THE BIRD'S NEST 35 



" Have I told you about the Bluebird, and how, 

 though he only sheds his feathers once a year, yet his 

 winter coat is rusty and not bright clear blue as it is in 

 spring ? " 



"I think not," answered Nat. 



" Well, the outside edges of its feathers are blue, but 

 a little deeper in the feather is brownish. So when 

 they have worn the same feathers many months, and 

 rubbed in and out of their little houses and bathed a 

 great deal and cleaned their feathers off every day in 

 the dust, as birds always do, the blue ends wear off and 

 the rusty parts show. It is quite worth while to tell 

 little people things when they have the patience to 

 listen and the interest to remember." 



" Yes, uncle, but it's the way you tell us about birds 

 that makes us remember. You talk as if they were 

 real people." 



" Oh, oh, Nat ! " laughed the Doctor, " if you flatter 

 me so I shall have to hide my head in a bush like an 

 Ostrich. Birds are people, though of another race 

 from ours, and I am happy if I can make you think so. 

 Ah ! we must be near a Redwing's nest what a com- 

 motion the colony is making! " 



" Colony ? I thought a colony was a lot of people 

 who went off into a strange wild land and made a new 

 home," said Nat. 



" That is one meaning of the word, but another one 

 is when a number of people of the same race or trade 

 live close to each other. A bird colony is a collection 

 of the homes of many birds of the same family. After 

 the nesting season almost all birds live in flocks of 

 different sizes, each particular kind flocking by itself ; 



