Page:Story of the robins.djvu/83

Rh to custom, strewed before the window, which the other birds had nearly devoured; but the red-breasts took their usual post on the tea-table, and the father bird sang his morning lay; after which they returned with all possible speed to the nest, for, having so important an affair to manage, they could not be long absent. Neither could their young benefactors pay so much attention to them as usual, for they were impatient to fetch the birds from Miss Jenkins's; therefore, as soon as breakfast was ended, they set out upon their expedition. Harriet carried a basket large enough to hold two nests, and Frederick a smaller one for the other: thus equipped, with a servant attending them, they set off. Mr. Jenkins's house was about a mile from Mr. Benson's; it was delightfully situated; there was a beautiful lawn and canal before it, and a charming garden behind; on one side were corn-fields, and on the other a wood In such a retreat as this it was natural to expect to find a great many birds; but to Harriet's surprise, they saw only a few straggling ones here and there, which flew away the moment she and her brother appeared. On this Harriet observed to Frederick that she supposed Edward Jenkins's practice of taking birds' nests had made