out of the nest."

"That's a hard case," said Arthur. "Is there any American bird that acts
like the cuckoo?"

[Illustration: The Cuckoo]

"Oh, yes!" said Uncle Oscar. "There is a little bird called the
'cow-bunting,' about as large as a canary-bird: she, too, makes other
birds hatch her young and take care of them."

"I don't like such lazy behavior. Did you ever hear the note of the
cuckoo?" said Arthur.

"Oh, yes!" replied Uncle Oscar. "I have heard it in England; and there,
too, I have heard the skylark and the nightingale, neither of which
birds we have in America. But we have the mocking-bird, one of the most
wonderful of song-birds."

"I wonder if the cuckoo would not live in America," said Arthur. "I
should like to get one and try it. I would take good care of it."

"It would not thrive in this climate, Arthur."

UNCLE OSCAR.




[Illustration: Work and Sing!]