"I say, we pa.s.sed over a great crested grebe's nest. I saw the eggs roll out into the water;" and he ran the boat into the wind and let her drift back stern foremost to the spot where the nest had been.

"It was only a lump of rotting weed, all broken and dirty," said d.i.c.k.

"That's what all grebe's nests look like," answered Frank; "they cover them with reeds when they leave them, so that no one can see the eggs, and few would think there were any there. Here's the place, drive the boat-hook in and hold the boat steady while I get up the eggs. There were five, but two are broken. What a pity! We don't want any for our collection, and the birds look so pretty on the broad, that it is a shame to disturb them, but we must take them now I suppose. Let's go back and see how the coot's nest is getting on."

They sailed back some way, and then to their great surprise, they saw the coot's nest floating across the broad, and the old bird swimming round it, and evidently very much puzzled to know what to do.

"Let us tack near her and watch," said Jimmy. So they sailed round at a distance and watched the poor bird, which followed its boat-like nest as it drifted before the wind. At length the boys were pleased to see the bird make an effort to get on the nest, and so strongly built was it that it bore her weight well. There she sat, and sailed before the wind at a fair pace.

"Did you ever see the like of that before?"

"No," answered Bell, "but I warrant you that the eggs must have been hard set, and near to being hatched, or she would never have done that."

"She deserves to hatch them, at any rate. Had we better fix the nest or leave it alone?"

"Better leave it alone; I think she will stick to it if it does not sink below her."

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE COMMON COOT.]

On Monday evening the boys sailed about the broad in search of the floating coot's nest, and found it among the reeds at the north end of the broad, and from the broken egg-sh.e.l.ls in it they had no doubt but that the coot had hatched her young ones in safety, as she deserved to do.

After landing Bell they ran the yacht into a 'rond' of reeds, and proceeded to eat their dinner, which they had brought with them, and very happy and comfortable they were. The sun shone brightly, the warm wind rustled through the reeds and flags, the sky and the water were blue, their boat was a success, and they sat and talked of cruises, and planned expeditions, and were as merry and jolly as any boys need desire to be.

While they were talking, half-a-dozen tiny little gold-crested wrens alighted on the cordage of the mast. They seemed very tame and tired, and descended to the deck to eat some crumbs which were thrown to them.

[Ill.u.s.tration: COMMON WREN AND EGG.]

"What pretty little things they are, with their fiery yellow heads,"

said Frank. "To think a tiny bird like that could make a long migration!

These birds have only just arrived, that's clear."

"Do gold crests migrate?" asked Jimmy.

"Yes, they go south for the winter, and come back again in the spring. I don't know how far they go, but they have been taken some distance from land. More probably, however, these have been blown from the coast, for I don't think they cross the sea as a rule."

As they returned homeward, the boys in running round a point of reeds, came upon a heron, which scuttled away in great haste, and in a very undignified manner. It seemed at first as if they should catch him, as they followed him so closely, but as he got fairly away, he rose in the air and distanced them.

"How slowly he flaps his wings," said d.i.c.k.

"How many times a minute do you think he flaps them?" asked Jimmy.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HERON.]

"Just about forty, at the outside," replied d.i.c.k.

"Well, do you count, while I time you," and Jimmy took out his watch and marked the time, while d.i.c.k counted one, two, three, &c.

When he had counted 120 Jimmy said--

"Stop, the minute is up. Aren't you astonished?"

"I am, and no mistake. How deceptive his flight is, and just fancy at what a pace must the wings of the smaller birds go!"

They brought the yacht to anchor in front of the boat-house, and went home to relate the adventures of their voyage.

CHAPTER VI.

Mr. Meredith.--"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might."--A Botanical Lecture.--The Goat Moth.--Blowing up a Tree.-- An astonished Cow.--Caterpillars in the Wood.

On the morrow, after morning service, the three boys (d.i.c.k having been invited to spend the day with Frank) were walking from church and talking upon the sermon which Mr. Meredith had just preached to them.

It was a beautiful morning--one of those days on which it is a treat to live. The sun shone from a sky which was brilliant in its blue and white, the waters of the lake sparkled diamond-like under the stirring influence of a warm westerly wind. The scent of the honeysuckle and the roses in the cottage gardens filled the air with pleasant incense, and from every tall tree-top a thrush or blackbird sang his merriest.

"That wasn't a bad motto which Meredith took for his text: 'Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might,'" said Frank.

"I think it is a motto you endeavour to carry out, Frank," answered Jimmy.

"Well, I think if a fellow does that he can't be far wrong," replied Frank; "but here is the parson himself."

A tall, broad-shouldered man came quickly up and said to them:

"Well, boys, I hope you are applying my sermon to yourselves."

"We should be glad to do so if we were quite sure about the application, Mr. Meredith," replied Frank.

"Ah, you young rascal, you could not have been attending; but seriously, what I meant was this: You boys, and especially Master Frank, are very p.r.o.ne to take up a thing with all your might when once you begin. Now that is very right and proper. Whatever you do you should do your best to do well; but what I want you particularly to understand is that before taking up a thing, you should first of all think well and decide whether it is the right thing to do, and it is not until that question is settled that it becomes right to throw your whole heart into it. Now the immediate application of this is this: You are going head over heels into the study of Natural History, and you are making collections as fast as you can. Now it won't take you long to decide that Natural History is a very right and proper thing for you to take up, and therefore you may study it with all your might, and, I doubt not, to the praise and glory of G.o.d; but be very careful about the collecting part of the business. Don't let your zeal carry you too far. Don't let collecting be your sole aim and object, or you will become very low types of naturalists. Let it be only secondary and subservient to observation. Let your aim be to preserve rather than to destroy.

Remember that G.o.d gave life to His creatures that they might enjoy it, as well as fulfil their missions and propagate their species. Therefore if you come across a rare bird, do not kill it unnecessarily; if you can observe its living motions it will interest you more and do you more good than will the possession of its stuffed body when dead."

"I quite understand what you mean, sir," replied Frank; "and it is only what my father has often told me before. We will try to follow our pursuits in moderation."

"Just so; then, as you have heard me so patiently, I will trouble you with another application of my sermon. Do what you are doing _well_.

Don't let your observation be too cursory. Don't be Jacks of all trades and masters of none. This district is teeming with bird, insect, and animal life. You boys have peculiar opportunities for learning and discovering all that is rare and interesting. You are sharp, young, and active, and nothing can escape you. Now is the time for you to store up facts which will always be valuable. Buy yourselves notebooks; put down everything in writing which seems to you to be strange and noteworthy, and don't trust to your memories. But above all, take up some one branch of study and stick to it. It is well for you to know a little of everything, but it is better for you to know a great deal of one thing.

Therefore I should advise each of you to take up a line that suits him and to pay particular attention to it. Thus you, Frank, may take up Ornithology; you, d.i.c.k, should go in for Entomology; and Jimmy, why should you not take up Botany?"

The boys quite concurred in the justice of his observations, but Jimmy said:

"There is nothing I should like better than to know something of Botany, but there seems so much to learn that I am almost afraid to begin."

"Oh, nonsense," exclaimed Mr. Meredith; "let me give you a first lesson in it now. I suppose you know the names of all the most common flowers; but just look at their beauty. See how this hedge-bank is yellow with primroses, and yonder you see the faint blue of the violets peeping from their bed of dark-green leaves, and here is the white blossom of a strawberry, which I pluck to show you of what a flower consists. First there is the root, through which it draws its nourishment from the earth. Then there is the stem, and on the top of that is this green outer whorl or circle of leaves, which is called the calyx. Within the calyx is the corolla, which is formed of petals, which in this case are of a beautiful white. The corolla is the part in which the colour and beauty of a flower generally resides. Within the corolla are the stamens, and within the stamens are the pistils. The stamens and the pistils are the organs of reproduction, and the yellow dust or pollen which you see on most flowers is the medium by which the seeds are fertilized. Now this flower which I have just plucked is the wood-sorrel. Notice its threefold emerald-green leaf and the delicate white flower with the purple veins. It is pretty, is it not? See, if I strike it roughly, it shrinks and folds up something like a sensitive plant. It is a capital weather-gla.s.s. At the approach of rain both its flowers and leaves close up, and even if a cloud pa.s.ses over the sun the flowers will close a little; and, finally, its leaves taste of a pleasant acid. There, you will have had enough of my lecture for the present, but I should like to tell you more about flowers some other time."

The boys were both pleased and interested with what he had told them, and expressed their thanks accordingly; and then Mr. Meredith left them and went home to dinner.

"I say, he is a brick of a fellow," said Jimmy; "if all parsons were like that man everybody else in the world would have a better time of it."

They went into the boat-house and sat at the open window looking over the sparkling broad. Frank said: