In the spirit of folk tales, here is the story of an exquisite bird who followed the Spring and got trapped in a house with a cat. The advice of a mouse resulted in the bird finding itself in a cage. A story taut with suspense and real excitement, the cat and bird game is played with the staunch little bird the winner. Occasionally, there's an air of solemnity- occasionally the language is over-lush. The Mexican artist, Carlos Merida, has provided full pages and end papers in four color, half pages in two color, a lovely- but perishable-jacket and pastedown for the board binding.