wings, with a "boom" loud and sudden enough to startle anyone
within hearing.

Yes, you might have seen the little clown at his tricks without a ticket
at the wild-circus gate, for all he cared or knew. What did the children
of men matter to him? Had not his fathers and grandfathers and
great-grandfathers given high-air circus performances of a springtime,
in the days when bison and passenger pigeons inherited their full share
of the earth, before our fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers
had even seen America?

Was it, then, just for the joy of the season that he played in the air,
or was there, after all, someone besides himself to be pleased with the
sport? Who knows whether the little acrobat was showing his mate what a
splendid fellow he was, how strong of wing and skillful in the tricks of
flight? Be that as it may, the mate of Mis was satisfied in some way or
other, and went with him on a voyage of discovery one afternoon, when
the sky was nicely cloudy and the light pleasantly dull.

Now, like all good parents, Mis and his mate were a bit particular about
what sort of neighborhood they should choose for their home; for the
bringing up of a family, even if it is a small one, is most important.

A peaceful place and a sunny exposure they must have; there must be good
hunting near at hand; and one more thing, too, was necessary. Now, the
house-lot they finally decided upon met all four of these needs, though
it sounds like a joke to tell you where it was. But then, when a clown
goes merrily forth to find him a home, we must not be surprised if he is
funny about it. It was where the sun could shine upon it; though how Mis
and his mate knew that, all on a dull, dark afternoon, I'm sure I can't
tell. Maybe because there wasn't a tree in sight. And as for peace, it
was as undisturbed as a deserted island. It was, in fact, a sort of
island in a sea of air, and at certain times of the day and night there
was game enough in this sea to satisfy even such hunters as they.

Perhaps they chuckled cosily together when they decided to take their
peace and sunshine on the flat roof of a very high building in a very
large city. Their house-lot was covered with pebbles, and it suited them
exactly. So well that they moved in, just as it was.

Yes, those two ridiculous birds set up housekeeping without any house.
Mother Nomer just settled herself on the bare pebbles in a satisfied
way, and that was all there was to i