much time for work and play, would they?

So the children decided that the story of the Orioles was a very pretty
fairy story, indeed, and they liked it better because it was true.

And they found others--oh, so many stories like it.

For sometimes Mother and sometimes Father and sometimes the Toyman
showed them other little bird homes.

They climbed a ladder and found the barn-swallow's nest plastered under the
eaves of the barn. They liked the barn swallow who flew through the air,
almost as if he were so happy that he danced as he flew. And his dress was
so pretty, for he was dark blue on top, brown on the throat, and his little
stomach was white. His tail was forked too, cut like the coat of the man in
the circus who cracked the whip and made the horses perform tricks.

The barn swallow's nest was so cunningly made. It was plastered of mud and
grass, and had a soft grass lining. The little eggs in it were white and
had tiny brown spots.

Right near the bay window, in the thick lilac tree, Marmaduke spied Red
Robin's nest. He was a great friend of theirs. They always liked the cheery
way he hopped over the lawn, and his cheery red vest, and his song which
always said:

"Che-eer up--che-eer up!"

His eggs were the prettiest of all, a greenish blue, a robin's-egg blue,
the dressmakers call it. Mother Green's summer dress was coloured just like