The Nest in the Honeysuckles | Page 7

again, generally bringing some nice
morsel with them. They often first alight on a small branch of the vine,
below the nest, and then hop up to it.
What a chirping the birdlings keep up with their mother! They like to
talk as well as Eddie Dudley and some other children, whom I have
heard pleasantly called little chatter-boxes. Children have much to learn,
and must ask many questions. The world is new and strange to them,
and is a constant source of surprise and wonder. I do not suppose
people ever learn faster than before they are six years old, or ever learn
more in the same length of time. They are constantly observing, and in
this way the stock of their ideas is continually increasing. I once heard
a gentleman say he did not like to go through the world with his head in
a bag. He wished to see what was taking place around him, and it was
this seeing, and thinking upon what he saw, that, among other things,
made him a distinguished man.
The young birds are now seeing and thinking, as well as birds can.
Their time for action has not come. Like dear children in their happy
homes, they are preparing for the responsibilities of life; and, if they
honour and obey their parents, as far as birds are expected to do, and as
all children should, I doubt not they will faithfully perform the duties
which will hereafter devolve upon them.
From observations I have made, I conclude the robins neither send their
children to school nor employ a governess for them. They have so
made their arrangements that either one or the other has time to attend
to their education. Sometimes the father, and at other times the mother,
assumes the labour of teaching, and their dearly-loved pupils are quite
as attentive to their instructions as any children I have ever seen.

CHAPTER VI.
GOING ABROAD.
It was on a bright, warm, breezy morning in early June, that our friends
at Honeysuckleville decided that the home education of their children
had been attended with such success as to encourage the hope that they
would "come out" creditably to themselves, and their parents.
Arrangements were accordingly made, and I assure you there was much
talking and no little excitement and bustle upon the occasion. It was
proposed to spend some weeks in travelling, that the young people
might enjoy themselves, and acquire much useful information, which
could be obtained no other way.
The weather was delightful. A few light, fleecy clouds were floating in
the blue sky, continually changing from one form of beauty to another.
The sun shone forth in his splendour, cheering the tender grass and the
up-springing seeds, and drawing them nearer and nearer to his bosom.
They stretched toward him their feeble blades and diminutive leaves, as
if they would gladly be clasped in his arms; but their growing roots
were striking deeper and deeper into mother earth, and binding them
closer and closer to her.
The gentle, cooling zephyrs were playing among the leaves, and
winning sweet music from the tiny voices, which responded in glee to
their salutations. Often they lifted the soft hair from the brows of the
children, and frolicked amid their curls, and fanned their sun-burnt
cheeks. It was a morning which all nature enjoyed. There could not
have been a finer day to start upon a journey. As birds do not need a
change of dress, there was no trunk to pack, and no travelling-bag to be
laden with comforts. All the preparation necessary was the usual
attention to the toilet, and the instruction and advice which the
exigency required.
The hearts of the young adventurers fluttered with excitement. There
was a mingling of curiosity to visit the great world of which they had

heard such glowing descriptions, and of fears to trust themselves to the
power of their wings to bear them from their pleasant, happy home, and
keep them out of harm's way. They had seen Pussy, as she walked
about in her white and black robe, and though she seemed so gentle,
they had been warned against her as one of their most deadly enemies.
They knew she was often prowling about, with stealthy tread, to prey
upon the unwary. They feared that, instead of flying to the walnut-tree,
as was the plan, they should fall upon the grass, where she could
pounce upon them and destroy them, notwithstanding the screams and
agonizing entreaties of their parents. Puss is a full believer in the
doctrine that "might makes right;" and she is as unmoved by the cries
and appeals of her victims as if they had no hearts to suffer, and were
made merely for her own use.
Many words of