“What does ‘ravenous’ mean?” asked Mrs. Robin.
“Ravenous means as hungry as a wolf!” answered Robert Robin. “I wish that the cherries would hurry and get ripe!”
“Do wolves eat cherries?” asked Mrs. Robin.
“I do not know!” said Robert Robin, “but I do know that ripe red cherries are good for baby robins, and ever so much easier to find than bugs and worms!”
“Green cherries make them sick! We must be very careful not to feed our babies any green cherries!”
“I know where there is an early cherry tree!” said Robert Robin, “and I am going right over there now and see if any of the early cherries are ripe!”
So Mrs. Robin waited by their nest while Robert Robin went over to see about the early cherries.
The early cherry tree grew in Widow Blunt’s back yard. Widow Blunt’s father had planted it, and it was the very earliest cherry tree in all the neighborhood.
When Robert Robin came in sight of it he saw the bright red fruit shining among the green leaves. The early cherries were ripe, and Robert Robin was the first to find them.
In a few moments Robert Robin stood beside his own nest with a bright red cherry in his mouth.