builder came out it
flew to the twig in front of the door, where its mate was waiting, and
sat down beside it, a little Darby by his Joan.

They worked busily. Sometimes they popped in only to pop out again; at
other times they stayed inside as long as if they had been human
housekeepers, hanging pictures, straightening chairs, and setting their
bric-a-brac in order for the fortieth time; each change requiring mature
deliberation.

One morning--after the birds had been putting in lining long enough to
have wadded half a dozen nests--if my judgment is of any value in such
matters--I discovered that the roof was falling in; it was almost on top
of the front door! The next day, to my dismay, the door had vanished.
What was the trouble? Were the pretty pair young builders; was this
their first nest, and had they paid more attention to decorating their
house inside than to laying strong foundations; or had their pocket been
too heavy for its frame?

However it came about, the wise birds concluded that they would not
waste time crying over spilt milk. They calmly went to work to tear the
first nest to pieces and build a second one out of it. One of them
tweaked out its board with such a jerk it sent the pocket swinging like
a pendulum. But the next time it wisely planted its claw firmly to
steady itself, while it cautiously pulled the material out with its
bill.

If the birds were inexperienced, they were bright enough to profit by
experience. This time they hung their nest between the forks of a strong
twig which had a cross twig to support the roof, so that the accident
that had befallen them could not possibly occur again. They began work
at the top, holding onto the twig with their claws and swinging
themselves down inside to put in their material; and they moulded and
shaped the pocket as they went along.

After watching the progress of the new nest, I went to see what had
become of the old one. It was on the ground. On taking it home and
pulling it to pieces, I found that the wall was from half an inch to an
inch thick, made of fine gray moss and oak blossoms. There was a thick
wadding of feathers inside. I counted _three hundred_, and there were a
great many more! The amount of hard labor this stood for amazed me. No
wonder the nest pulled down, with a whole feather-bed inside! Why had
they put it in? I asked some children, and one said, "To keep the eggs
warm, I guess;" while the other suggested, "So the eggs wo