of good company;' and he spread his wings
and flew after them as fast as he could. But he could not keep up with
them, but, panting and weary, alighted on the roof of a house to rest.
And here he saw such a pretty sight; for on a sunny roof just below him
were two snow-white pigeons. One was walking about in a very
consequential way, his tail-feathers spread in the shape of a fan, and
turning his graceful neck from side to side in quite a bewitching
fashion. Just as Tufty alighted, the pretty dove began to call: 'Come,
dear, come! Do, dear, do!' in such a sweet, soft, plaintive voice, as if
his heart would certainly break if his dear _didn't_ come, that Tufty,
who in his silly little pate never once doubted that it was he the
lovely white bird was pining for, felt sorry to disappoint him, and
piped back: 'Oh, if you please, I should like to ever so much! but you
see I must catch up with those brown birds over there;' and, finding his
wind had come back to him, he flew away. The pigeon, which had not even
seen him, and had much more important business to attend to than to
coax an insignificant little yellow-bird, went on displaying all his
beauties, and crooning softly, 'Do, dear! do! do! do!'

"Tufty had no trouble in finding the brown birds, for long before he
came to the roof of the barn where they had alighted he heard their loud
voices in angry dispute; and they made such an uproar, and seemed so
fractious and ill-tempered, that Tufty felt afraid to join them, but
lingered on a tree near by.

"Presently one of them flew over to him. She was a young thing--quite
fresh and trim-looking for a sparrow.

"'Good-morning!' she said, hopping close to him and looking him all over
with her bright little eyes,

"'Good-morning!' said Tufty, as brisk as you please.

"'Now, I wonder where you come from and what you call yourself,' said
the sparrow. 'I never saw a yellow-bird like you before. How pretty the
feathers grow on your head!' and she gave a friendly nip to Tufty's
top-knot.

"Tufty thought she was getting rather familiar on so short an
acquaintance, but he answered her politely, told her his name, and that
he came from the house where he had always lived, and was out to take an
airing.

"'I want to know!' said the sparrow. 'Well, my name is Brownie. Captain
Bobtail's Brownie, they call me, because Brownie is such a common name
in our family. It's pleasant out-of-doors, isn't it? Oh, never mind the
fuss over the