36 More Tales of the Birds 



saw to my horror a man come along, with a boy 

 carrying a big bag. As the fence was high, he 

 carried a pair of steps, and when he came to the 

 other birds, he put these down and mounted them. 

 Then he seized my poor friends, gave their necks 

 a twist, and dropped them into the bag, which the 

 boy held open below. It was sickening : I could 

 see one or two which he had not quite killed 

 struggling about at the bottom of the bag. Poor 

 things, poor things ! And there was I just as 

 much at the mercy of these ruffians, and my turn 

 was to come next." 



"It's too horrible," said Gwenny : " I wonder 

 you can bear to tell it." 



"Ah, my dear," said the Martin, "we have 

 to get hardened to these things. And it's good 

 for you to hear my story, as you thought our lives 

 were all happiness. Well, the man came along 

 to me with his steps, and I struggled, and he 

 chuckled, and in another moment it would have 

 been all over. But just as he was going to 

 grip me, he noticed that his boy was not below 

 with the bag, and turning round he saw him a 

 little way off in the road practising standing on 



