IN THE CAT-BIRD'S NOOK. 67 



They gathered near, in a cherry-tree and a lilac 

 bush, chattering and scolding, and plainly ques- 

 tioning the right of the stranger to intrude 

 upon their grounds. After a while one of them 

 flew rapidly past the apparently unconcerned 

 cat-bird, who interpolated one scolding note, 

 without pausing in his song. This insult not 

 being resented, the sparrow grew bolder, re- 

 turned, and alighted on the roof near him. 

 Wishing to finish his song, the cat-bird merely 

 scolded a little, and put himself in a threaten- 

 ing attitude, when the sparrow considered it 

 prudent to retire. For a few minutes there 

 was great chattering in the cherry-tree, and 

 the birds, having made up their minds that he 

 could do nothing but scold, plainly resolved to 

 mob him in true sparrow fashion. One led the 

 way by flying down to the roof about two feet 

 from the cat-bird, all bristled up ready for fight. 

 This was too much ; the song ceased, and with 

 a fearful war-cry the singer fairly flung himself 

 after that sparrow, who disappeared in a panic, 

 and the whole party of mobbers with him. 

 They very evidently appreciated their mistake, 

 and saw that the stranger was willing as well 

 as able to take care of himself, for neither spar- 

 row nor pigeon came near him again, and when 

 he returned to his perch, light as a feather and 

 unruffled as a summer morning, he finished his 



