rds out of
five eggs. But now that their sons and daughters were strong of wing and
fully dressed in traveling suits like their mother's, it was well that
Bob had put off his gay wedding clothes and donned a garb of about the
same sort as that worn by the rest of his family; for dull colors are
much the best for trips.

Now that they were properly dressed, there was nothing left to see to,
except to join the Band of Bobolink Vagabonds. Of course no one can be a
member of this band without the password; but there was nothing about
that to worry Bob. When any of them came near, he called, "Chink," and
the gathering flock would sing out a cheery "Chink" in reply: and that
is the way he and his family were initiated into the Band of Bobolink
Vagabonds. Anyone who can say "Chink" may join this merry company. That
is, anyone who can pronounce it with just exactly the right sound!

So, with a flutter of pleasant excitement, they were gone. Off, they
were, for a land that lies south of the Amazon, and with no more to say
about it than, "Chink."

No trunk, no ticket, no lunch-box; and the land they would seek was four
thousand miles or more away! Poor little Bob! had he but tapped at the
door of Man with his farewell "Chink," someone could have let him see a
map of his journey. For men have printed time-tables of the Bobolink
Route, with maps to show what way it lies, and with the different
Stations marked where food and rest can be found. The names of some of
the most important Stations that a bobolink, starting from Maine, should
stop at on the way to Brazil and Paraguay, are Maryland, South Carolina,
Florida, Cuba, Jamaica, and Venezuela.

Does it seem a pity that the little ignorant bird started off without
knowing even the name of one of these places? Ah, no! A journeying
bobolink needs no advice. "Poor," indeed! Why, Bob had a gift that made
him fortunate beyond the understanding of men. Nature has dealt
generously with Man, to be sure, giving him power to build ships for the
sea and the air, and trains for the land, whereon he may go, and power
to print time-tables to guide the time of travel. But to Bob also, who
could do none of these things, Nature had, nevertheless, been generous,
and had given him power to go four thousand miles without losing his
way, though he had neither chart nor compass. What it would be like to
have this gift, we can hardly even guess--we who get lost in the woods a
mile from home, and wand