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MRS. LESLIE'S BOOKS FOR LITTLE CHILDREN.
THE ROBIN REDBREAST SERIES.
BOOKS WRITTEN OR EDITED
By A. R. BAKER,
AND SOLD BY ALL BOOKSELLERS.
QUESTION BOOKS on the Topics of Christ's Sermon on the Mount.
VOL. I. FOR CHILDREN. VOL. II. FOR YOUTH.
VOL. III. FOR ADULTS.
LECTURES ON THESE TOPICS, _in press_.
MRS. LESLIE'S SABBATH SCHOOL BOOKS.
TIM, THE SCISSORS GRINDER.
SEQUEL TO "TIM, THE SCISSORS GRINDER."
PRAIRIE FLOWER.
THE BOUND BOY.
THE BOUND GIRL.
VIRGINIA.
THE TWO HOMES; OR, EARNING AND SPENDING.
THE ORGAN-GRINDER, _in press_.
QUESTION BOOKS. The Catechism tested by the Bible.
VOL. I. FOR CHILDREN. VOL. II. FOR ADULTS.
THE DERMOTT FAMILY; or, Stories Illustrating the Catechism.
VOL. I. DOCTRINES RESPECTING GOD AND MANKIND.
" II. DOCTRINES OF GRACE.
" III. COMMANDMENTS OF THE FIRST TABLE.
" IV. COMMANDMENTS OF THE SECOND TABLE.
" V. CONDITIONS OF ETERNAL LIFE.
MRS. LESLIE'S HOME LIFE.
VOL. I. CORA AND THE DOCTOR.
" II. COURTESIES OF WEDDED LIFE.
" III. THE HOUSEHOLD ANGEL.
MRS. LESLIE'S JUVENILE SERIES.
VOL. I. THE MOTHERLESS CHILDREN.
" II. PLAY AND STUDY.
" III. HOWARD AND HIS TEACHER.
" IV. TRYING TO BE USEFUL.
" V. JACK, THE CHIMNEY SWEEPER.
" VI. THE YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER.
" VII. LITTLE AGNES.
THE LITTLE FRANKIE SERIES.
LITTLE FRANKIE AND HIS MOTHER.
LITTLE FRANKIE AT HIS PLAYS.
LITTLE FRANKIE AND HIS COUSIN.
LITTLE FRANKIE AND HIS FATHER.
LITTLE FRANKIE ON A JOURNEY.
LITTLE FRANKIE AT SCHOOL.
THE ROBIN REDBREAST SERIES.
THE ROBINS' NEST.
LITTLE ROBINS IN THE NEST.
LITTLE ROBINS LEARNING TO FLY.
LITTLE ROBINS IN TROUBLE.
LITTLE ROBINS' FRIENDS.
LITTLE ROBINS' LOVE ONE TO ANOTHER.
[Illustration: LITTLE ROBINS LEARNING TO FLY.]
LITTLE
ROBINS LEARNING TO FLY.
BY
MRS. MADELINE LESLIE,
AUTHOR OF "THE HOME LIFE SERIES;" "MRS. LESLIE'S
JUVENILE SERIES," ETC.
[Illustration]
BOSTON:
CROSBY AND NICHOLS.
117 WASHINGTON STREET.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by
A. R. BAKER,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District
of Massachusetts.
ELECTROTYPED AT THE
BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY.
LITTLE ROBINS LEARNING TO FLY.
CHAPTER I.
MR. ROBIN'S POOR COUSINS.
Early one May morning, Fred Symmes was sent by his mother upon an errand
to the next farm. He did not go around by the road, but jumped over the
stone wall, and passed along through the pleasant orchard. As he came
near the pear tree, he saw a large robin flying back and forth from it,
and stopping to look, soon discovered a nest in the fork formed by two
of the lower limbs.
What was his surprise, as the robin flew toward the ground, to have it
alight on his arm! when he at once recognized it as Mr. Robin, who had a
wife and family in the elm tree near the cottage.
"Why, what are you doing here this bright morning?" he asked, holding
out his finger, upon which the familiar bird readily perched.
Mr. Robin cocked his head, turned up his bright eye, and tried to
explain. But as Fred did not seem to understand, and kept saying, "I
hope you have not forsaken your wife and little nestlings, pretty
birdie," he alighted on the ground, picked up a worm, and flew away
into the tree.
Fred quickened his steps, did his errand at the farm, and on his return,
found Mr. Robin had flown away. He climbed into a tree, from which he
could look into the nest. There he saw a female bird sheltering her
young, who were feebly chirping as she partly rose to meet the intruder.
She uttered a cry of distress, and began to flutter her wings; but Fred
quickly slid down from the tree, and put an end to her alarm.
When he reached home, both Mr. and Mrs. Robin were picking up crumbs at
the cottage door.
"Grandpa," said he, when they were seated at breakfast, "I saw something
very funny this morning. I found our robin in a pear tree near Mr.
Bacon's farm, feeding a whole nest full of birds."
"Were they alone?" inquired Mr. Symmes.
"No, father. The mother bird was there; and he fed her too."
"I suppose the father has been killed," suggested the old gentleman. "It
is very cruel to kill birds when they have little families to take care
of. But I have read many instances where birds have assisted each other
when in distress: where the male bird has been killed, one of his
neighbors has fed and assisted in rearing the young brood, at the same
time he attended to the wants of his own family."
An hour or two later, grandpa sat in his arm chair under the shade of
the graceful elm. Fred had brought his tools, and was converting a large
wooden box into a playhouse for his little sister. Annie stood near him,
her apron filled with small bits of broken china, which she called her
dishes, and which she was waiting to arrange in her new cupboard.
It was very warm; and the boy's forehead was wet with perspiration. He
drew his jacket sleeve across his face, as he exclaimed, "There, Annie,
your house is done."
"Thank you, thank you, dear brother," cried the little girl, in an
ecstasy of delight. She emptied the bright-colored crockery on the
ground, and ran to the house for her dolly and two chairs; the latter
her mother had made of pieces of smooth cornstalks, fastened together
with pins.
"O, doesn't it look pretty, grandpa?" she asked, jumping up and down in
her glee. "See Minnie sitting in her parlor. Now I'll set up my dishes.
O dear!" she added, with a quick, appealing glance at her brother, "how
nice it would be if I had a table!"
"Well, some time I'll make you one," answered Fred, with a smile. "And
you can put your dolly's cradle into the bedroom."
"O yes," shouted Annie, with a cry of joy; and she ran away to fetch it.
"I will help you make a table," said grandpa to Fred; "and I think we
can manage to put together a very pretty one between us."
"I want to hear more about birds helping each other," said the boy. "It
seems so queer that they should know enough to do it."
"It is a most interesting study," answered the old gentleman, "to watch
the character and habits of birds, and one which has engaged the
attention of many learned men. There is no portion of God's creation in
which his wisdom is more displayed than in the formation of birds. Each
and every variety are exactly fitted for the circumstances in which they
are to be placed. For instance, the eagle, who lives on high crags or
rocks, almost inaccessible to man, has a short, strong beak, hooked at
the end, wings of immense strength, and claws large and sharp. He is
gifted with extraordinary clearness of sight. Sitting on the summit of
a huge rock, or sailing around at a great height in the air, he discerns
his prey. Sometimes it is a fish just below the surface of the water, or
a lamb accidentally separated from its mother. He shoots down, down, and
with the speed, sure aim, and straightness of an arrow, pounces upon the
prey, and carries it off in his strong talons."
"How different from our pretty little robins!" exclaimed Fred.
"Yes, the eagle is a bird of prey, and is formed accordingly. The robin
lives upon grubs, insects, or seeds and fruit. It is not necessary,
therefore, for him to be possessed of much strength. His beak is just
fitted for the kind of labor he must perform in getting his food. It is
slightly notched near the end. He is a very social bird, and is
remarkable for the bravery with which he defends his young.
Then there is the pelican of the wilderness, who is furnished with a
large pouch, joined to the lower part of his beak, in which he can carry
a considerable quantity of food to his young."