same.'

"'Very well,' said the other birds, 'we only wanted to be kind and help
you. But we won't bother you any more. Good-bye.' And they all flew away
to attend to their own affairs.

"After a while Mother Mo-lo tried to build a nest. First she tried to
bore a hole in a dead branch, but she couldn't do it. Then she tried the
sandbank, but the sand caved in and got in her eyes and almost smothered
her. Then she tried the other kinds of nests. But every one was a
failure. At last she gave it up, and ever since then she has laid her
eggs in other birds' nests and let them rear her young ones for her."




[Illustration]




X. THE STORY OF O-PEE-CHEE THE FIRST ROBIN


One day little Luke heard Old John the Indian speak of redbreast as
Little Brother O-pee-chee. He wanted to ask the old man about the name,
but did not get a chance. So the next morning he went down to the apple
tree in the meadow and asked Father Redbreast about it.

"That," answered redbreast, "is an old tale which both the Red Men and