When you're tempted to do wrong
Is the time to prove you're strong.
Shut your eyes and clench each fist;
It will help you to resist.

When a bird is found sitting on a nest, it is a pretty sure sign
that that nest holds something worth while. It is a sign that that
bird has set up housekeeping. So when Farmer Brown's boy discovered
Mrs. Hooty sitting so close on the old nest of Redtail the Hawk, in
the most lonesome corner of the Green Forest, he knew what it
meant. Perhaps I should say that he knew what it ought to mean.

It ought to mean that there were eggs in that nest.

But it was hard for Farmer Brown's boy to believe that. Why, spring
had not come yet! There was still snow, and the Smiling Pool was
still covered with ice. Who ever heard of birds nesting at this time
of year? Certainly not Farmer Brown's boy. And yet Hooty the Owl and
Mrs. Hooty were acting for all the world as feathered folks do act
when they have eggs and are afraid that something is going to happen
to them. It was very puzzling.

"That nest was built by Red-tail the Hawk, and it hasn't even been
repaired, " muttered Farmer Brown's boy, as he stared up at it. "If
Hooty and his wife have taken it for their home, they are mighty
poor housekeepers. And if Mrs. Hooty has laid eggs this time of
year, she must be crazy. I suppose the way to find out is to climb
up there. It seems foolish, but I'm going to do it. Those Owls
certainly act as if they are mighty anxious about something, and I'm
going to find out what it is."