Redroff 



no wings to flop with, only a little tag among 

 the down on each side, to show where the wings 

 would come. That night she took them to a 

 dry thicket near by, and there among the crisp, 

 dead leaves that would prevent an enemy's si- 

 lent approach on foot, and under the interlac- 

 ing briers that kept off all foes of the air, she 

 cradled them in their feather-shingled nursery 

 and rejoiced in the fulness of a mother's joy over 

 the wee cuddling things that peeped in their 

 sleep and snuggled so trustfully against her warm 

 body. 



II 



The third day the chicks were much stronger 

 on their feet. They no longer had to go around 

 an acorn ; they could even scramble over pine- 

 cones, and on the little tags that marked the 

 places for their wings, were now to be seen blue 

 rows of fat blood-quills. 



Their start in life was a good mother, good 

 legs, a few reliable instincts, and a germ of rea- 

 son. It was instinct, that is, inherited habit, 

 which taught them to hide at the word from their 



314 



