Of All the Gay Birds Lyrics
Of all the bright birds the speaker has seen, the owl is the finest. She sits in a tree all day and flies off when night comes.
Of All the Gay Birds
Of all the gay birds that e'er I did see,
The owl is the fairest by far to me;
For all the day long she sits on a tree,
And when the night comes away flies she.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/of-all-the-gay-birds/
- Type
- Animal Rhymes
- Tune
- Spoken rhyme
- Best for ages
- 3 to 8 years
What Does Of All the Gay Birds Mean?
In old English, gay meant bright, cheerful or showy, so "gay birds" are colorful birds. E'er is a short way of writing ever, and fairest means most beautiful. The speaker prefers the plain brown owl to all the brightly colored ones. The last two lines describe a real owl's day: most owls rest in trees in daylight and fly out to hunt when it gets dark.
History and Origin
The rhyme comes from James Orchard Halliwell's The Nursery Rhymes of England. It was reprinted in The Little Mother Goose (1912), and the owl appears in many old rhymes as the bird of the night.
Learning Activities
- Owl hoots: try different owl calls, from a long hoo-hoo to a short screech.
- Day and night: sort animal pictures into ones that are busy by day and ones that are busy at night.
- Bird colors: draw the brightest bird you can think of next to an owl, and choose your favorite.