THE COMING OF SPRING 271 



fledglings in it close to the top of the bush. " Why, 

 gracious me!" she exclaimed, "perhaps I've been 

 covering their dear little nesties with my washing 

 without ever knowing such a thing. I'll just have 

 a look at the other bushes." And at the very next 

 bush on peering under the cloth spread over it she 

 spied a dunnock sitting on its nest sitting, she soon 

 found, on five lovely little blue eggs ! In the evening 

 when the family were having tea she told them about 

 it, and immediately her boys began to tease her to tell 

 them where the nest was, and after a good deal of talk 

 and solemn promise on the part of the boys that they 

 would not take nor even touch one of the little blue 

 eggs, and many warnings on her side that they would 

 have the rope's end if they ever dared to do such 

 a cruel thing, she led the way to the bush and allowed 

 them all to have a good look at the nest and the five 

 little gems of blue colour lying in it. But from that 

 day she had no peace, for now her bad boys had got 

 a means of coercing her, and she had to let them stay 

 away from school and go where and do what they 

 liked and to give them bread and butter and pasties 

 at all hours of the day and whatever they asked for ; 

 for if she refused them anything they would say, 

 " Then we'll go and get the eggs out of the hedge- 

 sparrow's nest " ; nor could she punish them for any- 

 thing they did for the same reason. It was only 

 when the blue eggs hatched and the young birds were 

 safely reared that she got the upper hand in her house 

 once more. Poor, anxious, thin, shrill-voiced woman, 

 fighting for a small bird with her rough sons, her hus- 



