Publisher's Synopsis
The Lord looked about Him at the flocks of newly made birds, who were preeningtheir wings and wondering at their own bright feathers, and said to Himself, -"I will make these pretty creatures useful, from the very beginning, so that in aftertime men shall love them dearly. Come, my birds," He cried, "come hither to me, and with the beaks which I have given you hollow me out here, and here, and here, basins for the lakes and pools which I intend to fill with water for men and for you, their friends. Come, little brothers, busy yourselves as you would wish to be happyhereafter."Then there was a twittering and fluttering as the good birds set to work with a will, singing happily over the work which their dear Lord had given them to do. Theypecked and they pecked with their sharp little bills; they scratched and theyscratched with their sharp little claws, till in the proper places they had hollowedout great basins and valleys and long river beds, and little holes in the gr
