CITIZEN BIRD 51 



held them before Dodo's eyes — - " what do you see down 

 there in the grass ? " 



" Why, it's a Robin, but how big it looks ! Every 

 feather shows by itself, and it has white rings round 

 its eyes like spectacles. I never saw them before, I'm 

 sure." 



Then, as the Doctor handed the glasses to Nat, Dodo 

 looked in her lap, expecting to find the bird there in- 

 stead of a hundred feet away. 



" This is jolly ! " cried Nat, taking a peep and pass- 

 ing the glasses to Rap, who put them to his eyes, gave 

 a little " ah," and looked through them until the Doc- 

 tor said, '' That will do now. Olive shall keep the 

 glasses, and whenever you children Avant them she will 

 give them to you ; but you must be careful never to 

 scratch them or rub your fingers over the lenses at 

 either end. With this magnifying instrument you will 

 be able to see the shape of beaks and Avings, and many 

 color markings you would never notice otherwise. But 

 what did I promise to tell you of to-day, children ? " 



" Citizen Bird, you said," replied Nat, " though I 

 don't think I quite know what you mean." 



" What does citizen mean ? " asked the Doctor, smiling. 



" I think it is a person who lives in a city, but birds 

 aren't people and they don't live much in the city." 



" You are right in one sense, my boy, but the word 

 citizen has also a far wider meaning. Do you know 

 what it is, Olive ? " But Olive was not sure, and the 

 Doctor asked her to go to his study and look for the 

 word in the big dictionary. 



In a few minutes she returned with a slip of paper 

 from which her father read: " Citizen — a member of a 



