e as Mr Specklems'; but we won't quarrel about that, for
just now it belongs to somebody else, and I feel very uncomfortable
about my young ones. Suppose Mr Specklems goes and gives the great
staring, goggle-eyed thing a poke; I'm sure I wish he would."

"I should just like to pickaxe him with my mortar-chipper," said an old
cock-sparrow. "I'd teach him to come into other people's trees without
being asked."

"Let's ask him civilly to go," said the wren.

"Let's shout at him, and frighten him," said the owl.

"Say `Ta-ta' to him, and then he'll go," said the jackdaw.

"Why, we're not afraid, after all," said all the birds together; "let's
all have a fly at him at once and beat him off."

"Who'll go first?" said the jackdaw.

"Why, I will," said the tomtit.

And then all the birds burst out laughing so heartily at the tiny little
fellow's offer, that he grew quite cross, and told the birds to come on;
and then he flew into the cedar, and before the great falcon knew what
he was going to do, Tom-tit dashed at him, and gave him such a peck with
his little sharp beak, that the falcon jumped off his perch and stared
about him; and then, before he could find out what was the matter, the
jackdaw flew up above him, and came down head over heels on his back;
the owl shouted "Who-o-who-o" in his ear; the blackbird and thrush stuck
their beaks in his stomach; the sparrows poked him in the back; and the
martins and swallows darted round and round him, and under and over, and
all the other birds whistled and chattered and fluttered about him at
such a rate, that at last the falcon didn't know whom to attack, and was
regularly mobbed out of the garden, and flew off with a whole stream of
birds after him, and he, in spite of his sharp claws and beak, glad to
get out of the way as fast as he could.

At last the birds all flew back again, and settled down amongst the
bushes on Greenlawn, and chirruped and laughed to think how they had
driven away the great hook-beaked enemy, when who should come down into
their midst but the magpie, all in a hurry and bustle, and looking as
important as if all the place belonged to him.

"Now, then, here I am again," said he. "She only wanted my opinion
about our last eggs, and I've hurried back as fast as I could to drive
away this great hook-beaked bird that frightened you all so. I suppose
I had better go up at once, hadn't I? But where shall I send him to?"

And there the great artf