102 CITIZEN BIRD 



what she was doing she had put the nest in the top of 

 the tin pail and hung it on a hook under the shed roof. 

 ' Now,' she said, ' Mrs. Robin, try how you like that ! ' 



" I watched and after a few minutes first one Robin 

 flew under the shed and then the other, and the next 

 thing one was sitting on the pail-nest as nice as you 

 please ! " 



" Did the birds hatch ? " asked Olive, Nat, and Dodo, 

 almost in the same breath. 



" Yes, they hatched all right ; and then I noticed 

 something funny. The backs and breasts of the little 

 birds were almost naked when they were hatched, and 

 their eyes closed tight ; but when the feathers came 

 they were spotted on their backs and breasts and not 

 plain like their parents. Do you know," added Rap 

 after a little pause, " that when Bluebirds are little, 

 their backs and breasts are speckled too, though after- 

 ward they moult out plain ? So there is something alike 

 about Bluebirds and Robins that even a boy can see." 



" You are quite right," said the Doctor ; " the ' some- 

 thing alike, that even a boy can see,' is one of the 

 things that shows these birds to be cousins, as I told 

 you. Every one of the Silver-tongued Family is 

 spotted when it gets its first feathers. It is strange," 

 he added in an undertone, as if talking to himself, 

 "how long it took some of us to find out what any 

 bright boy can see." 



The American Robin — Remember This 



Length ten inches. 



Upper parts slate color with a tinge of brown. 



Head black on top and sides, with white spots around the eyes. 



