."

I found a butterfly on a spruce tree, grabbed it in its beak, and is looking for someone to give it to.

He hears little goldfinches squeaking on an oak tree, their nest is on a branch there.

Zinka quickly went there - and stuck the butterfly into one goldfinch’s gaping mouth.

The goldfinch took a sip, but the butterfly did not climb: it was too big and painful.

The stupid chick tries, chokes, but nothing comes of it.

And he began to choke. Zinka screams in fear, doesn’t know what to do.

Then the goldfinch arrived. Now - once! - she grabbed the butterfly, pulled it out of the goldfinch’s throat and threw it away.

And Zinke says:

- Get out of here! You almost killed my chick. Is it possible to give a little one a whole butterfly? She didn’t even tear off her wings!

Zinka rushed into the thicket and hid there: she was both ashamed and offended.

Then she flew through the forest for many days - no, no one would accept her into their company!

And it happened once: one little girl climbed into a raspberry field, walked quietly, took berries.

And Zinka flutters through the trees above her. And suddenly he sees a big scary bear in a raspberry field,

The girl is just approaching him, but she doesn’t see him.

And he doesn’t see her: he’s also picking berries. He will bend the bush with his paw and into his mouth.

“Now,” Zinka thinks, “the monster girl will stumble upon him and eat her!” We must save her, we must save her!”

And she screamed from the tree in her own way, in the titmouse’s way:

- Zin-zin-wen! Girl, girl! There's a bear here. Run away!

The girl didn’t pay any attention to her: she didn’t understand a word.

And the scary bear understood: he immediately reared up and looked around: where is the girl?

“Well,” Zinka decided, “the little one has disappeared!”

And the bear saw the girl, dropped on all four paws - and how he would run away from her through the bushes!

Zinka was surprised:

“I wanted to save the girl from the bear, but I saved the bear from the girl! Such a monster, but he’s afraid of the little man!”

Since then, when meeting children in the forest, the titmouse sang to them a ringing song:

Zin-zan-le! Zan-zin-le!

Who gets up early

He takes mushrooms for himself,

And sleepy and lazy

They go after the nettles.

This little girl, from whom the bear ran away, always came into the forest first and left the forest with a full basket. October.

- Hurry, hurry! - Zinka hurried the Old Sparrow. - Tell me what month it is, and I will fly back to the forest: I have a sick comrade there.

And she told the Old Sparrow how a bearded hunter knocked a titmouse sitting next to her from a branch, and the girl Manyunya sprinkled water and revived her.

Having learned that the new month, the second month of autumn, is called October, Zinka quickly returned to the forest.

A few days later he completely recovered. The flock with which he flew disappeared somewhere, and Zinziver remained to live with Zinka. They became very good friends.

Soon the forest thinned out, the branches were exposed, and the ground beneath them was covered with colorful leaves. The last flocks of marsh birds arrived from the far north, from the tundra. Now new guests arrived from the northern forests every day: winter was already beginning there.

But Zinka and Zinziver never met the good girl Manyunya in the forest again.

Zinka started to run away, and Zinziver got angry and shouted:

- Pin-pin-cherr! Who are you?

He was very brave and flew away from the enemy only when the enemy rushed at him.

- Ugh! - said the gray spotted animal, squinting his eyes and trembling all over. How you and Zinka scared me! You can’t stomp on dry, crunchy leaves like that! I thought it was a fox running or a wolf. I'm a hare, I'm a white hare.

- Not true! - Zinka shouted to him from the tree. - White hare is gray in summer, white in winter, I know. And you're kind of half-white.

- So it’s neither summer nor winter now. And I am neither gray nor white. “And the hare whined: “I’m sitting by a birch stump, trembling, afraid to move.” There is no snow yet, but tufts of white fur are already falling out of me. The ground is black. I’ll run along it during the day - now everyone will see me. And the dry leaves crunch so terribly! No matter how quietly you sneak, there’s just thunder from under your feet.

“You see what a coward he is,” Zinziver said to Zinka. - And you were afraid of him. He is not our enemy.

Vitaly Valentinovich Bianki

Sinichkin calendar

But one day - in the middle of winter - she was lucky enough to find a free sparrow's nest. It was placed above the window behind the window. Inside was a whole feather bed of soft down.

And for the first time, after flying out of her native nest, Zinka fell asleep in warmth and peace.

Suddenly at night she was awakened by a loud noise. There was noise in the house, a bright light was shining from the window.

The titmouse got scared, jumped out of the nest and, clinging to the frame with its claws, looked out the window.

There, in the room, there was a large tree, right up to the ceiling, all covered in lights, and snow, and toys. Children were jumping and screaming around her.

Zinka had never seen people behave like this at night before. After all, she was born only last summer and still didn’t know much in the world.

She fell asleep long after midnight, when the people in the house finally calmed down and the light went out in the window.

And in the morning Zinka was awakened by the cheerful, loud cry of sparrows. She flew out of the nest and asked them:

- Are you sparrows screaming? And people made noise all night today and didn’t let me sleep. What happened?

- How? - The sparrows were surprised. - Don't you know what day it is today? After all, today is the New Year, so everyone is happy - both people and us.

- How is this New Year? – the titmouse did not understand.

- Oh, you yellow-mouthed one! - the sparrows chirped. - But this is the biggest holiday of the year! The sun returns to us and begins its calendar. Today is the first day of January.

– What is this “January”, “calendar”?

- Ugh, how small you are! - The sparrows were indignant. – The calendar is the schedule of the sun for the whole year. The year consists of months, and January is its first month, the tip of the year. It is followed by another ten months - as many as people have fingers on their front paws: February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November. And the very last month, the twelfth, the tail of the year is December. Do you remember?

“No,” said the titmouse. – Where can I remember so much at once! I remembered “nose”, “ten fingers” and “tail”. And they are all called too cleverly.

- Well, thank you! – Zinka was delighted. – I will certainly fly to you every month. Goodbye!

And she flew and flew for thirty whole days, and on the thirty-first she returned and told the Old Sparrow everything that she had noticed.

And Old Sparrow said to her:

- Well, remember: January - the first month of the year - begins with a cheerful Christmas tree for the guys. Every day the sun begins to rise a little earlier and go to bed later. The light is growing day by day, but the frost is getting stronger. The sky is all over clouds. And when the sun comes out, you, titmouse, want to sing. And you quietly try your voice: “Zin-zin-tyu!” Zin-zin-ty!”

The sun came out again, so cheerful and bright. It even warmed up a little, icicles hung from the roofs, and water flowed over them.

“So spring begins,” Zinka decided. She was delighted and sang loudly:

- Zin-zin-tan! Zin-zin-tan! Take off your caftan!

“It’s early, little bird,” Old Sparrow told her. - Look how cold it will be. We'll cry some more.

- Well, yes! – the titmouse didn’t believe it. “I’ll fly into the forest today and find out what the news is.”

And she flew away.

Zinka jumped on the branches, shook off the snow from them and examined the bark. Her eye is sharp and alert - she won’t miss a single crack. Zinka pokes the bale with its sharp nose into the crack, gouges the hole wider - and drags some bug out from under the bark.

Many insects cram under the bark for the winter - from the cold. Zinka will pull it out and eat it. This is how he feeds. And she herself notices what’s all around.

He looks: a forest mouse jumped out from under the snow. She's shaking and all tousled up.

- What are you doing? - Zinka asks.

- Ugh, I got scared! - says the forest mouse.

She caught her breath and said:

“I was running in a pile of brushwood under the snow, and suddenly I fell into a deep hole. And this, it turns out, is the bear’s den. There is a bear lying in it, and she has two tiny newborn bear cubs. It’s good that they were fast asleep and didn’t notice me.

I became friends with him. With his strong faceted nose, he breaks large pieces of bark and takes out fat larvae. Titmouse also gets something after him.

Zinka flies after a woodpecker and rings a cheerful bell through the forest:

– Every day it’s brighter, it’s more fun, it’s more fun!

Suddenly there was a hissing sound all around, a drift of snow ran through the forest, the forest began to hum, and it became dark in it, like in the evening. Out of nowhere, the wind blew, the trees swayed, snowdrifts flew from the spruce paws, snow fell, curled - a blizzard began. Zinka calmed down, curled up into a ball, and the wind kept tearing her from the branch, ruffling her feathers and freezing her little body under them.

It’s good that the woodpecker let her into his spare hollow, otherwise the titmouse would have disappeared.

Zinka flew down to one of them to look for insects under the bark.

Suddenly, from under the snow - a beast! He jumped out and sat down. He himself is all white, his ears with black dots are held straight up. He sits in a column, his eyes bulging at Zinka.

Zinka lost his wings from fear.

- Who are you? – she squeaked.

- I'm a hare. I'm a hare. And who are you?

- Oh, hare! – Zinka was delighted. “Then I’m not afraid of you.” I'm a titmouse.

Even though she had never seen hares before, she had heard that they don’t eat birds and are afraid of everyone.

– Do you live here, on earth? – Zinka asked.

- This is where I live.

“But you’ll be completely covered in snow here!”

- And I’m glad. The blizzard covered all traces and carried me away - so the wolves ran nearby, but they didn’t find me.

Zinka also became friends with the hare.

So I lived in the forest for a whole month, and everything was: it was snowing, then there was a blizzard, and sometimes the sun would come out - it would be a fine day, but it was still cold.

She flew to the Old Sparrow, told him everything she had noticed, and he said:

– Remember: blizzards and blizzards flew away in February. In February, wolves are fierce, and a mother bear will give birth to cubs in her den. The sun shines more cheerfully and longer, but the frosts are still severe. Now fly to the field.

Zinka flew into the field.

After all, a titmouse can live wherever you want: if only there were bushes, she would feed herself.

In the field, in the bushes, lived gray partridges - such beautiful field hens with a chocolate horseshoe on their chests. A whole flock of them lived here, digging grains out from under the snow.

-Where can I sleep here? – Zinka asked them.

“Do as we do,” say the partridges. - Look here.

They all took to their wings, scattered wildly, and crashed into the snow!

The snow was loose - it fell and covered them. And no one will see them from above, and they are warm there, on the ground, under the snow.

“Well, no,” thinks Zinka, “tits can’t do that. I’ll look for a better place to stay for the night.”

I found a wicker basket abandoned by someone in the bushes, climbed into it, and fell asleep there.

And it’s good that I did so.

The day was sunny. The snow above melted and became loose. And at night the frost hit.

In the morning Zinka woke up, waiting - where are the partridges? They are nowhere to be seen. And where they dived into the snow in the evening, the crust glistens - an ice crust.

Zinka flew onto the crust - and let’s peck at it with his strong, sharp nose. And she continued - she made a big hole. And she released the partridges from prison. They praised her and thanked her!

They brought her grains and various seeds:

– Live with us, don’t fly away anywhere!