Mary Louise and Josie OGorman | Page 7

stay patiently on her nest for many days keeping those eggs nice
and warm, only leaving her nest for something to eat and a drink of
water and when she is off, her husband, if he can stop singing long
enough, will keep the eggs warm for her, and by and by the pretty blue
shells will crack and inside them will be the most ridiculous-looking
little creatures you ever saw, all mouth at first, with no feathers at all,
and those mouths will always be stretched wide open like this," and
Mary Louise stretched her pretty mouth as wide as nature would allow.
The boy laughed and his sister smiled contentedly.
Mary Louise resumed, in her pleasant voice:
"Then such a business! Mother and Father Robin will be working every
minute of daylight to try and fill those hungry mouths. Poor little
worms will be afraid to show their noses or their tails because there
will be a robin ready to peck them up and carry them off to their babies.
Those little birds will eat so much that by and by they will begin to
grow feathers and they will be pretty and fluffy and two of them will
take after their father and have very red breasts and two of them will
take after their mother and have just a delicate shade of red on their
breasts. And after those little birds get all covered with feathers and
their wings begin to grow strong Father Robin will say to Mother
Robin, 'See here, my dear, it is time these young rascals learned how to
fly and to grub for themselves.' That will make Mother Robin sad,
because she hates for her babies to grow up and have to leave her."
"O--h!" in a long-drawn sigh from the little girl. "Do you think she

feels that way? How wonderful?"
"Of course she does; at least she will," smiled Mary Louise.
"Go on!" commanded Peter. "Polly, don't interrupt! Will they leave
their nice house--I mean nest?"
Josie silently noted the speech of the children. "From the South!" was
her verdict. "Soft slurred r's and the way the boy says house would give
them away."
"Yes," continued Mary Louise, "some pleasant morning in June,
perhaps, they will awaken very early and their mother and father will
get busy catching the early worm for their breakfast. You see, nobody
must ever try to do anything very important, like learning to fly, on an
empty stomach."
"That's what I been a-tellin' Polly; but go on, please."
"Then, when they are all fed and full and happy, Mother Robin
balances herself on the side of the nest and spreads her wings and says
'Now, children, watch me!' and she floats down to the ground."
"From away up in the tree tops?"
"No, not so high up, because you see robins build in high bushes and
hedges, but it will seem very far to the little birds, as high as the top of
trees and even church steeples would seem to you."
"But if my mother would say, 'Come on, Peter, and jump off the church
steeple, I'm a-gonter do it. I wouldn't feel 'fraid--not a mite, not if my
mo--" But he could not finish the word mother. A realization of
something came over him and again his lip trembled and he seemed on
the verge of more tears and sobs.
"And then the little birds," continued Mary Louise quickly, trying to
keep the tears from her own sweet eyes, "they will look over the edge
of the nest and see their mother hopping around on the soft green grass,

and maybe they will see her catch a nice fat wiggly worm and, wonder
of wonders! and horror of horrors! instead of flying back to the nest to
give it to one of her babies she will gobble it up her own self. That
won't be because she is a greedy mother, but just to let them realize that
if they get down on the grass they can find plenty of delicious worms
for themselves. Then Father Robin will tell them they are all little
cry-babies not to jump up and fly from the nest, and one by one the
little baby birds will make up their minds and before you know it all
four will be down in the grass by their mother. Then, goodness gracious
me! what a busy day they will have! The little birds are very plump,
because their mother and father have worked so hard to keep them well
fed and they have never taken any exercise before except with their
mouths, and their little wings seem so weak and their little tummies are
so fat and so full, but they try and try and by dusk they have almost