* * * * *

"So the Bluebirds have contracted, have they, for a house?
And a nest is under way for little Mr. Wren?"
"Hush, dear, hush! Be quiet, dear! quiet as a mouse.
These are weighty secrets, and we must whisper them."

Susan Coolidge.

* * * * *




CHAPTER III

THE BIRD BABIES


Today, Violet, I shall tell you another secret, but this time the secret
is not about flowers, but about something else we love very dearly.
I intend to tell you some secrets about the birds. I wonder if you know
how much they are like the flowers?

You remember, the flowers had a language which we could understand, even
if they did not talk out loud. The birds, too, have a language of their
own, and they can express themselves better than the flowers, for they
have a sign language, and are also able to make sounds. How much we
enjoy hearing the birds sing, not only because they make beautiful