dy_.

_How the Birds came to Have Different Nests Time..._.

_Once upon a time when pigs spoke rhyme,
And monkeys chewed tobacco.
And hens took snuff to make them tough,
And ducks went quack, quack, quack, O!_

_Place_. ... Madge Magpie's Nest up in a Tree-top.

_Characters_: Madge Magpie, the Teacher; Thrush, Blackbird, Owl,
Sparrow, Starling, and Turtle-Dove.

_All the Birds_. "We have come to you, Madge Magpie, to ask you to
teach us how to build nests. All the Birds tell how clever you are at
building nests."

_Magpie_. "Make a circle round about the foot of this old pear-tree. I
will sit upon this limb near my nest and show you how to do it. First
I take some mud and make a fine round cake with it."

_Thrush_. "Oh, that's how it's done, is it? I'll hurry home! Goodbye,
Birds, I can't stay another minute!

"Mud in a cake, mud in a cake,
To-whit, to-whee, a nest I'll make!"

_Magpie_. "Next I take some twigs and arrange them about the mud."

_Blackbird_. "Now I know all about it. Here I go, I'm off to make my
nest in the cherry-tree in Mr. Smith's cornfield!

"Sticks upon mud, mud upon sticks,
Caw, caw! I'll make a nest for six!"

_Magpie_. "See, here I put another layer of mud over the twigs."

_Wise Owl_. "Oh! That's quite obvious. Strange I never thought of that
before. Farewell, come to see me at the old elm-tree beside the gray
church!

"Mud over twigs! To-whit, to-whoo!
No better nest than that ever grew!"

_Magpie_. "See these long twigs. I just twine them round the outside."

_Sparrow_. "The very thing. I'll do it this very day. I can pick some
up on my way home. I'll choose the spout that looks down over the
school-yard; then I can see the children at play. They must like me
for they never chase me away or hit me.

"A nest with twigs twined round and round,
Chip, chip! No fear that would fall to the ground!"

_Magpie_. "And see these little feathers and soft stuff. What a
comfortable, cosy lining for the nest they make!"

_Starling_. "That suits me! Off I go, I like a cosy warm nest. It
shall be in that old plum-tree in the orchard, on the side of the hill.

"Feathers and down to make cosy and warm,
That's the nest to keep us from harm!"

_Magpie_. "Well, Birds, have you seen how I made my nest? Do you think
you know how?--Why, where are all the Birds? They couldn't wait until
I'd finished. Only you, Turtle-Dove, left!"

_Turt