a careful study of the paper. He had always wanted to get away from
Mount Munch and visit the big world--especially the Land of Oz--and
the idea now came to him that if he could transform himself into a
bird, he could fly to any place he wished to go and fly back again
whenever he cared to. It was necessary, however, to learn by heart
the way to pronounce the magic word, because a bird would have no way
to carry a paper with it, and Kiki would be unable to resume his
proper shape if he forgot the word or its pronunciation.

So he studied it a long time, repeating it a hundred times in his
mind until he was sure he would not forget it. But to make safety
doubly sure he placed the paper in a tin box in a neglected part of
the garden and covered the box with small stones.

By this time it was getting late in the day and Kiki wished to
attempt his first transformation before his parents returned from the
festival. So he stood on the front porch of his home and said:

"I want to become a big, strong bird, like a hawk--Pyrzqxgl!"
He pronounced it the right way, so in a flash he felt that he was
completely changed in form. He flapped his wings, hopped to the porch
railing and said: "Caw-oo! Caw-oo!"

Then he laughed and said half aloud: "I suppose that's the funny
sound this sort of a bird makes. But now let me try my wings and see
if I'm strong enough to fly across the desert."

For he had decided to make his first trip to the country outside the
Land of Oz. He had stolen this secret of transformation and he knew
he had disobeyed the law of Oz by working magic. Perhaps Glinda or