352 GRAY LADY AND THE BIRDS 
dow-frame into the house, and of the second brood, only 
one lived to fly, and he was a miserable, emaciated little 
thing, so badly did the lice beset the young birds. After 
that, mother always gave them a hint that a new nest was 
best by making it impossible for them to use the old one.” 
“T should think the Phcebes might have got mad and 
gone away for good,” said Sarah Barnes. 
“No; they either understood that mother’s intentions 
were good, or else they appreciated the comfort and 
cleanliness of the new nest, for their children and grand- 
children have occupied the two sites ever since, and this 
summer when I stood inside the store-room window show- 
ing the nest to Goldilocks, bird and nest were just the 
same as when my mother stood there by me. 
“That is why the everyday birds that live about our 
homes are so precious and should be so carefully guarded. 
We never see them grow old, and so they help us to keep 
young in heart. 
“Phoebe belongs to a very important family, that of 
the Flycatchers, songless birds with call-notes that are 
distinctive; these take their food upon the wing, diving 
from a perch into the air for it as the Kingfisher dives 
into the water for his. In this way the flycatchers are 
among the most valuable of the Sky Sweepers. 
“Among Phoebe’s cousins you will find the Kingbird, 
who wears a slate-coloured coat and white vest, a crest on 
his head, and a white band on the end of his tail by which 
you may know him, as he sits on a fence rail, stump, 
or even on a tall mullen stalk and sallies out into the 
air, crying a shrill ‘Kyrie-Kyrie!’ The Great Crested 
Flycatcher, with an olive-brown coat, gray throat, and yel- 
