g the old gentleman sitting in the room, Mr. Robin made bold to
walk in and make known his errand.

"I wonder what he is talking about, so very loud and earnest,"
exclaimed Fred, coming in softly behind him.

"I don't know; but he is very zealous about it. See how he turns first
one eye, then the other, while he twitters away as if his life depended
upon making us understand."

Suddenly robin uttered a sharp cry, and flew away toward the nest; and
before they could express their surprise, he was back again, twittering
as fast as ever.

Fred laughed aloud. "How very funny!" he cried. "What does it mean? He
never did so before."

"I have no doubt he is trying to tell us something; and I fear it is not
pleasant news, from his mournful cry."

"I wish we could understand," said the boy.

"I once read of a man," said grandpa, "who, from his boyhood, had
studied the language of birds, and by close attention had acquired such
a knowledge of it, that from the song of the parents, he knew where the
nests were situated, whether they contained eggs, or whether the brood
was hatched. He knew even the number of young birds and their age,
before he saw them. This is truly wonderful, and if I had not read it
from the best authority, I could hardly credit it. If so, I suppose, by
careful observation, we could in many cases understand their different
notes, and thus learn their wants and emotions, as well as the birds
themselves do.

"I was once walking in a wood, and caught sight of a party of jays
before they saw me. They were all chattering together and enjoying
themselves highly. Suddenly one of them uttered a short, deep-toned
note, when in an instant all was silent,--and they skulked one by one
to a neighboring thicket."

"I suppose one of them caught a glimpse of you, and warned the others
that you were near enough to listen to their secrets," said Fred, with a
hearty laugh.

Grandpa now took his cane and walked to the door, determined, as the
appeal was made to him, to watch the motions of the robins, and try to
help them if they were in trouble.

But though Mr. Robin kept repeating his flight to the nest, and his
effort to talk, nothing could be made of it; and at length the poor
father seemed to despair.

In the mean time, Jack, Katy and Annie were chatting merrily together;
and before this first interview closed, Katy had even ventured to take a
crumb from Annie's mouth. This the child thought the very summit o