SUMMER DAYS 



61 



growing fast, but I was rather surprised that the 

 old hedge-sparrows did not give him a good beating 

 for being so naughty. However, they never seemed 

 to notice that their very own children w^ere being 

 pushed out of house and home by this impudent 

 changeling ; 1 suppose that they were so worried by 

 the amount of provisions that were required every 

 moment of the day that they had no time to notice 

 anything but the young giant who was rapidly 

 growing too big for their little house. 



Personally, I did not think it my business to inter- 

 fere. Two fat young birds make a beautiful break- 

 fast when good food is scarce, and I was quite 

 disappointed when nothing came on the third day, 

 nor on the fourth either ; that stupid cuckoo seemed 

 to have left off growing, and I had to console 

 myself with a bit of my old boot, which seemed 

 more tasteless than ever after my luscious break- 

 fasts of the last two days. On the fifth morning I 

 found my breakfast lying cold and dead on the 

 ground ; the cuckoo had grown in his sleep, and 

 had ejected the last of the real owners of the nest. 

 I prefer a warm meal, and felt incKned to turn up 

 my nose at the cold and clammy dish that awaited 

 me ; but I thought of the old boot, and set to 

 work, and found that there was plenty of nice 



