A Stranger and a Dandy 



velvety-black. Each wore a very stylish pointed 

 cap, and on the wings of most of them were little 

 spots of red which looked like sealing-wax, and 

 from which they get the name of Waxwings. 

 They were slim and trim and quite dandified, and 

 in a quiet way were really beautiful. 



As Peter watched them he began to wonder if 

 Farmer Brown would have any cherries left. Peter 

 himself can do pretty well in the matter of stuffing 

 his stomach, but even he marvelled at the way those 

 birds put the cherries out of sight. It was quite 

 clear to him why they are often called Cherrybirds. 



"If they stay long, Farmer Brown won't have 

 any cherries left," remarked Peter. 



"Don't worry," replied Jenny Wren. "They 

 won't stay long. I don't know anybody equal to 

 them for roaming about. Here are most of us with 

 families on our hands and Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird 

 with a second family and Mr. and Mrs. Robin with 

 a second set of eggs, while those gadabouts up there 

 haven't even begun to think about housekeeping 

 yet. They certainly do like those cherries, but I 

 guess Farmer Brown can stand the loss of what they 

 eat. He may have fewer cherries, but he'll have 

 more apples because of them." 



"How's that ?" demanded Peter. 



"Oh," replied Jenny Wren, "they were over here 

 a while ago when those little green cankerworms 

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