But how to get into the basket was the thing to be considered just now. They fluttered around on every side of it, and finally found a small place where the cloth was loose. In a minute Chubbins began clawing at it with his little feet, and Twinkle helped him; so that gradually they managed to pull the cloth away far enough for one of them to crawl through the opening. Then the other followed, and because the big basket was not quite full there was exactly room for them to stand underneath the cloth and walk around on top of a row of cookies that lay next to a row of sandwiches. The cookies seemed enormous. One was lying flat, and Chubbins declared it seemed as big around as the dining-table at home. "All the better for us," said Twinkle, bending her head down to nibble at the edge of the cookie. "If we're going to be birds," said Chubbins, who was also busily eating as best he could, "we ought to be reg'lar birds, and have bills to peck with. This being half one thing and half another doesn't suit me at all." "The witch wasn't trying to suit us," replied Twinkle; "she was trying to get us into trouble." "Well, she did it, all right," he said. It was not so hard to eat as they had feared, for their slender necks enabled them to bend their heads low. Chubbins' hat fell off, a minute later, and he wondered how he was going to get it on his head again. "Can't you stand on one foot, and use the other foot like a hand?" asked Twinkle. "I don't know," said he. "The storks stand on one leg," continued the girl. "I've seen 'em in pictures." So Chubbins tried it, and found he could balance his little body on one leg very nicely. For if he toppled either way he had but to spread his wings and tail feathers and so keep himself from falling. He picked up his hat with the claws of his other foot and managed to put it on by ducking his head. This gave the boy-lark a new idea. He broke off a piece of the cookie and held it in his claw while he ate it; and seeing his success Twinkle followed his example, and after a few attempts found she could eat very comfortably in that way. Having had their luncheon--and it amazed Chubbins to see how very little was required to satisfy their hunger--the bird-children crept out of the basket and flew down to the twig beside their nest. "Hello!" cried a strange voice. "Newcomers, eh?" They were so startled that they fluttered a moment to keep from tumbling off the limb. Then Twinkle saw a furry red head sticking out of a small hollow in the trunk of the tree. The head had two round black eyes, an inquisitive nose, a wide mouth with sharp teeth and whiskers like those of a cat. It seemed as big as the moon to the shy little child-larks, until it occurred to the girl that the strange creature must be a squirrel. "You--you scared us!" she said, timidly. "You scared _me,_ at first," returned the squirrel, in a comic tone. "Dear me! how came you birds to have children's heads?"