Woodside | Page 6

particularly pretty. You see it is a dull-looking egg,
whitish, with pale-brown markings. This particular egg was taken from
the nest of a hedge-sparrow; but cuckoos' eggs have been found in the
nests of many other birds--robin's, and skylark's, and chaffinch's,
linnet's, blackbird's, and wren's, and many more besides."
"Why does not the cuckoo build a nest for herself?" asked Annie.
"Nobody seems to know why she doesn't; but there's the fact. When the
cuckoo has laid an egg, she carries it in her wide, gaping mouth, and
puts it into the nest of another bird that she has chosen for it. When the
egg is hatched, the young cuckoo grows so fast that he wants all the
nest to himself. He turns the other young birds that have been hatched
with him out of the nest, and the true parents of these little birds have to
spend all their time in feeding the cuckoo. It takes a great deal to feed
him, because he grows so fast, and is so much larger than they are.
They don't seem to mind it though.--Those pale-green eggs with
dark-brown spots belonged to a rook's nest in the elm-tree at the bottom
of the garden. There's a curious story about those rooks down there, for
they have not been there long. There is an old rookery belonging to the
Rectory close by our house; and one day the rooks from there came to
our elm-tree. It was in the spring. At last they came frequently, and
chattered, and cawed, and flew round and round, as if they did not
know what to do about building their nests in it. By-and-by their visits
ceased, and they built their nests as usual in the Rectory trees. That
very summer, during one still night, a large branch, almost a third of
the elm-tree, fell to the ground. The rooks seemed to know that the tree
was not safe, and so they would not build in it. That was two years ago;
and this spring they have begun to build, and there are several nests
now in our elm-tree. It is most interesting to watch the ways of rooks;
they seem to have a lot of business on hand. There is another rookery in
the town, in the garden of Mrs. Cross, a friend of my mother's. Rooks
always leave the town rookeries for the country as soon as their young
ones are able to fly. Now Mrs. Cross noticed that her rooks, after they
had gone to the fields, always came back each morning quite early to
look after their nests. They stayed a little while to talk over matters;

then they flew back again to the fields. One very stormy morning she
noticed that instead of the whole flock coming and alighting, one
solitary rook ventured through the wind and rain, flying round and
round the trees without settling, and then flew back again to the others
to give his report that all was right in the old home."
"What clever birds they must be!" said Mary.
"They are," said Tom. "There are lots of stories about rooks, but what I
have told you happened under our very eyes.--I have a sparrow-hawk's
egg here, white, spotted with brown. It was given to my father by a
man for me. There are not many of these birds about here."
"Oh," said Jack, "I wish I could get a collection of birds' eggs!"
"It is almost too late in the season now," said Tom. "Still, you might get
some from late nests. I can spare you some from mine, to make a
beginning. I know a young fellow, who lives about a half-mile off, who
has a large collection of eggs. We'll go and see him one Saturday
afternoon. He is sure to have some to give away, for he is always
adding to his store, and he is very good-natured."

IV.
JACK AND THE GARDENER.
"Oh! fie upon you, little birds, To eat up all our cherries! Why don't
you go into the woods And dine upon the berries?"--C. H.
A few days after Tom had shown his cousins his collection of birds'
eggs, Jack, as he was coming away from a visit to Lion, passed by the
end of the potting-shed. The gardener was in there, and he called out,
"Master Jack, I've got something for you in here."
Jack went into the shed, and the gardener fumbled about on a shelf till
he found what he was looking for.

"There," he said, "is a thrush's nest; I thought you'd like it. I took it out
of one of the trees in the orchard. It has got four pretty eggs in it."
[Illustration: JACK AND THE THRUSH'S NEST. Page 36.]
"Oh," said Jack, "how splendid! What