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You know she follows the cows about so much that we house people call her the cowbird." "Well, at any rate," said Nick-uts, "she thought she knew a great deal more than she really did. "So she said to the other birds, very haughtily, 'You are all very kind, and I am very much obliged to you. But I think I can get along without your help.
It can't be that she had ever looked at herself." "Oh, I don't know," said Nick-uts, "the sillier people are, the wiser they think themselves. And it's always the ugly ones who think themselves the most beautiful." "Well," said little Luke, "I've seen a good deal of her, but I never thought her handsome in the least.
Among little Luke's bird friends was little Nick-uts the Yellowthroat. He was a dainty little fellow, with an olive green back, a bright yellow breast, and a black mask across his face that made him look like a highwayman. Though he was lively and nervous, he had a gentle disposition and a sweet voice. His home was in some low bushes in the pasture.
Whenever little Luke went up to see him, he would hop up on a branch and call out, "Which way, sir? Which way, sir?" And when the little boy started to go away, he would say, "Wait a minute. Wait a minute." Every time the little boy went for the cows he would stop and chat a moment with Mr. and Mrs. Nick-uts. To be sure, Mrs. Nick-uts never had much to say.
Little Luke went over to the nest and looked in. "Look there," said Nick-uts, "see that big, ugly egg. Take it out, please." "Take it out?" said little Luke. "Why should I do that? Isn't it yours?" "No, indeed," said Nick-uts, "it's old Mother Mo-lo's. The nasty old wretch laid it in there while we were away from home.
Once we managed to roll the egg out, and once we built a second floor to the nest, but we lost two of our own eggs by doing it." "You said that Mother Mo-lo had a chance to learn to build a nest," said little Luke. "Tell me about it." "Well," said Nick-uts, "since you have been so kind as to help me, I'll try. I haven't heard the story for a long while, perhaps I can't remember it very well.
She was a quiet little body, not so fidgety as Nick-uts, and besides, she had to stay close at home and see to the eggs and babies. One morning, as little Luke was going for the cows, he saw Nick-uts bobbing around very excitedly. "Come here. Come here," called Nick-uts, when he saw the little boy; "I want some help." And he hopped over by the nest.
Little Luke took the egg out of the nest and threw it on the ground. "Why don't Mother Mo-lo build a nest of her own?" he asked. "Oh, she can't. She doesn't know enough," answered Nick-uts. "In the old days she had a chance to learn the same as the rest of us. She wouldn't learn then, and now she can't. I don't believe she ever tries.
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