MARTIN AND HIS BIRD FRIENDS 49 



whereby each family of birds will have a certain duty 

 to perform and certain insects to destroy. When 

 we call the meeting we want you there with everyone 

 else," concluded the owl. 



Within a few days the martins were all settled in 

 their new quarters. The rooms were all assigned 

 to the happy couples, and nest-building was begun 

 at once. The martins did not take much care in the 

 building of their nests. They were very poor archi- 

 tects; consequently, they had finished their work 

 when Screechy the owl notified them one evening 

 that at dawn the next morning a great meeting 

 would be held and all the birds were to attend. 



Early the next morning a great gathering was held 

 in the big apple orchard — ^such a gathering as no 

 bird had ever heard of before. Out there in the early 

 dawn, just as the sun was peeping over the eastern 

 horizon, with the apple trees in full bloom, and the 

 sweet fragrance of the blossoms on the crisp morning 

 air, with every bird great and small in the entire 

 country in attendance, the wise old owl called the 

 meeting to order and in his measured tones began: 



"My Friends, we are called together this morning 

 for the purpose of renewing our faith in each other, 

 to establish greater cooperation, and to come to a 

 better understanding with one another concerning 



