mate was not at hand to guard the nest, she flew off down to the farm
to see if there was anything new going on among those foolish men, or
perhaps to catch a mouse among the cornstalks."

"Do _crows_ eat _mice_?" demanded the Babe in astonishment.

"Of course they do," answered Uncle Andy impatiently. "Everybody that
eats meat at all eats mice, except us human beings. And in some parts
of the world we, too, eat them, dipped in honey."

"Oh--h--h!" shuddered the Babe.

"Well, as I was going to say when you interrupted me, no sooner was she
well out of the way than a red squirrel, who had been watching from the
nearest fir tree, saw his chance. It was a rare one. Nobody liked
eggs better than he did, or got fewer of them. Like a flash he was
over from the fir branches into the pine ones, and up and into the nest.

"His sharp teeth went into the nearest egg, and he drank its contents
greedily--and cleverly, let me tell you, for it's not so easy to manage
without getting it all over your fur. He was just going to begin on
another when there was a sharp hiss of wings just above him and a loud
_ca-ah_ of alarm. The father bird was back and swooping down upon him.
He threw himself clear of the nest, fell to a lower branch, and raced
out to its tip to spring into his fir tree. At this moment the furious
father struck him, knocking him clean off into the air.

"The air was now full of black wings and angry cries, as the crows from
neighboring nests flocked to the help of their fellow citizen. But the
little red robber was brave and kept his head. Spreading his legs wide