"What of that?" his wife inquired. "Farmer Green doesn't expect us to
help him, does he?"
"Oh, no!" Bobby answered with a short laugh. "But he'll cut the grass
all over the meadow. And even if our children should escape with their
lives, there's still Henry Hawk to think of. He could see them easily
enough, with the grass all gone from above the nest."
That was reason enough for Mrs. Bobolink. She wanted to move right
away. But there was something to prevent that.
"We certainly can't leave here till the children have learned to fly
better than they do now," she said. "But as soon as they can handle
themselves well enough we'll go. We'll know--won't we--when Farmer Green
begins to mow?"
"Indeed we will!" Bobby cried. "The mowing-machine makes a terrible
clatter. And we'll have to quit the neighborhood in a hurry when we hear
it, for it moves fast, and cuts the grass down like fire."
Mrs. Bobolink was all a-flutter. And she spent so much time teaching her
children to fly that they learned surprisingly fast. By the time an odd
_clackety-clack_ sounded across the meadow early one fine morning the
Bobolink family was all ready to move.
Mrs. Bobolink was gathering her children hastily about her when Bobby
came hurrying back from a trip to the farm buildings. He had seen--as
well as heard--the mowing-machine. And he knew there was no time to
waste.
"Are you ready?" he called as he fluttered quickly down beside his
family.
"Yes!" said Mrs. Bobolink.
"You haven't forgotten anything?"
She counted her children carefully before answering.
"No!" she said. "There are five of them here." And then, a look of
dismay came over her face.
"My goodness!" she exclaimed. "I've forgotten to pick out a place to
move to!"