Elsie shook her head.
"I don't see what that's got to do with it," she remarked.
"Well, you can't fall if you aren't proud. Pride goes before a fall, you know. Now, don't be nervous. Jump when I say three; and we'll catch you if you slip."
He counted out: "One, two, three," and, as he said the last word, Elsie let go the twig and jumped for the nearest nest. It was a close shave, but she just caught hold of the edge as she was falling, and managed to draw herself up.
"Well done!" called out the rook. "You ought to have been a grasshopper."
"I think you're very rude," said Elsie.
"All our family are," replied the rook, fluttering into the nest. "We think it's clever. But come inside and see the children."
"What's that for?" asked Elsie, pointing up above the nest.
She had suddenly caught sight of a kind of round, wickerwork cover, which was fastened to the nest by a hinge, and could apparently be shut down like the lid of a box.
"That?" said the rook. "Oh, that's the roof. We have to have a roof because of the hawk. Otherwise he would eat up the children."