Innocence
Close to the laurels I could see something hopping in the shadow; and when 1 approached 1 found two young blackbirds. They wer tame as all young blackbirds ,are. One hopped close to my foot an, finally sat on my shoe. His reckless behaviour was not unobserved, for his parents scolded and flew close to me. 1 stood where I wa1 anxious not to betray the young bird's trust by moving my foot an tipping him on to the giound; but he made no 'attempt to leave nu and 1 had to bend down and lift him off. The anxiety of the hen wa pathetic. She flew in and then fluttered away, only to return agai and again. The little fellow made an innocent peck at my finger; hopped a little way and then seemed to reconsider, for he returne to my foot. I left the place. It was cruel to inflict such anxiety on the mother bird, although I had no doubt that she had spent man days in this state of nerves, and will spend many more before innocence has discovered that the place for a bird is in a bush and that hunting cat is a heartless creature.
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