We all welcome and love the dear little pussy-willows (Fig. 29) whose fur is so soft and silvery. How pretty they look sitting along the slender, bare branches of the small American willow-tree which is their home. The pussies like to come early to assure us that spring is here. They are very tame little kitties, and will allow you to carry them away to your school or to your home.

Sometimes pussy-willows turn into little rabbits, squirrels, bumblebees, and mice, but they need your help, they cannot make the magic change alone. It will be lots of fun helping them if you do it this way.

Pussy-Willow Rabbits

Take a small branch of the very largest pussies you can find, have ready some scraps of smooth, fresh writing-paper, a piece of cardboard, pair of scissors, and some good paste. It only requires long ears to change the pussy-willows into bunnies. Cut the ears from your writing-paper like the pattern Fig. 30. Put paste on the strip between the letters G and H, then take a pussy from the branch and stick the paste-covered strip just above the small end of the pussy, which will be the bunny's head. The arrow I, Fig. 30, points to the place for the ears. When the paste has dried bend the ears up like the ears of the rabbits in Fig. 31. Make three or four rabbits to keep each other company and paste them in a row on your piece of cardboard.

A Pussy-Willow Squirrel

This little gray squirrel (Fig. 32), sitting up in such a lifelike pose, must be made of a slightly bent, rather long, slender pussy. Pull forward some of the fur near the small end so that it will look like the front legs of the squirrel when he holds a nut in his hand-like front paws, and push up two tufts on the head for ears. The pussy from which Fig. 32 was made already had these tufts for legs and ears, and it looked so much like a squirrel one simply had to add the tail and let it be a squirrel.

Cut the paper tail like the pattern Fig. 33, fringe it along the edge and bend forward the little lap at the bottom which is separated from the tail by the dotted line. Curve the tail backward, put paste on top of the lap, and stick the lap to the under part of the large end of the pussy; then paste the finished squirrel to a piece of pasteboard cut round or square as you like best.

Pussy-Willow Bumblebee

Mr. Bumblebee (Fig. 34) needs one whole pussy for his body, one-half of a pussy for his big, round throat, and a small piece of the pussy for his head (Fig. 35). On the piece of cardboard which is to hold the bee, draw his legs like Fig. 36, then paste the three parts—body, throat, and head—on top of the legs. Fig. 37 shows how it would look underneath if you could see through the paper, so you will know exactly where to paste first the throat, then the head, and lastly the body. The edges of these parts where they join must be pushed close together.

A bumblebee has slightly curved spikes extending from his head which are called antennÆ. Fig. 38 shows you where to draw them. You will also see on the same diagram how to widen the six legs, making them thicker and more lifelike. Cut paper wings the shape of Fig. 39, making them the proper size to fit your bee. Remember that a bumblebee has small, short wings compared to the size of its body. Bend the lap at the bottom of the wing along the dotted line, and paste the lap of each wing onto the sides of Mr. Bumblebee's chest. The wings turn back over the laps and hide them. (See Fig. 40). The finished bee is shown in Fig. 34.

If you cut a leaf out of green paper and put your bumble-bee on that instead of on the cardboard, he will look, with his extended wings, as if just ready to fly, and will make a fine addition to your collection of things made of outdoor material.

Pussy-Willow Mouse

Then there is the pussy-willow mouse (Fig. 41). He is a nice little gray mouse with a long tail.

Choose a large pussy-willow for this mouse, ruffle the fur up on top of the head and it will look like ears. The head is at the small end of the pussy. Paste one end of a piece of cotton string under the large end of the mouse, and that will be his tail. The string should be white.

Finish by pasting the mouse to a round or square piece of pasteboard.

Jumping Pussy-Willows—a Game

This is a good game and it will make you laugh to see the pussies leap up in the air, sail along a short distance, and land on a numbered square of the game-board.

The board (Fig. 42) should be ten or twelve inches square. Cut it from a flat, even box lid or any other pasteboard you happen to have. Draw straight lines from top to bottom about one inch apart, then more straight lines from side to side one inch apart. This will divide the board into squares like a checker-board. Each of these squares must be numbered and you can draw or paste them in. Fig. 42 shows how the game-board should look.

To play the game, lay the board down on a flat surface, a stone will do if you are out-of-doors, or even the ground; and a table, if in the house. In front of the board draw a short line for the starting-post. The line should be ten or more inches from the board according to the distance you can make the pussies jump. Any number of players may join in the game and each player should have his own jumping pussy.

Fig. 43 shows how to place the pussy under the tip of your right forefinger, with the large, blunt end standing a little out beyond the finger-tip. When ready to shoot, press down suddenly on the pussy and, as your finger slides off the small end, away jumps pussy and lands on a square of the game-board. Each player plays in turn, always, of course, placing the pussy on the starting-line when shooting. The player whose pussy lands on the highest number wins the game. Jumping pussy-willow can also be played by dividing the players into two even sides; then the side which has the highest score, after the numbers won by them have been added up, is the winner.

Pussy-Willow Bouquet

A nice, big bunch of pussy-willows makes an attractive bouquet, and a very welcome one early in the spring. "The pussies are out!" we hear some one say, and then the boys and girls vie with one another in their effort to be the first to find and bring home branches of the little catkins as proof that spring has come and they were the first to see her.