wood being young, the trees were
consequently small, and placed very near to each other, with two or
three paths between them. As he was one day walking up and down, in
order to rest himself a little, he placed his back against a tree, whose
stem was quite slender, and therefore all its branches shook as soon as
it was touched. This rustling happened to frighten a little bird, who
sprang from a neighbouring bush, and flew into another part of the
wood.

Gregory was vexed to think he had disturbed the bird, and fixed his eyes
upon the bush, in hopes of seeing it return. While he was thus
attentively on the watch, he imagined he saw among the twisted branches
something like a tuft of hay. As his curiosity was raised to know what
it was, he went up close to the hedge, and found this tuft of hay was
hollow, like a bowl. On putting aside the branches, he saw something
like little balls within it, which were spotted, and of an oval shape.
They lay close to each other, on something very soft. "Bless me," said
Gregory, "this must be certainly what I have heard some people call a
bird's nest, and the balls must be eggs. They are indeed less than our
eggs, but then our hens are larger than these birds."

He had some thoughts, at first, of taking away the whole nest; but, upon
second consideration, he contented himself with taking only one of the
eggs, with which he instantly ran home. In the midst of his haste, he
met his sister. "See this little egg," said he to her, "I have just now
found it in a nest, in which were five others."

She desired to have it in her hand, examined it attentively, and then
returned it to her brother. At last, they began rolling it up and down
a table, just as they would a ball. One pushed it one way, and the other
a different way, till at last they pushed it off the table, when it fell
on the floor and broke. This set them a crying, and each mutually
accused the other of being the cause of this sad disaster.

Their mamma, happening to hear them cry, came to inquire into the cause
of it, when both began at once telling their sorrows; and, having heard
their different stories, she took them affectionately by the hand, and
led them to a tree, whose stately boughs afforded a pleasant shade to a
verdant bank, on which they all sat down together.

"My dear children," said their mamma, "make yourselves easy. You have
broken the egg between you, and that, to be sure, is a misfortune; but
it is of too tri