of doing so, as Robin Hood constantly brought 
food to her. 
When the eggs opened four skinny young 
things appeared, that in time grew to be blue- 
jays. Many days passed, however, before they 
were large and strong enough to leave their 
cradle. During these days of their helplessness 
the mother watched them with tender care, and 
Robin Hood proved himself to be one of the 
best fathers you ever saw, for he seemed to spend 
all his time waiting on his children. I doubt 
if the mother had to bring them food as many as 
‘a dozen times in all, for he saved her all this 
trouble, which shows that at heart Robin Hood 
was not so bad as people sometimes painted 
him. - 
And now I want to tell you of what happened 
on another day—and a very sad day it was, es- 
pecially for little Billy. It was in the autumn, 
the time when many of the summer birds had 
flown away. The daisies were nearly all gone and 
the goldenrod was blooming in the fields. For 
days the red squirrel had been gathering butter- 
nuts and storing them for his winter food. He 
99 
