stream below them and the deep blue heavens 

 and the rustling world of woods above. 



That was their first lesson, and their reward 

 was near. The male bird had been fishing 

 since daylight; now he began to bring min- 

 nows from an eddy where he had stored 

 them, and to feed the hungry family and 

 assure them, in his own way, that this big 

 world, so different from the hole in the bank, 

 was a good place to live in, and furnished no 

 end of good things to eat. 



The next lesson was more interesting, the 

 lesson of catching fish. The school was a 

 quiet, shallow pool with a muddy bottom 

 against which the fish showed clearly, and 

 with a convenient stub leaning over it from 

 which to swoop. The old birds had caught 

 a score of minnows, killed them, and dropped 

 them here and there under the stub. Then 

 they brought the young birds, showed them 

 their game, and told them by repeated exam- 

 ples to dive and get it. The little fellows 

 were hungry and took to the sport keenly; 

 but one was timid, and only after the mother 

 had twice dived and brought up a fish 



