He's not a Blackbird, though he chirps, And though he once was black; And now he wears a loose grey coat, All wrinkled on the back. He's got a very dirty face, And very shining eyes! He sometimes comes and sits indoors; He looks--and p'r'aps is--wise. But in a sunny flower-bed He has his fixed abode; He eats the things that eat my plants-- He is a friendly TOAD. [Illustration] THREE LITTLE NEST BIRDS. We meant to be very kind, But if ever we find Another soft, grey-green, moss-coated, feather-lined nest in a hedge, We have taken a pledge-- Susan, Jemmy, and I--with remorseful tears, at this very minute, That if there are eggs or little birds in it-- Robin or wren, thrush, chaffinch or linnet-- We'll leave them there To their mother's care. There were three of us--Kate, and Susan, and Jem-- And three of them-- I don't know _their_ names, for they couldn't speak, Except with a little imperative squeak, Exactly like Poll, Susan's squeaking doll; But squeaking dolls will lie on the shelves For years and never squeak of themselves: The reason we like little birds so much better than toys Is because they are _really_ alive, and know how to make a noise. There were three of us, and three of them; Kate,--that is I,--and Susan, and Jem. Our mother was busy making a pie, And theirs, we think, was up in the sky; But for all Susan, Jemmy, or I can tell, She may have been getting their dinner as well. They were left to themselves (and so were we) In a nest in the hedge by the willow tree; And when we caught sight of three red little fluff-tufted, hazel-eyed, open-mouthed, pink-throated heads, we all shouted for glee. The way we really did wrong was this: We took them for Mother to kiss, And she told us to put them back; Whilst out on the weeping-willow _their_ mother was crying "Alack!" We really heard Both what Mother told us to do, and the voice of the mother-bird. But we three--that is Susan and I and Jem-- Thought we knew better than either of them: And in spite of our mother's command and the poor bird's cry, We determined to bring up her three little nestlings ourselves on the sly.