66 More Tales of the Birds 



of little grey fairies that flew around them piping, 

 less timid now that they saw no chance of harm 

 to their brood. 



At last, urged by some signal from the parents, 

 the little birds all came out of their holes and 

 corners, and trotted along one after another, the 

 eldest leading, right under the very eyes of the 

 two men. Piping faintly as if to call attention to 

 their beauty, and moving tails and bodies like 

 their parents, they passed along the shaly bank 

 till they reached the roots of an old battered 

 thorn-bush, where they disappeared into a hole 

 and were seen no more by the human eyes. 



After this adventure the old Sandpipers had 

 a long talk. All had gone well so far ; but it 

 would not do to run these risks any longer if 

 they could help it. And not without some mis- 

 givings as to the difficulty of the task, they 

 determined to get the young ones across the 

 river without delay ; for on the further side some 

 jutting rocks made it impossible for anglers to 

 pass, and they were seldom seen there. 



So next morning at break of day the little 

 family was called down to the water's edge, 



