THE HISTORY OF TIP-TOP. 31 



"Hurrah for Toddlie!" said Charlie, "her's is the best 

 of all. For my part, I call mine Speckle." 



So then the birds were all made separate characters by 

 having each a separate name given it. Brown-Eyes, Tip- 

 Top, Singer, Toddy, and Speckle made, as they grew 

 bigger, a very crowded nestful of birds. 



Now the children had early been taught to say, in a 

 little hymn : 



"Birds in their little nests agree, 



And 't is a shameful sight 

 When children of one family 



Fall out, and chide, and fight"; 



and they thought anything really written and printed in a 

 hymn must be true ; therefore they were very much aston- 

 ished to see, from day to day, that their little birds in their 

 nests did not agree. 



Tip-Top was the biggest and strongest bird, and he was 

 always shuffling and crowding the others, and clamoring 

 for the most food ; and when Mrs. Robin came in with a 

 nice bit of anything, Tip-Top's red mouth opened so wide, 

 and he was so noisy, that one would think the nest was all 

 his. His mother used to correct him for these gluttonous 

 ways, and sometimes made him wait till all the rest were 

 helped before she gave him a mouthful ; but he generally 

 revenged himself in her absence by crowding the others 

 and making the nest generally uncomfortable. Speckle, 



