11] THE HISTORY OF A ROOK. 79

 

without fear of falling, then we found that we could
easily hop from twig to twig, and meanwhile the ex-
posure to the open air gave new strength and hardi-
hood to our bodies. Then, joy of joys, we awoke to
the knowledge of the great fact that we had wings!
Never shall I forget the moment when this first
dawned upon my infant mind! It was again through
the agency of my mother, who, after I had sat for a
day or two as near as I could to the nest (to which.
we were still allowed to return at meal-times and for
the night), flew quietly up to me one morning and de-
liberately pushed me off my perch. With a croak of
horror, down I fell, expecting nothing less than in-
stant destruction. Great, however, was my surprise
and delight to find myself most agreeably undeceived.
Guided by some natural instinct, I spread out my
wings, and immediately found that I had not only
arrested my fall by so doing, but that I was able to
flutter away to another branch without the slightest
difficulty, and could sustain myself in the air as well
as another bird. My brother and sister, having been
similarly treated by our mother, and with the same
result, were equally pleased with the discovery of
their new powers, and we all three felt as proud as
cock pheasants.

Day by day we made trial of our new wings, and
very shortly found that we could fly from tree to tree
with tolerable ease, and that a little more practice
and some additional strength would soon enable us to
take a longer and more daring flight. We warmly
thanked our beloved mother for having taught us that
great lesson of self-reliance which is so necessary for