heard any other
robin sing that same song, I would be pleased if you would do me the
favor of singing it over once more!"

So Robert Robin sang his Wait-a-bit song over again for Mister Catbird,
and Mister Catbird said: "Now sing it again, and I will sing along with
you! I would like very much to learn that song! It is one of the best
songs that I ever heard."

So Robert Robin sang the song again, and Mister Catbird sang along with
him, but although Mister Catbird had a very fine voice, and could sing
very good indeed, he put in so many wrong words that Robert Robin got
all mixed up and sang a part of his Cherry song.

That made Mister Catbird laugh, and then he made a noise like a cat, and
the little robins were very much surprised to see a nice-looking bird
like Mister Catbird who could make a noise almost exactly like a cat.

Mister Catbird was a jolly person, and he was full of jokes. He sat
there in the top of the tall butternut tree, and pretended that he was
Mister Blackbird, and he sang Mister Blackbird's song all the way
through. Then he said "Meow!" and then he sang a song very much like
Robert Robin's "Rain" song, then he said "Meow!" again, and laughed. It
made Robert Robin very angry to have Mister Catbird spoiling a good song
like that by saying "Meow!" and he thought that Mister Catbird was
making fun of him, so he said to Mister Catbird:

"I am very pleased to have had the pleasure of meeting you, sir, but we
are on our way to the seashore, so we must hurry along! Good
afternoon!"

"Good afternoon!" shouted Mister Catbird. "Good afternoon, EVERYBODY!
MEOW!"

As Robert Robin, and his family flew away they heard Mister Catbird
singing with all his might:

"Never hurry!
Wait a bit!
Never worry!
MEOW! MEOW!
Ha! Ha! Ha!
Do your work!
MEOW! MEOW!"

And the young robins couldn't help but laugh, but Mister Robert Robin
pretended that he did not hear Mister Catbird at all, and started
talking with Mrs. Robin about something else.

Before night they came to the shore of the great lake, and at first the
little robins were badly frightened. They saw the hundreds of gulls in
the air and thought that they were all hawks.

"Those are not hawks, children!" said Mrs. Robin. "Those are sea gulls,
but there are many hawks here, too, but if you keep under the cover of
the bushes, the hawks will not see you, and if a hawk cannot see you, he
cannot catch you!"

For a long time