uilding.
First they brought sticks, straw, weeds, and roots. With these they
laid the foundation in what seemed a very careless fashion, among the
boughs.

"Then here on this foundation they wove the round nest of straws and
weeds. They plastered it with mud. They lined it with soft grasses
and moss.

"In this nest my mother laid four beautiful greenish-blue eggs. From
the first egg that cracked open I crept out. From the three other eggs
came my brother and sisters.

"We were not handsome babies. I don't believe bird babies ever are
beautiful at first. We had no feathers, and our mouths were so big and
yellow.

"We were always hungry, for we were growing very fast. Our mouths flew
open at every little noise. We thought every sound was the flutter of
our parents' wings. They always brought such fine food for us."

The robin pecked away at his breakfast for some time before he spoke
again. Then he again took up the story of his life.

"How well I remember being taught to fly," he said. "How our mother
coaxed us to try our wings. How timid and feeble we were One of my
sisters fell to the ground and a great gray cat caught her.

"Our wings were very weak then and our feathers were still short. I
then had no beautiful red breast. It was just a rusty looking white
spotted with black.

"My mother's breast was not so red as my father's. She was of a paler
colour and she sang much less than he. She was a very happy little
mother, however, and she chirped very sweetly to her babies.

"After we flew from the nest, and were able to look out for ourselves,
my mother laid four more greenish-blue eggs in the same nest. By and
bye four more young robins were chirping about in the garden.

"Quite late in the season my parents were again nesting. But it was
rather unfortunate that they did so. A great storm came up and a
branch broke from the tree and destroyed the four blue eggs.

"It was shortly after this mishap that the robins flew south for the
winter.

"My brother, who was always a brave, cheery fellow, thought he would
rather stay here. I wonder how he fared. I have not yet seen him."

"I have not seen him lately, but he was here during the winter," said
Phyllis. "I dare say you will find him soon."

"Well," said the robin, picking up the last grain of wheat, "I thank
you, Phyllis, for this fine breakfast.

"I will only say 'good morning.' I think you will see me again.
Perhaps I will s