might catch young trout, and even little birds 

 as they came to drink, but he would surely 

 never molest a brood of kingfishers ; yet the 

 mother, like an irate housekeeper flourishing 

 her broom at every corner of an unswept 

 room, sounded her rattle loudly and dropped 

 on the sleepy frog's head, sending him sput- 

 tering and scrambling away into the mud, as 

 if Hawahak the hawk were after him. Then 

 with another look all round to see that the 

 stream was clear, and with a warning rattle 

 to any Wood Folk that she might have 

 overlooked, she darted into her nest, wig- 

 gling her tail like a satisfied duck as she 

 disappeared. 



After a moment a wild-eyed young king- 

 fisher put his head out of the hole for his 

 first look at the big world. A push from 

 behind cut short his contemplation, and 

 without any fuss whatever he sailed down 

 to a dead branch on the other side of the 

 stream. Another and another followed in 

 the same way, as if each one had been told 

 just what to do and where to go, till the whole 

 family were sitting a-row, with the rippling 



