The Audttboii Knip'hts. 



I 2 



him fast, he scrambled, looking eagerly for 

 the dainty nests that were too well hidden 

 to be found so easily. 



At last, baffled and tired and hot, he sat 

 down to rest. The birds laughed mock- 

 ingly all around him, but he laughed back, 

 saying, " Never mind, wait till this after- 

 noon, when it's cooler, and I'll fix you." 



In the meantime, Alex had been to the 

 old water mill, where a host of barn swal- 

 lows were making their homes, and a few 

 sleepy owls whirred through the rickety 





HE SAW HUNDREDS OF BLACKBIRDS. 



roof at the sound of his approach. Then 

 out across the meadow, peering into every 

 bush, and under every tuft of grass for 

 songsters' nests, listening, with a thrill of 

 delight, to the soft warble of the " Orpheus" 

 and the rich note of the robin, coming 

 melodiously from the woods, to Sleepy 

 Hollow, a quiet grove of chestnut, oak, 

 and beech trees, that lay between three 

 high hills — one of them the north pasture 

 itself — to where, in a tall tree, dead long 

 ago, a woodpecker made his nest, sticking 

 his head out now and then, and giving 

 his shrill Flick-flick-flick^ as though gossip- 

 ing about the weather. 



Jack took his way to Rocky Point, a high 

 peak of rocks that raised up beside the so- 

 called new dam (which was not really new 

 at all, for papa had often been swimming 

 in it when a boy, but only relatively new, 

 in comparison with a still older milldam.) 

 No birds were to be seen or heard here, so 

 he slid down over the rough stones to the 

 swamp that bordered the pond on one side. 

 Here, to his delight, were three little sand- 

 pipers, running out over the mossy logs 

 and stones, and tilting themselves about as 

 if they were playing seesaw. After a whole 

 morning's search for their nests, and after 

 falling into the mud three times, he made 

 up his mind that they had none, and re- 

 solved to go home, and on the way was 

 much gratified by finding five sparrows' 

 nests in his hedge on Willow Lane. 



They all came in to dinner as hungry as 

 hawks, and full of their discoveries. 



" There's a whole colony of crow-black- 

 birds in the cedar trees of the north pas- 

 ture," began Seymour. 



"Yes, and three sandpipers' nests in the 

 marsh (at least the birds were there; I'm 

 going to look for the nests again this after- 

 noon), and no end of hedge sparrows (real 

 nests) on Willow Lane," put in Jack. 



"And there's a pair of woodpeckers 

 building in Sleepy Hollow, and some barn 

 swallows in the mill," finished Alex. 



" Well, there's a bluebird in the orchard, 

 and three robins in the garden," said litle 

 Phil. " I don't know what's in the wall. I got 

 so much interested in watching the blue- 

 bird, that I didn't get that far." 



"Well, my doughty knights," said mam- 

 ma, " you have found out where some of 

 your tenants live, you must now see to it 

 that they are allowed to remain there un- 

 molested." 



" Yes'm, we will," came the chorus. 



At tea they were as much excited as they 

 had been at dinner, for many new and 

 startling discoveries had been made. 



"And what do you think, mother ?" said 



