Page 26 - Fairbrass

the spot was one of contentment, order

and repose.
The birds knew it. it was a common

saying in Bird Land that the garden of the
Little House contained the best fruit and

attracted the juiciest snails and slug's, and the

daintiest insects of any garden in the county ;
and if the birds did make rather free with the

cherries, and so forth, they did their duty by
the little garden enemies, and in the proper

season gladdened the hearts of the house-
dwellers by singing all day long. The star­

lings built their nests and chattered in the

lichen-covered stone - shingled roof: the
thrushes, blackbirds, bullfinches, linnets,

tits, and flycatchers had their homes all over
the place ; the merry wagtails (pied, yellow

and gray) loved the smooth lawns and the
banks of the stream, where the sedge-warblers

nested ; the swallows and house-martins
were of opinion that the stiff mud to be

obtained from the edges of the brook was, for

house-building purposes, the best brand in
the world, and summer after summer they