30 A CHRONICLE OF THREE LITTLE KINGS. 



affair, the youngsters found themselves widely 

 apart ; for they had not yet learned to fly to- 

 gether, and to be apart was, above all things, 

 repugnant to the three. They began calling; 

 and the sound was potent to reunite them. 

 From this side and that, by easy stages, came a 

 little kingbird, each flight bringing them nearer 

 each other ; and before two minutes had passed 

 they were nestled side by side, as close as ever. 

 There they sat an hour or two and uttered their 

 cries, and there they were hunted up and fed by 

 the parents. There, I almost believe, they would 

 have stayed till doomsday, but for the periodical 

 stirring up by the mysterious call. No matter 

 how far they wandered, — and each day it was 

 farther and farther, — seven o'clock always 

 found them moving; and all three came back to 

 the native tree for the night, though never to 

 the nest again. 



No characteristic of the young kingbirds was 

 more winning than their confiding and unsus- 

 picious reception of strangers, for so soon as 

 they began to frequent other trees than the one 

 the paternal vigilance had made comparatively 

 sacred to them, they were the subjects of atten- 

 tion. The English sparrow was first, as usual, 

 to inquire into their right to be out of their own 

 tree. He came near them, alighted, and began 

 to hop still closer. Not in the least startled by 



