THE REDWING 
last scraping of the pot for him. In fine 
weather he passed this by for hedgeside fare, 
but in rain he accepted it gratefully. For the 
spring was wet, although so sweet, and full of 
the jollity of the summer to be, that even the 
staid fowls felt the change. 
Once a day the Yellow Hen wandered off by 
herself down the Glen. When she came back, 
her clamour drew all the rest of the fowls 
together, and they discussed the situation at 
length. 
" Bad scran to thim burrds," said Mrs. Maguire, 
" the fox'll have the lot taken on me now if 
they're afther runnin' in the woods all day." 
And she sought more diligently for nests in the 
neighbouring undergrowth ; but she found 
nothing, for where the Yellow Hen's eight 
eggs lay was only known to the Yellow Hen 
herself, and to Shacaim, the skulker in nooks 
and byways. 
The chickens were brought out towards the 
end of the month, when the first whitethroat 
was tumbling discontentedly about the bushes, 
and the buttercups were a-flower. Mrs. 
Maguire received the Yellow Hen and her 
family with fervent benedictions, but she made 
the grave mistake of shutting mother and 
chickens up in the outhouse one evening. There 
was quite two inches space between the bottom 
L 161 
