“He breathed softly upon the coloured leaves. In a moment hundreds of leaves moved, then fluttered, then flew away—a flock, of beautiful birds. The red-brown oak leaves became robins; all the yellow and gold leaves became yellow birds. The red-maple leaves flew away beautiful red birds, while the withered brown leaves scattered around, sprang up sparrows and larks.”
The Indian Grandmother says that is how we got our first birds, and that is why the birds love the trees and always live among them.
HOW THE BIRDS LEARNED TO BUILD NESTS[8]
James Baldwin
There is an old story which says that the magpie was the first bird to build a nest.
One day all the birds came to her and said, “Mrs. Magpie, won’t you teach us how to make pretty nests like your own?”
“Oh, yes,” said the magpie, kindly. “I will show you just how it is done.” Then she told them to sit around her, and she would build a nest while they were looking on. She said, “You have only to notice what I do.”