It seemed that a robin might live contentedly 
here for a long time, and our little strangers from 
the shores of Lake Champlain may have thought 
so. Nothing whatever tried to harm them, 
although a dog did run to where they were feed- 
ing one day and barked rather loudly. 
Except for the night when something drove 
Longtoe in through Billy’s open window, this 
young robin had never had a real fright in all the 
five months of his life; but he was to have one 
right here in the center of the largest city in the 
world, and it was another bird that gave it to him. 
One morning he went over to the reservoir 
near the north end of the park to get a drink. 
Out on the water a number of herring gulls 
were resting and a few were flying about. Long- 
toe alighted on the shore by the side of a large 
rock, and reaching down took a billful of water, 
and then raised his head to let it run down his 
throat. The water was nice and cool and he 
enjoyed it very much. He had taken five or 
six drinks, when, just as he raised his head again, 
a great gull dropped on the top of the rock beside 
him. Now Longtoe had not seen the gull com- 
59 
