er so long! And after dinner we can accept
Olive's invitation and make candy--can't we, Uncle Roy?"

"I suppose so; and as nothing is too good for a rainy birthday, I will
add something more to the feast. I will tell you a birthday secret--or,
rather, what has been a secret until now.

"Next mouth we are all going to the sea-shore to spend a few weeks in
Olaf's little cabin, to bathe in the salt water, and sail in his
sharpie. Then you can ask all the questions you please about the marsh
and water birds. You will learn how the tides ebb and flow, and see the
moon come up out of the water.

"There! Don't all talk at once! Yes, Rap is coming with us--and his
mother also, to help take care of you children, for Mammy Bun must stay
here. She does not like to camp out--says she is afraid of getting
break-bone fever.

"Come, dinner first, and then talking, or the candles will burn out all
alone!"

CHAPTER XXVIII

ON THE SHORE

By the first of August, bird housekeeping was over at Orchard Farm. The
Barn Swallow had guided her last brood through the hayloft window,
without having it closed upon her as she had feared. The friendly Robins
had left the Orchard and lawn, to moult in the quiet of the woods. The
Thrashers, and Catbirds too, were quite silent and invisible; of all the
voices that had made the last three months so musical, the Red-eyed
Vireo and the Song Sparrow alone persisted in singing, aided by a few
Wood Thrushes.

"Rap says that August is a poor month for birds about here," said Nat to
his uncle; "do you think there will be more of them down at the shore?"

"That we cannot tell until we go there, but we are likely to meet some
of the Wading and Swimming Birds who have nested in the far North, and
are on their southward journey. If the weather is pleasant, they often
pass by far out at sea; but if it is foggy or stormy, they may stop
awhile to rest and feed."

"Do many of these birds nest near our beach?"

"A few, but the greater number breed further north. Olaf will show us
Herons in the island woods, and where the Rails nest in the reeds, near
the Marsh Wrens, a mile or two up the river. Some day when it is calm,
we will sail over to Great Gull Island, where many water birds lay their
eggs on the bare sand. There will be enough for you to see and do, I
promise you."

The next day they all went to the shore. Mr. Wolf looked after them very
sadly from the door of his kennel, where he was cha