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Preface vii

considerations are introduced, and afterwards, the numerically estimated diagram of

stability is subject to a qualitative assessment. The problem of control and dynam-
ical modeling of a wheeled double inverted pendulum with rolling friction vibrating
in a plane perpendicular to the direction of movement is taken into consideration in
Chapter 12. The object of analysis consisting of a wheel and the double pendulum
has been described by means of equations of motion derived using the Lagrange
equation of second kind. The aim of control is to maintain the upper link at an
unstable equilibrium point around the given angular position. Control moment of
force is applied to the wheel in a numerical procedure utilizing the Kalman filter-
ing approach. In some discontinuous dynamical systems with nonlinearities emitted
by dry friction, a controller has to be designed to avoid the steady-state tracking
errors or even some undesirable self-excited vibrations. In Chapter 13, we examine
the influence of the dry friction-caused discontinuities on the controlled dynamics of
a bearing rotor. Finally, Chapter 14 presents a simulation and control of a building
structure subjected to stochastic excitation. The problem is reduced to a two-degree-
of-freedom system with an approximated frictional discontinuity introduced by the
Saint–Venant element.
Encouraging the scientists to read this monograph, we would like to attenu-
ate its considerable scope of the miscellaneous aspects of modeling of the dynam-
ical systems with friction and impacts. The two studied significant phenomena of
classical mechanics are supported by careful mathematical derivations proven by
numerical computations confirming interesting results which are visualized on the
plots of the time histories, phase planes and bifurcation diagrams. Moreover, this
monograph examines related control problems seeking to improve properties of the
considered piecewise-smooth dynamical systems. Mathematical models presented in
this monograph will undoubtedly increase in importance in numerical experiments,
experimental measurements and optimization problems found in applied mechanics.
We believe that the proposed source of the theoretical and practical knowledge
will strengthen the skills of physicists and mechanical engineers in modeling, analysis
and control of discontinuous systems with friction and impacts.

Pawel Olejnik
Jan Awrejcewicz
Michal Fečkan
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June 8, 2017 12:9 ws-book961x669 BC: 10577 - Modeling, Analysis and Control of DS 1st Reading ws-book975x65 page ix

Acknowledgments

The authors greatly acknowledge the assistance of Flaviano Battelli and Valery
Pilipchuk who have helped in carrying out the research.
Michal Fečkan is partially supported by the Grant VEGA-MS 1/0071/14, and
by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under the contract No. APVV-
14-0378.

ix
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Contents

Preface v

Acknowledgments ix

1. Friction Laws in Modeling of Dynamical Systems 1

1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Modeling of Dry Friction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2.1 Classic Friction Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2.2 Modern Description of Dry Friction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 Dry Friction and Dynamical Systems Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
1.4 Friction Advantages: A Brake Mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
1.4.1 Engineering Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
1.4.2 The Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
1.4.3 Experimental Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
1.4.4 Dynamical Analysis — Bifurcations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

2. Transient Friction-Induced Vibrations in a 2-DOF Braking System 49

2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
2.2 Mathematical Modeling of the Belt–Spring–Block Model . . . . . . 51
2.3 Conditions for the Numerical Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
2.4 The Creep–Slip Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
2.5 Three-Dimensional Bifurcation Diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

3. Numerical Estimation of the Stick–Slip Transitions 61

3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
3.2 Function of Boundary Transition Through a Discontinuity . . . . . 63
3.3 Numerical Estimation of the Stick to Slip and Slip to Stick Transitions 66
3.4 Bifurcations of Tangent Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
3.4.1 Tangent Points on the Oscillating Boundary of Discontinuity 70
3.4.2 A Two-Periodic Stick–Slip Numerical Solution . . . . . . . 72

xi
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xii Modeling, Analysis and Control of Dynamical Systems with Friction and Impacts

3.5 Lyapunov Exponents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

3.5.1 Computation of Lyapunov Exponents Using Time Series . 73
3.5.2 Lyapunov Exponents of Typical Trajectories . . . . . . . . 74

4. Smooth Approximation of Discontinuous Stick–Slip Solutions 77

4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
4.2 Discontinuity in Models of Dry Friction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
4.2.1 Zero Value in Numerical Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
4.2.2 A Continuous Approximation of Step Function . . . . . . . 83
4.3 The Method of Smooth Approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
4.4 Numerical Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

5. Bifurcations in Planar Discontinuous Systems 89

5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
5.2 Calculation of Homoclinic Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
5.3 The Equation of Bifurcation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

6. Occurrence of Chaos in Forced Impact Systems 95

6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
6.2 Problem Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
6.3 Looking for an Impact Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
6.4 The Equation of Bifurcation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
6.5 Almost Periodic and Periodic Cases in Chaotic Behavior . . . . . . 112
6.6 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
6.6.1 Impact Planar Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
6.6.2 Impact Coupled Second-Order Systems . . . . . . . . . . . 122

7. Impacts in Chaotic Motion of a Particle on a Non-Flat Billiard 127

7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
7.2 Homoclinic Impact Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
7.3 Constructing the Melnikov Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
7.4 Chaotic Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
7.5 Symmetry Conditions in Finding the Melnikov Function . . . . . . 151

8. Parameter Identification of a Double Torsion Pendulum with Friction 159

8.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
8.2 Mathematical Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
8.3 Identification of Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
8.4 Application of the Identification Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

9. Identification of Time-Varying Damping of a Parametric Pendu-

lum with Friction 167
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Contents xiii

9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

9.2 Estimation of the Nonlinear Characteristics of Damping and Stiffness171
9.2.1 Estimation of the Polynomial Decay . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
9.2.2 Estimation of the Variable Angular Frequency . . . . . . . 174
9.2.3 Estimation of the Time-Varying Stiffness and Damping . . 175
9.3 The Nonlinear Approximations — Verification Cases . . . . . . . . 176

10. Almost Periodic Solutions for Jumping Discontinuous Systems 181

10.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
10.2 Almost Periodic Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
10.3 A Damped Pendulum With a Jumping Length and External Force 187

11. Solution of Nonlinear Algebraic Equations in Analysis of Stability 191

11.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
11.2 The Gradient Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
11.3 Analysis of Stability of Equilibrium States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
11.4 Stable and Unstable Branches on the Diagram of Stability . . . . . 194

12. Control of a Wheeled Double Inverted Pendulum with Friction 197

12.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
12.2 Overview of Exemplary Inverted Pendulums . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
12.3 Modeling of the 2-DOF Inverted Pendulum Driven by a Rotating
Wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
12.4 Numerical Modeling of System Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
12.5 Kalman Filter Based Control of the Pendulum . . . . . . . . . . . 204
12.5.1 Simplification and Linearization of the Model . . . . . . . . 206
12.5.2 Analysis of System Stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

13. Tracking Control of a Discontinuous System with Stick–Slip Friction 209

13.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
13.2 The Algorithm of Sliding Surface Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
13.2.1 Estimation of Linear and Nonlinear Parameters . . . . . . 213
13.2.2 The Low-Voltage Control of Rotational Velocity . . . . . . 214
13.3 Numerical Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

14. Controlling Stochastically Excited Systems with an Approximate

Discontinuity 221
14.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
14.2 The Saint–Venant Element Modeling the Dry Friction Contact . . 222
14.2.1 The Nonlinear Parallel Spring Connection . . . . . . . . . . 223
14.2.2 The Viscous–Elastic Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
14.3 The 2-DOF Mechanical Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
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xiv Modeling, Analysis and Control of Dynamical Systems with Friction and Impacts

14.3.1 Time Histories of State Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

14.3.2 The Amplitude–Frequency Diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
14.4 The Approximate System with Friction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
14.4.1 Energetic Criterion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
14.4.2 Normal Modes of Vibrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
14.5 Control of the 2-DOF System Under a Stochastic Excitation . . . . 231
14.6 Numerical Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Bibliography 235

Index 253
June 8, 2017 12:9 ws-book961x669 BC: 10577 - Modeling, Analysis and Control of DS 1st Reading ws-book975x65 page 1

Chapter 1

Friction Laws in Modeling of Dynamical

Systems

The first chapter is devoted to the significant role of various friction laws applied
to mathematical modeling of a friction phenomenon in engineering sciences. Both
advantages and disadvantages of the frictional process are taken into a deep con-
sideration and discussed. It is shown how the static and dynamic friction laws and
modern friction theories coexist in pure and applied mathematics. An important role
of purely theoretical and experimental investigations is attenuated, wherein the ap-
propriate friction models regarded to a particular applications are outlined, putting
special emphasis on the well-established approaches like the models proposed by
Bay–Wanheim, Dahl, Bliman–Sorine, Lund–Grenoble and many others. Friction
treated as a complex process being in an interaction with wear, emission of heat
and deformation is also partially considered. Then an influence of dry friction mod-
els on the theory of modeling of dynamical systems is reviewed. At the end of this
chapter, including the experimental and numerical analyses, an application of the
asymmetric friction force model used in investigation of a dynamical response of
a mechanical system with two-degree-of-freedom is presented.

1.1 Introduction

The relative motion of solid bodies with regard to adhesion is an disequilibrial

process, in which the kinetic energy is transformed into the energy of irregular
microscopic movement. This phenomenon is related to dissipation of energy (as
heat, for instance) and leads to friction and wear on surfaces of the contacting bod-
ies. Widespread occurrence of friction in technology and in everyday life is the reason
for extensive scientific research that would result in widened theoretical knowledge
in the process of friction. The aim of such research is to provide a detailed compre-
hensive description of this phenomenon.
In contrast to many advantageous uses of friction, for instance in metalworking,
movement of vehicles, drive transmission with the use of frictional elements, even
walking or vibration of strings in musical instruments, there are numerous negative
aspects of friction in the form of noise, wear and unpredictable behavior of various

1
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2 Modeling, Analysis and Control of Dynamical Systems with Friction and Impacts

mechanisms. Special attention needs to be paid to harmful self-excited vibrations

in engineering systems with friction that are associated with a periodical supply of
energy from a constantly operating source that is controlled by the system’s motion
by means of a feedback mechanism. Such a relation leads to a reciprocal reaction
between the regulating device and the nonlinear vibrating system; thus the self-
excited system may control its own energy balance. As a result, despite inevitable
losses, some non-disappearing periodic vibrations can be exhibited by the system.
Self-excited vibrations in kinetic junctions are usually harmful and undesir-
able. Especially in extreme cases, they may result in destruction of a vibrating
object. Among the phenomena, those in question are the vibrations caused by ro-
tation of air around oscillating flexible connectors, strings or coatings (vibrations
of electric wires or a plane’s wing “flatter”) [Ibrahim (1994b)]. Mechanical systems
with coupled movements may generate self-excited vibrations at the expense of en-
ergy from the drive system. Such characteristics may be attributed to the “shimmy”
vibrations, which cause snaking of a car’s front wheels. Among typical examples of
the occurrence of self-excited vibrations in nature are sounds of speech and whistle
of slender twigs in the wind. However, the same vibrations that cause such acous-
tic phenomena as a creak of old hinges or a loosened joint or a grid of a blot are
associated with the negative characteristics of dry friction.
The disturbance in the fluency of motion caused by self-excited vibrations re-
sulting from an abrupt change of real sliding speed of frictional bodies is called
a stick–slip effect. It can often be observed in measuring devices, precision tools and
during machining processes.
The basic property of friction conductive to stick–slip vibrations is the fact that
the maximum friction force at the adhesion loss is larger than the force that occurs in
the system during the slip phase at low relative speeds of sliding bodies. Mechanical
devices with kinetic junctions characterized by friction of this type are exposed
to additional mechanical vibrations, which in many cases cause disturbances in
operation or damages. The occurrence of friction-excited vibrations in such systems
as a knife and a support or a stock and a metal working machine results in worsening
of the processed surface roughness.
Scientific treatises concerned with research on self-excited vibrations, includ-
ing stick–slip vibrations, aim at thorough exploration of the essence of this phe-
nomenon. An occurrence of self-excited vibrations results from the lack of stability
of the states of equilibrium or stabilized motion. The presumable presence of such
vibrations in a kinetic slide junction should be detected, because the states of equi-
librium may fall into undesirable vibrations leading to malfunction of the machine.
Therefore, various scientific research works that determine the characteristics of
friction, study on stability or identification of the parameters of friction with the
dominating role of self-excited vibrations significantly contribute to general under-
standing and elimination of that phenomenon together with its usually unwelcome
side-effects on operating mechanical devices.
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Friction Laws in Modeling of Dynamical Systems 3

1.2 Modeling of Dry Friction

All mechanical and mechatronic systems that effectively use friction require appro-
priate designing, which involves accurate understanding and detailed phenomeno-
logical description of the contact area. Excessive friction of the elements during
vibration often causes decreasing precision of a mechanism’s work and generates
limit cycles or loss of smoothness caused by stick–slip effect. Therefore, various
compensation techniques have been developed in order to improve dynamics and
to minimize the negative influence of friction. The procedures employed in such
cases usually consist of accurate determination of conditions in a friction point, ap-
plication of friction law and determination of all movement coefficients. A correct
theoretical description supported by an experimental model embracing all of the el-
ements operating together lay basis for compensation of friction effects in vibrating
systems.
Unfortunately, a long-term research on external friction of solid bodies, which
is common in every-day life and in technology as well, has not developed a general
theory that would have fully explained this phenomenon. Some hypotheses, formu-
lated at the turn of centuries, were based on the process of dry friction that belongs
to the general theory of dynamic friction of solid bodies. The modern description
of friction presented in Sec. 1.2.2 is based on well-known models.
Making a simplification, all the models delivered in Sec. 1.2.2 treat static and dy-
namic friction as two separate processes from the dynamic modeling point of view. It
is worth noticing, that in general, between static and dynamic friction there exists
a region during which the solid rubbing bodies get a very small relative shift due
to surface layers’ elastic deformations before the friction surfaces slip. The phe-
nomenon may have great influence on the stick–slip behavior on certain conditions
especially when the slip phase is small enough.

1.2.1 Classic Friction Laws

It is a generally known fact that external dry friction occurs on non-lubricated
surfaces of solid bodies that move relative to each other during adhesion. Research
on friction conducted in the period between the 15th and the 19th century allowed
Moore to formulate the classic friction laws presented below [Moore (1975)].
It was Leonardo da Vinci who concluded that the friction coefficient is not depen-
dent on the nominal contact surface. He developed his theory from an observation
of friction of a coiled rope stretched out by applying a force. Leonardo da Vinci’s
mechanical theory was based on the observed phenomenon of the bodies varied ca-
pability to slip, which resulted in varied values of friction. The law formulated by
Leonardo da Vinci is limited in certain aspects since it is true only for the materials
of determined yield points.
At the end of the 17th century Amontons formulated an observation-based dry
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4 Modeling, Analysis and Control of Dynamical Systems with Friction and Impacts

friction law which claimed that the friction force was proportional to the normal
force perpendicular to the contact surface of frictional bodies (F = μN ) with a di-
mensionless coefficient of proportionality μ, independent of a load. In fact, the
friction coefficient depends on the load as well as on the mechanical, geometrical
and chemical properties of the frictional surfaces. Despite the fact that Amontons’
formula lacks accuracy, it has been widely applied in calculations.
The next classic friction law derived from an observation that the static friction
coefficient is larger than the dynamic friction coefficient, as a matter of fact cannot
be applied either to elastic or viscoelastic materials. That leaves us with one more
classic friction law that claims that the friction coefficient is independent of the
sliding speed. It is obviously a false statement since it makes the law applicable
only to metals at low and medium relative velocities.
Mechanical theories of friction laid foundations for further study of this com-
plex phenomenon. Amontons’ theory referring to the classic dry friction law was
expanded by Coulomb in the 18th century by a dry friction law in the form of
F = μN +C with correction parameter C that allowed for the dependence of the fric-
tion force on molecular reaction of the frictional surfaces [Coulomb (1809)]. Coulomb
assumed that for flat surfaces correction C has a constant value independent of the
normal loading and the contact surface.
Mechanical theories of dry friction include also the theory of [Bowden and Tabor
(1950)]. It is based on an assumption that it allows for plastic deformations of
frictional solid bodies’ real contact surface. The basic feature of this theory is the
view on creation and destruction of junctions appearing on the contact surface, and
the frictional resistance is defined as the sum of the resistances of cutting the joined
asperities and the resistance of pushing the deformed material.
The knowledge on the phenomenon of dry friction was developed due to molecu-
lar theories of Tomilson and Deryagin, mechanical–molecular theories of Kragelskiy
and energy theories of [Kragielskiy (1944)].
In [Epifanov (1975)], the author developed Bowden and Tabor’s theory, however
his own friction theory was based on an assumption that a moving slide representing
a single asperity of the surface cuts the build-up that is formed in front of it.

1.2.2 Modern Description of Dry Friction

The process of external dry friction that occurs in various junctions of machines and
mechanisms has been investigated with utmost attention these days [Awrejcewicz
and Pyryev (2002)]. The attempts to come up with a qualitative explanation of it by
means of an appropriate mathematical notation face numerous difficulties related
to the contact surface’s complex structure, heat emission and wear processes. These
problems do not close the list of all processes that occur in the adhesion area. There-
fore, an analytic and experimental explanation of the character and the mechanisms
of their occurrence is a priority in the investigation of discontinuous dynamic sys-
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Friction Laws in Modeling of Dynamical Systems 5

tems. That is why, in order to develop a friction model, mathematical equations

that describe the frictional contact are formulated and experiments on true real
systems with friction are conducted. The methods of mathematical analyses, nu-
merical simulations or empirical experiments are varied. The classic friction laws
are applied when motion is only slightly affected by friction. Empirical experiments
are conducted to verify the results of measurements with the use of analytic mod-
els. For the investigated frictional pairs and the conditions of motion their own
friction models that take into account the specific conditions of the investigated
junction are formed.
Due to the researchers’ various approaches to the problem and their different
methods of description, in what follows only the most important models of static
and dynamic friction have been distinguished and described. The static friction
models describe the dependence of the friction force on the relative sliding velocity,
whereas the dynamic friction models take the form of differential equations, which
also describe the friction in the stick phase of the frictional elements, i.e., when the
measured relative sliding velocity is equal to zero.

1.2.2.1 Static Models

Vibrations excited by friction often cause problems in industrial mechanical de-
vices such as junctions of turbine blades, junctions of robots’ parts, electrical en-
gines’ drives, water-lubricated bearings used in ships and submarines, machine tools,
brake and clutch systems, valve trains with cam-driven valves, and camless valve
drives. Vibrations of this kind are undesirable, and their side effects often affect the
mechanical system’s efficient operation in a negative way [Ibrahim (1994a); Popp
et al. (1996); Feeny et al. (1998)].





0

k
0

k

0 vr
0 vr
-
k
-
k
-
0
-
0

(a) (b)

Figure 1.1: Friction characteristics: (a) Coulomb law, (b) the exponential law.

The analysis of a system with one degree of freedom with friction in [Andreaus
and Casini (2000)] is based on the assumption of a harmonic exciting force and
a standard excitation in the form of a belt moving at constant velocity. The main
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6 Modeling, Analysis and Control of Dynamical Systems with Friction and Impacts

purpose of the work was to determine in what way the system response depends
on the belt’s velocity and the friction model. The numerical investigation has been
based on the friction coefficient’s discontinuous dependence on the relative sliding
velocity vr (see Fig. 1.1) described by: (a) Coulomb model; (b) a model with
the negative slope of friction characteristics, in which the static friction coefficient
μ0 decreases exponentially with the value of the dynamic friction coefficient μk . In
Fig. 1.1(b) the area marked by horizontal lines denotes low relative sliding velocities
at which sticking of the mass occurs.
The friction characteristics described with Coulomb’s law serve to show that the
motion of the mass is stable during pure slips as well as during the subsequent stick
and slip phases. The conditions in which it is possible to avoid the noise and stick–
slip vibrations in the system have been presented. The influence of the belt’s velocity
on the amplitude of transfer and the adhesion time has been investigated, and
the results prove that beyond a certain value of the belt’s velocity, the oscillator’s
response does not change and the stick–slip vibrations vanish.
The transient motion has also been analyzed to determine the conditions that
should be satisfied by the system’s initial state, in order to obtain a sequence of pure
slips and avoid stick states at the same time. In the case of the friction characteristics
presented in Fig. 1.1(b), the relative velocity at which one can observe only the pure
slip phases increases along with the fall of the exponential branches.
The work also emphasizes a significant dependence of the system response on the
belt’s velocity. It shows the period-doubling bifurcations as well as n-periodic and
chaotic solutions. An additional analysis of a one-degree-of-freedom system with
harmonic excitation shows that the period’s length and the number of “sticks” per
one cycle of motion may significantly increase.
The problem of stick–slip vibrations that occur during friction described with
Burridge–Knopoff earthquake model is presented in the works [Burridge and Knopoff
(1967); Vieira (1999); Van de Vrande et al. (1999); Galvanetto (2001, 2002); Awre-
jcewicz and Olejnik (2003a)]. If the system presented in Fig. 1.2 includes more
masses (in series elastically connected blocks vibrating on the belt), then modeling
of stone blocks’ slips during earthquakes will be possible on the base of the theory of
seismic vibrations. Vieira demonstrated with a three-block system the appearance
of synchronized chaos. A consequence of this study was the conclusion that earth-
quake faults, which are generally coupled through the elastic media in the earth’s
crust, could synchronize even when they have an irregular chaotic dynamics [Vieira
(1999)].
Numerical analysis of Burridge–Knopoff model with the number of blocks re-
duced to two has been conducted considering the dependence on the dynamic fric-
tion force described by the following formula:
⎧ 1
⎪
⎨ , if vd > v,
1 − γ(v − vd )
Fk (v − vd ) = −1 (1.1)
⎪
⎩ , if vd < v.
1 + γ(v − vd )
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Friction Laws in Modeling of Dynamical Systems 7

k1 x1 m1 k12 x2 m2 k2
m1g m2g

T1 vd T2

Figure 1.2: Approximate Burridge–Knopoff model.

The kinetic friction force is usually a function of the relative velocity vr = v − vd

between the mass and the belt. The coefficient γ ∈ [0.4, 3.4] has a positive value,
as it is presented in Fig. 1.3, because the kinetic friction force decreases at small
values of the relative velocity.
Introduction of the friction model described by the dependence that takes the
form of formula (1.1) enables observations of non-standard bifurcations and it proves
the existence of the attractive sets of solutions. An analysis of the obtained results
leads to a conclusion that such assumptions as the lack of back slip and the ex-
istence of symmetry in the system may cause negative consequences in the form
of inaccurate solutions. Considering all the conclusions drawn from the observa-
tion, some new assumptions have been made for a geophysical interpretation of
Burridge–Knopoff model.

-1

Figure 1.3: Friction characteristics for the Burridge–Knopoff model.

A detailed numerical study of certain fundamental aspects of a one-dimensional

homogeneous deterministic Burridge–Knopoff model has been presented by [Carlson
et al. (1991)]. The work describes the model by a massive wave equation, in which
the key nonlinearity is associated with the stick–slip friction characteristics shown
in Fig. 1.4.
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8 Modeling, Analysis and Control of Dynamical Systems with Friction and Impacts

(vr)
1 }

0
1
 vr



Figure 1.4: Stick–slip friction law defined in Eq. 1.2.

The friction law with the stick–slip velocity-weakening friction force at the in-
terface between tectonic plates takes the form
⎧
⎨(−∞, 1], if vr = 0,
ϕ(vr ) = 1−σ (1.2)
⎩ , if vr > 0.
1 + vr /(1 − σ)
The function ϕ in (1.2) states the law dependent on the relative velocity vr of
order 10−8 or smaller, and σ is a parameter determining the slope of the curve.
Braking systems with anti-lock brake mechanisms (ABS) prevent the wheels from
blocking during sudden applying of the brake, which improves the directional sta-
bility and shortens the braking time. A two-dimensional nonlinear dynamic system
with switching control is one of the simplest mechanisms with anti-lock brake sys-
tems. The nonlinearity in the system is manifested in the relation between the slide
and the dynamic friction coefficient. An analysis of the dynamics of an anti-lock
brake system with various methods of control has resulted in obtaining limit cycles
of various shapes.
A physical model of an anti-lock braking system for a wheel, that includes nonlin-
ear coefficients, is presented in [Fu et al. (2001)] (see also the theoretical foundations
presented in [Fling and Fenton (1981); Choi and Lou (1991); Perko (1991); Yeh and
Day (1992)]). A very popular mathematical model of an anti-lock brake system is
a system of three first-order differential equations in the following form:
mv̇ = −F,
J ω̇ = −(Tb − rF ), (1.3)
Ṫb = u,
where m and v denote the vehicle’s mass and velocity, respectively, F = μN is
the kinetic friction force (described by means of Coulomb law) that occurs between
the wheel and the road, N is the normal force, J denotes the wheel’s moment of
inertia, ω is the angular velocity of the wheel with radius r (the distance between
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Friction Laws in Modeling of Dynamical Systems 9

the wheel’s axle and the road’s surface), Tb is the brake’s torque on the wheel, and
u denotes the speed of the braking torque’s change.
The conducted experiments confirmed the existence of a nonlinear relation be-
tween the kinetic friction coefficient and the slip s. The wheel’s torque may be
presented as:
 
J(1 − s)
Te (s) = rμk N 1 + ,
mr2 (1.4)
rω
s=1− .
v
The control in an anti-lock brake system consists of keeping the kinetic friction
coefficient μk in the proximity of the boundary value μc that causes such braking
that creates the greatest possible friction force F without blocking the wheel and
slipping of the tire on the road’s surface. The authors of the work also present
an analytically numerical approach to obtaining periodic solutions of a piecewise
nonlinear autonomous anti-lock brake system with boundary control.
Measurement of the static and kinetic friction coefficients is a frequent and
well-known problem that appears during the investigations of systems with fric-
tion. [Brandl and Pfeiffer (1999)] contains a description of a tribometer (see also
[Dweib and de Souza (1990)]), which serves for the determination of the dependence
of the coefficient of friction on a relative velocity between sliding bodies. It also en-
ables us to determine the static and dynamic friction coefficients for the majority
of pairs of frictional materials.
Coulomb law has been applied during the simulation, and the friction coefficient
dependent on the relative velocity has been approximated by a function in the
following form (see Fig. 1.5):
 
−δ|vr |
μ(vr ) = sgn (vr ) (μ0 − μk ) exp + μk , (1.5)
μ0 − μk
where μk denotes the kinetic friction coefficient when the motion’s relative velocity
vr goes to infinity, μ0 is the static friction coefficient, and δ denotes a constant.
The results obtained from the measurements conducted in a true system and in
a computer simulation have helped to prove that an appropriately adapted model
of a tribometer and friction law depicted in Fig. 1.5 may serve as a perfect tool (as
long as recurrence of results is obtained) for detecting and experimental visualizing
of friction.
Worthy of our attention are the still-developing techniques of measurement of
frictional resistance leading to estimation of friction coefficients of various pairs of
contacting bodies. A kind of micro-tribotester has been designed and fabricated by
[Guo et al. (2007)] to evaluate the static and kinetic friction coefficients on lat-
eral contact surfaces of a single-crystal silicon material-based MEMS device. The
micro-tribotester was fabricated with the standard bulk-fabrication and bonding
processes. Finally, dynamic and static frictional coefficients of the fabricated struc-
ture were measured with the micro-tribotester under microscope. The tested static
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10 Modeling, Analysis and Control of Dynamical Systems with Friction and Impacts

0

k

0 vr

-
k

-
0

Figure 1.5: Exponential law of friction versus relative velocity.

frictional coefficient was 0.9 and a kinetic frictional coefficient was in the range of
[0.24, 0.35].
The properties of passive vibrations absorbers with dry friction are significantly
different from those linear ones. An interesting phenomenon that can be observed
in passive absorbers is their capability to damp all forms of excited vibrations. It
is affected by a small area of the friction characteristics and a well-evaluated static
friction threshold. [Hartung et al. (2001)] includes theoretical considerations and
the results of experiments on the shape of the characteristics and its influence on
the operation of a passive absorber.
Passive vibrations absorber is a mass-elastic system connected with the hous-
ing in order to control its periodically forced vibrations. Figure 1.6 illustrates the
positions of the masses and the connections of the absorber system.

x1 x2
k2 m2
k1
dry friction
Acos(
t) m1
d
Figure 1.6: Mechanical model of a passive vibrations absorber.

Mass m1 and spring k1 are used to model the housing, while the absorber system
is made of mass m2 , an elastic connector characterized by rigidity k2 and viscous
damping d. Mass m1 is forced by a harmonic motion with amplitude A and circular
frequency ω. Dry friction that occurs between mass m2 and the guiding surface
brings the problem down to an analysis of a strongly nonlinear mechanical system.
Active structural vibration control concepts are the efficient means to reduce
unwanted vibrations. In the contribution by [Gaul and Becker (2014)], two different
semi-active control concepts for vibration reduction are proposed. They adapt to the
Another Random Scribd Document
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he really thought English sparrows did do their duty by human
beings.
“Would you like to see my little house?” he asked.
“Very much,” I replied, and I followed him as he flew to another
tree. We were now further up the street where we could look back
at our red brick house which is a double one, and quite wide. Now
we were in front of one that stood a little way from its neighbors. It
was tall and narrow, and in the middle of its high north wall was a
small hole where a brick had fallen out.
Chummy pointed to it proudly. “There’s not a snugger sparrow
bedroom in the city than that,” he said, “for right behind the open
place is a hole in the brick work next the furnace chimney. No matter
how cold and hungry I am when I go to bed, I’m kept warm till
breakfast time, when I can look for scraps. Many a feeble old
sparrow and many a weak one has died in the bitter cold this winter.
They went to bed with empty crops and never woke up. We’ve had
twelve weeks of frost, instead of our usual six, and this is only the
fifth day of thawing weather that we’ve had all winter.”
“Everything seems topsy-turvy this winter,” I said. “Human beings
are short of coal and food, and they’re worried and anxious. I am
very sorry for them.
“But times will improve, Chummy. The old birds say that black hours
come, but no darkness can keep the sun from breaking through. He
is the king of the world.”
Chummy raised his little dark head up to the sunlight. “I’m not
complaining, Dicky. I wish every little bird in the world had such a
snug home as mine.”
“How did the hole come in the wall?” I asked.
“Some workmen had a scaffold up there to repair the top of the
chimney. When they took it down, they knocked a brick out.”
“Is it large enough for you in nesting time?”
“Oh, yes; don’t you want to come and see it? You’re not afraid?”
“Oh, no,” I said warmly. “I know whenever I get a good look into a
bird’s eye whether I can trust him or not.”
“Come along, then,” said Chummy, deeply gratified, and I flew
beside him to his little house.
 CHAPTER VI

CHUMMY TELLS THE STORY OF A NAUGHTY SQUIRREL

O
H, how snug!” I exclaimed. “You have a little hall and a bedroom,
and how clean it is! The old birds say they like to see a bird tidy
his nest from one year to another. Do you keep the same mate?”
“I do,” he replied. “I always have Jennie, but as you probably know,
sparrows don’t pair till spring. In the winter the birds are in flocks.
Jennie is spending these hard months with her parents downtown
near the station because the food supply is better there. I often go
to see her, and I expect her back soon to begin housekeeping. We
like to get ahead of the others in nesting, for there are evil birds
who try every year to drive us from our desirable home.”
“Everything born has to fight,” I said cheerfully.
“I don’t know much about canaries,” said Chummy. “All that I have
seen were very exclusive and haughty, and looked down on us street
birds.”
“Some of my family are that way,” I sighed, “but I have been much
with human beings and my little head has more wisdom in it.”
“I like you,” Chummy began to say heartily; then he stopped short,
cried out, and said, “Duck your head quick and come inside!”
I scuttled from his wide open hallway into his little bedroom,
wondering what had happened. A shower of nutshells had just been
dropped past our beaks. “Who’s doing that?” I asked.
“Squirrie—he hates me because he can’t get a foothold to explore
this house.”
“And who is Squirrie?” I asked.
“The worst little rascal of a squirrel that you ever saw. He respects
nobody, and what do you think is his favorite song?—not that he can
sing. His voice is like a crow’s.”
“I can’t imagine what kind of songs a squirrel would sing,” I said.
“I’ll run over it for you,” said Chummy, “though I haven’t a very good
voice myself.

“‘I care for nobody, no not I,

And nobody cares for me.
I live in the middle of Pleasant Street
And happy will I be!’

“Now what do you think of that for a selfish song in these hard
times?”
I laughed heartily. “Perhaps you take Squirrie too seriously. I’d like to
see the little rogue. Does he live in this house of yours?”
“Yes, right up over us under the roof. He gnawed a hole through
from the outside this summer, and stored an enormous quantity of
nuts that he stole from good Mrs. Lacey at the corner grocery on the
next street. He has an enormous place to scamper about in if he
wishes to stretch his legs. He says in the corner of it he has a
delightfully warm little bed-place, lined with tiny soft bits of wool and
fur torn from ladies’ dresses, for he has the run of most of the
bedrooms in the neighborhood. Have you seen the two old maids
that live in the big attic of this house?”
“Yes, my mistress calls them the bachelor girls,” I said politely.
“Girls,” he said scornfully; “they’re more like old women. Well,
anyway, they’re afraid of mice and rats, and when Squirrie wakes up
and scampers across the boards to his pantry to get a nut, and rolls
it about, and gnaws it, and nibbles it, they nearly have a fit, and run
to the landlady and hurry her up the three flights of stairs.
“She listens and pants, and says, ‘It must be a rat, it’s too noisy for a
mouse.’ Then she goes down cellar and gets a rat-trap and props its
big jaws open with a bit of cheese and sets it in a corner of the
room.
“Squirrie watches them through a tiny hole in the trapdoor in the
ceiling that he made to spy on them, and he nearly dies laughing,
for he loves to tease people, and he hisses at them in a low voice,
‘The trap isn’t made yet that will catch me. I hope you’ll nip your
own old toes in it.’”
“What very disrespectful talk,” I exclaimed.
“Oh, he doesn’t care for anybody, and the other night his dreadful
wish came true, and he was so delighted that he most lost his
breath and had squirrel apoplexy.”
“How did it happen?” I asked.
The sparrow ran his little tongue out over his beak, for he dearly
loves to talk, and went on, “You see, the bachelor ladies were
moving their furniture about to make their room look prettier, and
they forgot the trap, and Miss Maggie did catch her toe in it, and
there was such a yelling and screaming that it woke me out of a
sound sleep.
“The lodgers all came running upstairs with fire extinguishers, and
flat irons, and pokers, and one man had a revolver. I thought the
house was on fire, and I flew out of my little hole in the wall to this
tree. I came here, and from a high limb I could look right in the attic
window. The lodgers were all bursting into the room and poor Miss
Maggie, in curl papers and pink pajamas, was shrieking and dancing
on one foot, and holding up the other with the trap on the toe of her
bedroom slipper.
“Out on the roof, Squirrie was bending down to look at her. He was
lying on his wicked little stomach, and he laughed so hard that at
last he had to roll over in the snow on the roof to get cool. He
looked terrible, and we all hoped he was going to pass away in the
night, but the next morning as we sat round on the tree talking
about him, and trying to think of some good thing he had done, he
poked his head out of the hole which is his front door, and made the
most ugly faces at us that you can imagine. He is certainly a
dreadful creature, and I shall be sorry for the housekeepers about
here when the spring comes.”
I smiled at Chummy’s earnestness and settled down more
comfortably with my breast against the bricks. The day was so
pleasant that I thought I would stay out a little longer. I knew by the
look in his little, bright eye that the sparrow liked talking to me. We
were in a patch of sunlight that crept in his front door, and after the
long cold winter the nice warm feeling on our feathers was very
comforting.
“How does Squirrie trouble the housekeepers?” I asked.
“Well, to begin with, he bothers them because he has no home
duties. He is an ugly, odd, old bachelor, and never gets a mate in the
spring, because no self-respecting young squirrel will take up with
such a scamp.”
“Poor creature!” I said. “It is enough to make any one ugly to live
alone.”
Chummy went on: “Squirrie has been two years only in this
neighborhood. He never stays long anywhere, for his bad deeds
make enemies for him, and he is driven away. When he first came
here he lived in Snug Hollow, that big hole in the half-dead elm at
the corner. Just opposite the tree is a lodging-house. You can see it
from here, that one with the upper verandas. It is kept by a soldier’s
widow, and she is rather poor. She could not afford to put in window
screens, and Squirrie had a royal time with one of her lodgers, a
young student up in the third story. He was very odd, and would eat
no meat. He lived on nuts, cheese, fruit, eggs, and bread—just the
things Squirrie likes. So he made up his mind to board with the
student. The young man was a fresh-air fiend, and never closed his
windows. This just suited Squirrie, so whenever this young Dolliver
went over to the University, Squirrie would spring from a tree branch
to the roof, and was down on the veranda and into the room in a
trice. He rarely ate anything on the spot. He carried everything away
to his hole in the tree, so the student thought that the maid who did
his room must be stealing his things.
“He questioned her, but she said she knew nothing about his food.
Then he locked the chest of drawers where he kept his supplies.
Squirrie climbed up the back, enlarged a knothole and went in that
way. The student thought the girl must have a key. So he went to
the landlady. She dismissed the maid and got another, but the
student’s things went faster than ever.
“The next thing was that the student lost his temper and told the
soldier’s widow that she would do well to feed her maid better, and
she told him that if he didn’t like her house he could get out.
“However, she sent this second girl away and got another. It was the
same old story—nuts, fruit, cheese, bread still vanished. Then the
student got in a worse temper, and turned all the clothes out of his
trunk and made that his pantry, and carried the key in his pocket.
“Now he lost nothing, for Squirrie, clever as he was, could not get in
a locked trunk. He was up a tree, indeed, but he was clever enough
to find a way down. The soldier’s widow was his next victim, and he
would watch the windows and see where she was, and often when
her back was turned he would dart in the house, seize some bit of
food, and run away with it.
“‘Now,’ said the soldier’s widow, ‘this last girl is dishonest, too. She
can’t get into the student’s trunk, and she has turned against me.’
So she sent her away, though the girl cried and said she was well
brought up, and would not steal a pin.
“By this time the house had such a bad name among maids that the
soldier’s widow could not get another, and she had too much work to
do and became thin and miserable, and still the stealing went on, till
at last she said, ‘I must be a thief myself, and don’t know it.’
“However, any one who does wrong is always paid up for it, and
Squirrie was soon caught. By this time he was so fat he could
scarcely run, and he had enough nuts and hard biscuits laid up to
last him for two winters. To keep down his flesh, he began to tease
the dog in the lodging-house. Not in the daytime, for he did not wish
to be seen. He used to chatter, chatter to Rover as he lay on the
porch in the warm summer evenings, and tease him by sitting up on
his hind legs and daring him to play chase. There was no cat in the
house to head Squirrie off, so he would run round and round the
yard and sometimes in the front door, and out the back, with old
Rover loping after him, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, and his
face quite silly.
“‘The dog has gone crazy,’ said the soldier’s widow one evening, as
she saw Rover running about the yard and sometimes down to the
old barn behind the house and back again. ‘He will have to be
poisoned.’
“Rover was nearly crazy. He left the mischievous squirrel and ran to
his good mistress, and put his paws on her knees, but she did not
understand and pushed him away.
“I felt terribly and wondered whether I could not do something to
help.”
“How did you know all this?” I interrupted. “You would be in bed
dark evenings.”
“Why surely you know,” said Chummy, “that all birds of the day tell
their news to the birds of the night—to owls, to bats, and even to
some insects. Then, in turn, we get the news of the night. I had a
very smart young screech-owl watching Squirrie for me.”
“Yes, yes,” I said hurriedly. “We cage birds are more handicapped
than you wild ones. I know, though, about the bird exchange. I’ve
heard the old birds say that they have even had to depend on
cockroaches sometimes for items of news, when they couldn’t get
about themselves.”
“Well,” continued Chummy, “I made up my mind something had to
be done to enlighten the soldier’s widow, so the next morning I just
hovered round and gave up all thought of breakfast for myself,
though of course I rose extra early, and fed the young ones before
my mate got up.
“I watched the soldier’s widow when she took the bottle of milk from
the refrigerator and put it on the pantry shelf. I watched her when
she poured some in a little pitcher and put it on the dining-room
table. I still kept my eye on her when she went to the back door to
speak to the vegetable man, but after that I watched Squirrie.
“The little beast was darting into the dining-room. He went straight
for the milk pitcher and holding on the edge with his paws, he ran
his head away down into it, to get a good long drink.
“I lighted on the window sill and gave a loud squawk. The soldier’s
widow turned round, looked past me, and saw Squirrie with his head
in the milk pitcher. She gave a loud and joyful squeal, dropped the
cabbage she was holding and ran in the room, just in time to see
Squirrie with a very milky face darting out the other door to the front
of the house.
“Oh, how happy she was! It had all come over her in a flash what a
goose she had been not to have guessed it was a squirrel that was
defrauding her. She ran up to the student’s room to tell him the good
news, and he went to the window and shook his fist at Squirrie and
called him the red plague.”
“What did Squirrie say?” I asked.
“Squirrie said, ‘I don’t care,’ and instead of hiding from them, as he
had always done before, he came boldly out on a branch, and licked
his milky paws. Then he moved six doors down the street to a house
where two maiden ladies lived. They have gone away now, but they
kept a small tea-room and sold cake and candy. Squirrie went
creeping round them, and they thought it was cute to have a little
pet, so they used to put nuts for him on their windows.”
“Didn’t they know what mischief he had done at the corner?” I
asked.
“No—you young things don’t know how it is in a city. No one knows
or cares who lives near by. In the nice, kind country you know
everyone for miles round. Well, Squirrie got so familiar with these
ladies that he used to sleep in the house and tease the family cat.
He didn’t do much mischief at first. He knew he was in a good place,
but one day just before Easter, Satan entered into him, and he
played the poor ladies a very scurvy trick.
“They had been getting their baskets all ready for Easter sales, and
had them in rows on a big table—such cute-looking little Japanese
baskets, they were, all red and yellow and filled with layers of nuts
and candy.
“This day both ladies went downtown to buy more things for more
baskets, and Squirrie got into the room and began playing with
those that were finished. I saw him through the window, but what
could I do? When I chirped to him that he was a bad beast to spoil
the work of the two ladies who had been so good to him, he
chattered his teeth and made a face at me.
“Now, if he had just played with one or two baskets, it would not
have mattered so much, but he is like Silly Bob in cherry time.”
“Who is Silly Bob?” I asked.
“A robin who is weak in his head. Instead of eating a few cherries,
he runs all over a tree, and gives each cherry a dab in the cheek—
ruins them all and makes the gardeners furious with him. Squirrie
ran up and down the rows of tempting-looking baskets, so afraid
was he that he could not get all his mischief in before the ladies
came back. He bit a few straws on the top of each one, then he
attacked the sides and then the bottom. Then he tore the covers off
and threw the candy and nuts on the floor.”
“What! Out of every one?” I asked, in a shocked voice.
“Every one, I tell you. Oh, they were a sight! Every basket was
ruined. The nuts he carried off to his hole in the tree.”
“And what did the poor ladies say when they came back?” I asked.
“You should have seen their faces. They had paid fifty cents apiece
for the baskets, and you know how expensive nuts and candies and
raisins are. Then they got angry and hired a carpenter to come and
nail up Squirrie’s hole in the tree, taking good care to see that he
was out of it first. If he went near the house, they threw things at
him.”
“And what did Squirrie do?”
“He said he was tired of city life and needed country air, and he
went up on North Hill, and stayed till the ladies moved away, then he
came back to their neighborhood and played another trick almost as
bad, on a nice old grandfather.”
 CHAPTER VII

MORE ABOUT SQUIRRIE

W
HY, Squirrie is the mischief-maker of the neighborhood,” I said.
“He is indeed, and I would not advise you to cultivate him. He
would be sure to get you into trouble.”
“What did he do to the grandfather?” I asked.
“Caused him to commit sin by beating an innocent dog,” said
Chummy solemnly.
“Who was the dog?” I asked.
“Pluto was his name, but we all called him Cross-Patch, because he
had a snarly temper. He was a good dog, though, for he tried so
hard to overcome his faults. He had been a thief, but Grandfather
had reasoned with him, and whipped him, till at last he was a
perfectly honest dog—but he got a bad beating that Christmas.”
“Who was Grandfather?” I asked.
“Grandfather was a nice foreign man who lived in a little house
round the corner. He had made some money in selling old clothes,
and he was bringing up his daughter’s children. At Christmas time he
had saved enough money to buy a nice tree for his grandchildren.
He stayed up late Christmas eve to trim the tree, and Cross-Patch
watched him. The blinds were up and another red squirrel called
Chickari, who was a tremendous climber, told me that he watched
the old man too, and it was pretty to see him hanging little bags of
candy and candles and strings of popcorn on the branches.
“When he got through, he said, ‘Now, doggie, don’t you touch
anything, and when the children strip the tree in the morning, you
shall have your share of good things.’
“Cross-Patch wagged his tail. He had had a good supper, and was
not hungry, and then he was a reformed dog.
“Unfortunately the old man, in trotting to and fro from the kitchen to
the dining-room, where the tree was, forgot to bring Cross-Patch
out, and he had to sleep in the room with the tree. Of course he
touched nothing, but didn’t that scamp of a squirrel get in through
some hole or corner.”
“What were those squirrels doing out on a winter night?” I asked.
“Red squirrels don’t sleep like logs through the winter, as some
squirrels do,” said Chummy. “Chickari was prowling because his
supplies had run low. Squirrie was out for mischief. He has a long
head and always lays up enough and more than enough. Perhaps he
felt the Christmas stir in the air. Anyway, he got into this old rickety
cottage and ran up and down the Christmas tree, as if he were
crazy, but he scarcely touched anything at the top. Just to tease
Cross-Patch he nibbled and bit and tore at everything on the lower
limbs.”
“Why didn’t Cross-Patch chase him?” I said indignantly.
“He did, but what can a dog do with a lively squirrel? Besides Cross-
Patch could not see very well, although there was a moon shining in
the room. He is getting old. However, he became so angry that at
last he made a splendid leap in the air, and caught the tip end of
Squirrie’s tail which is like a fine bushy flag. He got a mouthful of
hair, and the tail did not look so fine afterward.
“Just when the noise was at its worst, Grandfather woke up and
came in. Of course, Squirrie hid, and there stood Cross-Patch
trembling in every limb, his sorry eyes going to the torn candy bags
and popcorn strewed over the floor.
“‘So—you are a backslider,’ said the old man. ‘Well, you have robbed
my children, and I shall have to beat you.’ He was a patient old man,
but now he was angry, and Cross-Patch was getting some good
whacks and stripes from a rope end, when he began to choke over
the squirrel fur in his mouth.
“The old man stopped beating, stared at him, and took the little
bunch of fur that Cross-Patch spat out, and examined it. Then he
dropped his rope and went to the tree.
“His face fell, and he looked sad. ‘Punish first, and examine
afterward,’ he said. ‘How many persons do that with children. Why
did I not observe that a dog could not have so despoiled this little
tree without knocking it over? It is that pest of a squirrel who has
been here. I might have known. Dog, I beg your pardon,’ and he
shook hands quite solemnly with Cross-Patch who took on the air of
a suffering martyr.”
“And what did Squirrie do?” I asked. “Was his heart touched?”
“Not a bit of it. He went home chuckling, but what do you think he
found?”
“I don’t know much about squirrel ways,” I said.
“I do,” said Chummy, “and they are fine-spirited little creatures,
except the few that like to suck birds’ eggs and kill young. All the
sparrows liked Chickari, and after that night he was a perfect hero
among us. He knew Squirrie pretty well, and was sure he would
remain to gloat over his mischief, so he whipped off to his cupboard
—”
“Whose cupboard?” I asked. “His own, or Squirrie’s?”
“Squirrie’s—you know the little scamp’s old home in the tree called
Snug Hollow had been boarded up, and the only place in the
neighborhood he had been able to get was a poor refuge up on a
roof. Well, Chickari knew where it was, and he had dashed off to it,
and carried away nearly all of Squirrie’s nice winter hoard before he
got back. Wasn’t Squirrie furious! He danced with rage on the
moonlit roof when he got home. So a sparrow who slept up there
told us. The noise woke him up, and he could plainly see Squirrie
scampering, leaping, chattering—nose now up, now down, his four
legs digging the snow, his tail wig-wagging! Oh, he was in a rage!
He had to go south for the rest of the winter, but he came back in
the spring, more wicked than ever, for it was in the following June
that he became a murderer.”
“A murderer!” I said in a horrified tone.
“Yes—I will tell you about it, if you are not tired of my chirping.”
“No, no—I just love to hear you,” I said warmly.
 CHAPTER VIII

CHUMMY’S OPINIONS

T
HAT year Jennie and I had a lovely lot of young ones, quite early
in June,” said Chummy. “One day we were out getting brown-tail
moths, for I assure you we sparrows do eat lots of insect pests.
We were just hurrying back to our hole in the wall with our beaks
full, when a friendly warbler who was flying by said, ‘Wee-chee chee,
chee, hurry, hurry, Squirrie is coming out of your hole licking red
paws.’
“We dropped our loads and flew madly through the air.”
“Why, I thought you said he could not get up that sheer wall,” I
remarked, looking at it as it stretched above and below us, for we
had moved back to Chummy’s front doorway.
“So I did, but a workman had come to do something to the chimney,
and had left a ladder standing against the wall.”
“You don’t mean to say Squirrie had killed your young ones?”
“Every one; there they lay in the nest, their dear little throats bitten.”
“What did you do?” I asked.
“My mate Jennie was nearly crazy, and so was I. I called up some of
my sparrow friends, Jim and Dandy and Johnny White-Tail and Black
Gorget, and Squirrie got the most awful pecking a squirrel ever had.
We chased him all over the housetops and on to the trees. He
leaped from one branch to another, and we took nips out of him till
he was red, too, and very sore. You see, he had no Snug Hollow to
run to.”
“If he had been a good squirrel,” I said, “those ladies would not have
had his home boarded up.”
“Just so. Squirrie was beginning to find out that a bad squirrel
always gets punished by some bird or beast. Well, at last the little
wretch found his breath giving out, and he chattered, ‘Mer-mer-
mercy!’ We all gathered round him, as he lay panting on a limb flat
on his stomach to get cool. We bound him over to keep the peace,
telling him that if he ever killed another sparrow, he would be driven
out of the neighborhood.”
“I wonder if you should not have driven him away then, in the
interests of other little birds?”
“But there are so many bird murderers,” said the sparrow patiently.
“Boys stone us and shoot us, cats hunt us. Black Thomas, the cat in
the boarding-house, boasts that he catches fifty birds a year,
foreigners kill us, especially Italians who will shoot even a chickadee
to put in their soup. It seems to me that everybody is down on birds,
and they are hardest of all on sparrows.”
“Chummy,” I said, “I have known you only this afternoon, but I feel
as if I had been acquainted with you for as long a time as if you had
been brought up in the bird-room with me, and now I am going to
ask you a very personal question. Don’t sparrows do some very
wrong things?”
He smiled. “Oh, I see you have heard that anti-sparrow talk. I am
not touchy about it. You can discuss it with me.”
“You seem a sensible bird,” I said. “Come now, tell me what you
think you do that is wrong.”
He hung his little, dark head, and pretended to pick a feather from
his black bib. “We are regular John Bull, Anglo-Saxon stock,” he said,
“and we love to push on and settle in new countries. We were
brought to the United States and Canada about fifty years ago to kill
the canker worm. Some gentlemen near Toronto raised a
subscription to bring us here. We spread all over this continent. We
had to fight for our existence, and all the weak ones died. The
strong ones became stronger, then we multiplied too much. Men
should have watched us.”
“Good,” I said, “you believe that human beings come first and all
birds should be subject to them.”
“Certainly,” he replied, “that is the first article in a sparrow’s creed,
and there is no bird in the world that sticks to man as closely as the
sparrow does. Why, we even sleep round men’s houses, tucked away
in the most uncomfortable holes and corners. We really love human
beings though they rarely pet us.”
“Our Mary pets sparrows,” I said stoutly; “so does her mother.”
“They are exceptions,” said Chummy, “few persons are as kind-
hearted as the Martins. I just wish all human beings would do as
well by us as they have done by you canaries. They keep you in
order, and let you increase or decrease just as is necessary, but they
have let sparrows run wild, and it is as hard for us as for them.
There is a great hue and cry against sparrows now, and men and
women going along the street look up at us and say, ‘You little
nuisances,’ and I chirp back, ‘It is your own fault.’”
“What could they do to you?” I asked. “You don’t want to be shot.”
“No, indeed,” said Chummy, “nor poisoned. Our eggs should be
destroyed for a few years; then there would not be so many of us.”
“But that is very hard on the mothers,” I said. “They cry so when an
egg is broken.”
“My Jennie would cry,” said Chummy, “but she would understand,
and she would not make so many nests. She knows that food and
nests make all the trouble in the world. That’s what the seagulls tell
us about the great war human beings had over the sea. They say it
was all about food and homes that wicked people wanted to take
away from good ones.”
A sudden thought dawned upon me. “Is that the reason why you
sparrows are so cruel to the birds who come into the city from the
country?”
“Yes, it’s a question of food shortage. There isn’t enough to go
round. If there were, it would be equal rights. I don’t hate wild
birds. I have many friends among them, and I never drive them
away if there is enough for their little ones and mine, but if there is
only a sufficient supply for little sparrowkins, I fear I am a bad, hard,
father bird.”
“Do you ever kill them?” I asked fearfully.
“Never,” he said decidedly. “I take their nests, and sometimes when
they are very obstinate, I beat them.”
“I don’t know what to think,” I said in a puzzled voice. “You seem a
sensible bird, yet I don’t like the thought of your beating dear little
wild birds.”
He swelled his little self all up till his feathers stood out round him
like a balloon. Then he said with a burst of eloquence, “How can you
understand, you caged bird, with your table always set? Imagine
yourself in the street, no friends, no food, a cold wind blowing, four
or five hungry nestlings with their tiny beaks open and nothing to
put in them; your poor little mate hovering over them trying to keep
them warm so they will be less hungry. Wouldn’t you steal or beat to
satisfy those cries?”
“Oh, I don’t know, I don’t know!” I said. “I never was in such a
position. I am only a young bird. There has always been enough
good food for us all in the bird-room. I don’t think I could hurt
another bird to save my own young ones, but I don’t know.”
“Of course you don’t know,” said Chummy bluntly. “You never do
know what you’ll do till you run up against some dreadful trouble;
but I tell you, Dicky, I’ve made up my mind never to beat another
wild bird. I’ll move away first.”
“That’s right, Chummy,” I said. “Those words have a nice sound.”
“The bird question is a queer question,” said Chummy. “I’ve heard
old, old sparrows talk about it. They said that birds and beasts when
left to themselves keep what is called the balance of nature, but
when man comes in, he begins to make gardens and orchards, and
plants strange things and shoots wolves and foxes and bears and
deer and birds, and brings into the country odd foreign insects-—”
“Why, Chummy,” I said, “how can he do that?”
“They come on grain and plants he gets from lands over the sea.
Now, if he shoots the birds, they can’t eat the insects, so his grain
suffers.”
“Well,” I said, “I understand that, but I don’t understand why he
should not shoot wild beasts like wolves and foxes.”
“I don’t say that he shouldn’t, I merely say he does it, and suffers
for it, because those animals kill little animals like mice and hares
and squirrels which get into his crop. I’m trying to explain to you,
Dicky, that man is great and wonderful, but very upsetting. Now, he
is talking of wiping out sparrows and I say, ‘Don’t wipe out any
creatures. Keep them down.’”
“Now I understand,” I said, “and I suppose you would say, ‘Don’t
even put an end to cats, for they do some good.’”
“Certainly—I do hate them. I wish Black Thomas, the boarding-
house cat, would drop dead this minute, but, Dicky, there’s no use in
denying that a cat is the best rat-trap in the world. Down town
where my Jennie’s parents live in the roof of the old station, they
had lots of rats, and the station hands started to poison them. A
little darling boy traveling with his mother fished a piece of rat
biscuit out of a hole in the corner when his mother’s back was
turned, ate it, and nearly died. The station master was in a fury, and
made the men gather up all the rat biscuit which kills the animals in
a very cruel way, and go out and buy some nice, wise cats. Jennie
says another bad thing happened which the station master didn’t
know. A lady traveling with a little pet dog, one of those Mexican
Chihuahua dogs, so small that they stand on your hand, had it run
from her and get into a hole in the flooring. She was days looking for
it, and one of the men found it in a cruel rat-trap, one that catches
the poor beast by the paw. The little dog was dead. Its tiny velvet
foot was all broken, and the lady cried herself ill.”
“Chummy,” I said, “this is all very sad. I’m going to change the
subject with your permission, and tell you that I’m glad I met you
and I like to hear you talk.”
“I like you too,” he said with feeling, “and I think we shall become
great cronies.”
“You express yourself so nicely,” I said, “not at all in a common way.”
He drew his little self up proudly. “We Varsity sparrows are supposed
to be the brainiest in the city. We listen to the students’ talk and
especially to the professors and learn to express ourselves properly.
Hardly a sparrow in this neighborhood uses slang, but you just
ought to hear the birds down in St. John’s ward. Their vulgar
expressions are most reprehensible, and they all talk with their
beaks shut tight. They sound like human beings who talk through
their noses. You’ll see some of them some day. They come up here,
but we drive them away pretty quickly.”
“That reminds me,” I said, “am I safe to fly in and out of the house
here, and to go about this street a bit? I have told you that I am
accustomed to much liberty, and I should like to learn something
about this big, wonderful out-of-doors.”
“I’ll answer for the sparrows,” he said, “I’ll pass the word round that
no one is to molest you, and I’ll tell Slow-Boy the pigeon to warn all
his set. The crows won’t bother you, for they rarely come here, and
when they do, it is very early in the morning before a bird of your
luxurious habits would be up.”
“If one should challenge me, what should I say?” I asked anxiously.
“I suppose you have a password.”
“Yes, say ‘Varsity’; that will protect you.”
“What about the robins and the small wild birds that nest in city
gardens?” I asked. “They have mostly frightened eyes, but they can
fight. I have heard this from the old birds.”
“The robins won’t be here for a while yet,” said Chummy, “and when
they come, I’ll speak to their head bird, Vox Clamanti.”
“Thank you a thousand times,” I exclaimed. “I’m just crazy to travel
all about this neighborhood. It’s grand to have a powerful friend. I
shall sing a nice little song about you to Mrs. Martin to-night.”
Chummy did not reply. He was looking at the red sun which was just
beginning to hide behind the huge white milk bottle up in the sky,
which is an advertisement on the top of an enormous dairy building
on the street next to ours.
“If you’ll excuse me,” he said, “I’ll have to go look for something to
eat before it gets dark. I see the neighbors are putting out their
trash cans.”
 CHAPTER IX

A BIRD’S AFTERNOON TEA

I’
LL give you something,” I said, “if you’ll come into my house with
me.”
He gave me a long, searching look, then he said, “I’ll trust you, but
how shall I get in, and if I get in, what about that meek looking dog
who is nevertheless a dog?”
“Oh, Billie Sundae would not hurt any guest of mine,” I said, “and
the window is always open a crack in the afternoon to air the sitting
room, because no one sits there till evening.”
“Is Mrs. Martin not at home?” he asked.
I glanced at the big yellow boarding-house set away back from the
street next Chummy’s house and said, “At half past four she is going
in there to have tea with a friend.”
“What do you offer me for afternoon tea?” asked Chummy.
I was rather taken aback, for this question did not seem a very polite
one to me. However, I reflected that he had had a street upbringing,
and could not be expected to observe fine points of etiquette, such
as not asking your host what he is going to set before you.
“Your question is very businesslike,” I said gaily, but with a thought
of giving him just a gentle dig, “and I may say that there will be first
of all a few crumbs of sponge cake.”
“That’s nice,” he said, clacking his horny beak with satisfaction.
“Then a nice little nibble of fresh, rosy-faced apple.”
“Fine!” he exclaimed. “It’s very hard for sparrows to get fresh fruit
this weather.”
“Then I have a small bit of hard boiled egg left from breakfast,” I
said.
“Egg!” he almost screamed, “and they at a dollar a dozen.”
I was slightly surprised that he mentioned the price of eggs.
However, I went on, “The Martins always have the best of food,
even if they have to save on clothes. Don’t you see how shabby Mrs.
Martin and our Mary look?”
“The flowers in Mrs. Martin’s hat are pretty,” said the sparrow, “but
they look as if they had been rained on. Now what comes after the
egg?”
I was just a little put out at this question, and I said, “A nice drink of
cold water.”
“Of course I can always get that outside,” he said.
“When everything is frozen?”
“There’s always Lake Ontario,” he said, “that doesn’t freeze over.”
I was afraid he would think I was impolite, and no matter how
abrupt he was with me, I as entertainer should be courteous to him.
So I said, “The greatest treat comes last. I’ve noticed you from the
window several times, and I have been sorry to see your worried
look, and I felt we should become acquainted, so I saved you a nice
lot of hemp seed.”
“You saved seeds for me,” he exclaimed.
“Certainly, why not?”
“Why, I never had anyone do that for me before,” he said, “except
my parents.”
“I do it to please myself,” I said. “If I could tell you how I love to see
all birds safe and happy and with their crops sticking out.”
“Your talk has a good sound,” he said gravely. “I wish Squirrie could
hear you. He says, ‘Birds, if my tummy is full and comfy, I don’t care
if yours is shrunk all to wrinkles.’”
“Ha! ha! ha!” cried a wicked little voice, and I nearly fell head
foremost out of the hole in the wall. As Chummy and I talked, we
had gradually edged forward to his front door, and looking up we
saw that impudent red squirrel hanging over the roof edge, listening
to us.
Chummy was so angry, that he made a wild dart up to the roof, and
gave a savage peck at Squirrie’s eyes. Of no use, the little rogue had
scampered in again.
Chummy and I flew to the top of the front porch, and sat breathing
hard and fast.
Mrs. Martin opened the door of our house and came out. I gazed
down at the beloved brown figure and uttered a glad, “Peep!”
She whistled back to me, “Dear O! Cheer O!” then looking up, she
said “Eh! making friends. Tell your sparrow bird that I bought some
rice for him to-day, and I think he will like it better than the bread
crumbs I have been putting out on the food table lately.”
The grateful Chummy leaned forward, gave his tail a joyous flirt, and
said “T-check! chook! chook!”
“I’ll throw some right here for him in the morning,” said Missie, and
she pointed to the hard-packed snow under the library window.
“There’s such a crowd round the food table.”
Chummy gave a loud, joyful call. He was sure of a good tea to-night
and a fine breakfast in the morning, and what more could a sparrow
ask than two meals in advance?
“If she had feathers, she would be a very beautiful bird,” he said, as
we watched her going toward the boarding-house, “and that is more
than you can say of some of the women that go up and down this
street.”
“What a sad looking boarding-house that is,” I said as we watched
her going toward it. “Those black streaks up and down its yellow
walls look as if it had been crying.”
Chummy was staring through the big drawing-room window that had
fine yellow silk curtains.
“Just look at those women in there,” he said, “they have a nice fire,
a white table and a maid bringing in hot muffins and cake and lovely
thin slices of bread and butter to say nothing of the big silver tea-pot
and the cream jug, and a whole bowl of sugar. I wish I had some of
it, and they sit and stuff themselves, and never throw us any of it,
and when summer comes they wouldn’t have a rose if we didn’t pick
the plant lice off their bushes.”
“Come, come,” I said, “you are too hard on those nice ladies who are
all working for the soldiers, and must have good food to sustain
them. I am sure they don’t realize what birds do for them. If they
did, they would not wear us on their hats.”
“Human beings would all die if it weren’t for us birds,” said the
sparrow. “Poisons and sprays are all very fine to kill insect pests, but
there’s nothing like the bill of a bird.”
“Mrs. Martin says that farmers are beginning to find that out,” I
replied, “and are making wise laws to protect birds. Women don’t
understand, except a few like our Mary and her mother.”
The sparrow sighed. “I suppose you have heard that half the wild
birds are dying this winter. The crows say that little brown and gray
and blue bodies are scattered all over the snow.”
“Even though the ground is snowy,” I said, “couldn’t they still get the
larvae of insects on the branches?”
“The branches are ice glazed. The other day when the city people
were saying how beautiful and how like fairyland everything looked
here, the birds were staring in dismay at their food supply all locked
up.”
“The farmers should have put out grain for them,” I said.
“They do in some places, but birds will never be properly looked
after till the Government does it. They are servants to the public,
and the public ought to protect them—but I am forgetting my
afternoon tea. Shall we go in?”
“Yes, yes,” I said hastily, and I flew before him to the window.
Chummy stayed on the sill while I spoke to Billie who was lying on
the hearthrug before the fire.
“Allow me to introduce my friend Chummy Hole-In-The-Wall,” I said.
“He is going to make the neighborhood safe for me,” I added
pointedly, for Billie dislikes strangers.
She wagged her tail slightly, very slightly, and lay down again, as if
to say, “Have any friend in you like, but don’t bore me.”
Chummy is a very sensible bird. He did not fuss and fidget about
coming into a house, and say that he was afraid something might
hurt him. He merely said, “This is a very unusual thing for a sparrow
to do, and a number of my friends outside are wondering why I
came in. However, I am very hungry and I trust you. But of course
you understand, you will be held responsible for my safety.”
I smiled. I knew what he meant. A number of bright-eyed sparrows
had been watching me as I talked to him. If anything happened to
him in this room, Green-Top’s beatings would be nothing compared
to the one they would give me.
“You are as safe here as in your hole in the wall,” I said earnestly.
“Now do come into my cage. You can’t reach the things very well
from the outside.”
He went right in, and it did me good to see him eat. After he had
stuffed himself, he said, “If I could tell you how sweet these seeds
taste, and how delicious it is to get a bit of gravel. There isn’t an
inch of ground visible in this whole city. Snow feet deep—never was
anything like it before. Nearly every sparrow has indigestion from
sloppy, wet, or frozen food, and no gravel to grind it.”
“Be thankful you are not a European bird,” I said. “They have had
perfectly dreadful times of suffering over there.”
“Have you heard the story about the little British canary that was
killed during the war by one of its own guns?” asked Chummy.
“No,” I said, “I haven’t.”
“Well,” he replied, “you know when the Allies mined under the
enemy’s line, they carried canaries in cages with them so that if
there was any fire damp in the big holes they made, they could tell
by the canaries’ actions. Well, one little war bird flew away from his
task. He evidently was an idle bird, and did not wish to work. He
perched on a small bush in the middle of No Man’s Land and began
to sing, ‘I won’t work, I won’t work. I want to play.’
“The Allied soldiers were in a terrible fright. If their enemies saw the
canary, they would know they were mining, and would send shells at
them and kill them all. So the Allied men signaled to their infantry to
fire on the bird. They did so, but he was so small a target that they
could not strike him, and he hopped from twig to twig unhurt. Finally
they had to call on the artillery, and a big trench gun sent a shell
that blew birdie and his bush into the air.”
“What a pity!” I said sadly. “If he had done his duty and stayed with
the workers, he might be yet alive. I can tell you a cat war story, if
you like.”
“What is it?” asked Chummy.
“The tale of a cat and her kittens. One day the Allied soldiers saw a
cat come across No Man’s Land. She walked as evenly as Black
Thomas does when he is taking an airing on this quiet street. No one
fired at her, and she crossed the first line of trenches, the support
behind them, and went back to the officers’ dugouts. She inspected
all of them, then she returned across this dangerous land to the
enemy’s lines. The trenches were pretty close together, and the men
all roared with amusement, for on this trip she had a tiny kitten in
her mouth.
“She carried it back to the best-looking dugout, and laid it on an
officer’s coat. Then she went back and got a second kitten, and then
a third. The soldiers cheered her, and no one thought of harming
her. Mrs. Martin’s nephew wrote her this nice story, and he said that
the mother cat and her three kittens were the idols of the soldiers
and always wore pink ribbons on their necks. They called them
Ginger, Shrapnel, and Surprise Party.”
“What a good story,” said the sparrow thickly.
His beak was full of sponge cake, and, seeing it, I said warmly, “Oh,
Chummy dear, if I could only feed all the poor hungry birds as I am
feeding you, how happy should I be!”
 CHAPTER X

ANOTHER CALL FROM CHUMMY

A
FTER this first day of our meeting, Chummy called on me very
often. In fact, he would fly in whenever he saw the window
open, for he knew Billie was an honest dog and would not chase
him.
The lovely thaw did not last long, and we had some more very cold
weather. I did not go out-of-doors very often, and was quite glad to
get the outside news from my sparrow friend.
Billie grumbled a little bit about him. “That fellow is throwing dust in
your eyes,” she said to me one day during the last of February.
I smiled at her. “And do you think that I think that Chummy comes
here merely for the pleasure of looking into my bright eyes?”
Billie began to mumble something under her breath about greedy
birds, and emptying my seed dish.
“Dear Billie,” I went on, “don’t plunge that little white muzzle of
yours too deeply into bird affairs. You would find them as strangely
mixed as are dog matters. When you fawn on Mrs. Martin as she
comes from town, is the fawning pure love or just a little bit of hope
that in her muff is hidden some dainty for Billie?”
“I love Mrs. Martin,” said Billie stubbornly. “You know I do. I would
live with her if she fed me on crusts.”
“Of course you would,” I said soothingly, “but do you know, it seems
to me a strange thing that you, a dog bred in poverty and having to
toil painfully in looking for your food, should be harder on another
toiler than I am, I a bird that was bred in the lap of luxury.”
Billie looked rather sheepish, and I said, “You have a kind heart, and
I wish you would not be so stiff with the sparrow. Won’t you do
something to amuse him some time when he comes?”
“Yes, I will,” she said. “I think perhaps I have not been very polite to
him. Indeed, I do know how hard it is for birds and beasts to get a
living out of this cold world.”
“Hush,” I said; “here he comes,” and sure enough there was
Chummy sitting on the window sill, twitching his tail, and saying,
“How are you, Dicky-Dick? It’s a bitterly cold day—sharpens one’s
appetite like a knife.”
I flew to meet him and said, “Come right over to my cage and help
yourself to seeds. Missie filled my dish before she went out.”
Chummy looked pleased, but he said, “I hope your Missie doesn’t
mind feeding me as well as you.”
“Oh, no, she doesn’t care,” I said, “even though bird seed is dear
now. She has a heart as big as a cabbage and she is sorry for all
suffering things. She says she has been hungry once or twice in her
own life, and she knows the dreadful feeling of an empty stomach.”
“Well, I’ll eat to her health,” said Chummy, and he stepped right into
my cage and poked his dusky beak into a tiny dish of bread and
milk.
“What’s the news of the neighborhood?” I asked.
“Squirrie came out for five minutes this morning,” he said, “just to let
us know he wasn’t dead. He ate a few nuts and threw the shells
down at Black Thomas.”
“I know Thomas,” I said; “jet black, white spot on breast, yellow
eyes, fierce, proud temper.”
“He’s a case,” said Chummy, “and he vows he’ll have Squirrie’s life
yet.”
“Anything else happened?” I asked.
“Oh, yes—two strange pigeons, dusky brown, have been in the
neighborhood all the morning, looking for a nesting place, and Susan
and Slow-Boy have worn themselves out driving them away.”
Billie rarely opened her mouth when Chummy called. She lay dozing,
or pretending to doze, by the fire; but to-day she spoke up and said,
“Who are Susan and Slow-Boy?”
I waited politely for Chummy to speak, but his beak was too full, so I
answered for him.
“They are the two oldest neighborhood pigeons, and they live in the
old barn back of our yard. They are very particular about any pigeon
that settles near here; still, if the strangers are agreeable they might
let them have that ledge outside the barn.”
“They’re not agreeable,” said Chummy. “Their feathers are in
miserable condition. They haven’t taken good care of them, and
Slow-Boy says he knows by the look of them they have vermin.”
“Lice!” exclaimed Billie suddenly. “That is dreadful. Some of the
Italians where I used to live had pigeons that scratched themselves
all the time. It was sad to hear them at night. They could not sleep.
They would all rise up together on their perches and shake
themselves.”
Chummy took a drink from my water dish in which was a rusty nail
to give me a little iron for my blood, then he said, “We’re clean birds
in this neighborhood. Varsity birds hate lice, so I think Slow-Boy and
Susan were quite right to drive these strangers away—what do you
think, Dicky-Dick?”
I sighed quite heavily, for such a small bird as I am. Then I said, “It
is true, though it oughtn’t to be, that clean birds instead of taking
dirty birds in hand and trying to do them good, usually drive them
away. It seems the easiest way.”
Chummy was wiping his beak hard on one of my perches. “Your
Missie certainly knows where to buy her seeds. These are
remarkably fresh and crisp.”
“She always goes to wholesale houses,” I said, “and watches the
man to see that he takes the seeds out of a bag or big box. Some
women buy their seeds in packages which perhaps have been
standing on the grocer’s shelf for months.”
“You look a well-nourished bird,” said Chummy. “My Jennie is very
particular with our young ones, and we have the finest-looking ones
in the neighborhood. If she is giving a brown-tail moth larva, for
example, she hammers it well before she puts it in the baby beaks.
Some sparrows are so careless, and thrust food to their young ones
that is only partly prepared.”
I said nothing, for I had not yet seen any of Chummy’s young ones,
and he came out of the cage and, settling down on the top of it,
began to clean his feathers and pick little bits of dead flesh off his
skin.
“Billie,” I said, “it’s early in the afternoon and you’ve had your first
nap; can’t you amuse our caller by telling him about your early life?
He said the other day he’d like to hear it.”
Billie rose and stretched herself. She knew that I knew she would
like to do something for Chummy because she had spoken harshly
about him.
Chummy spoke up, “I like you, Billie, for I notice you never chase
birds as some of the neighborhood dogs do.”
Billie hung her head. “I know too well what it feels like to be
chased,” she said.
“You can’t see us up here on the wall very well, Billie,” I said. “You
would have to stretch your neck to look up at us. Suppose we fly
down, Chummy.”
“All right,” he said agreeably, so we flew to a pot of hyacinths on the
table and crouched down with our feet on the nice warm earth and
our breasts against the rim of the pot.
Billie jumped up in a big chair by the table to be near us, and began,
“First of all, you mustn’t interrupt. It puts me out.”
“All right,” said the sparrow, “but what a spoiled dog you are! I don’t
know another one in the neighborhood that is allowed to sit in any
chair he or she chooses.”
Billie hung her head again, and I gave the sparrow a nudge. “Do be
quiet. She’s sensitive on that subject.”
“It’s on account of my early training,” said Billie at last. “There was
nothing sacred to the poor people I was with. A bed or a chair was
no better than the floor and I can’t get over that feeling. I have
been whipped and whipped and reasoned with, but it’s of no use. I
can’t remember.”
“It’s just like birds,” said the sparrow cheerfully. “What’s bred in the
bone comes out in the flesh. If I indulge a youngster and let him
take the best place in the nest, I can’t get him out of it when he’s
older.”
“Begin, Billie,” I said, “we’re waiting, and, Chummy, don’t interrupt
again. It’s quite a long story, and the afternoon is going, and Missie
will soon be home.”
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