228 More Tales of the Birds 



sparrow. He noted the presence of his birds 

 with joy, and was still more delighted to find 

 his treasured rowans covered with pendulous 

 bunches of magnificent red berries, which would 

 be a daily treat to his eyes for weeks to come. 

 They had home-made jam that evening, and he 

 took it as a matter of course and asked no 

 questions. 



The next morning broke fresh and fine, and 

 the Poet threw open his window long before 

 any one in the house was stirring. His mind 

 was filled with comfortable thoughts of home 

 after the discomforts of foreign travel ; how 

 delicious was a garden in August one's own 

 garden, with one's own birds and flowers and 

 trees ! 



Ah, hapless Poet ! Do not look at your be- 

 loved rowans ; there is a sight there that will 

 not please you ! 



Three blackbirds, a missel-thrush, and half- 

 a-dozen starlings, were hard at work snipping 

 off the berries, and gaps in the golden bunches 

 already told the tale of what was to happen ; the 

 ground below was strewn with the relics of the 



