Children Stories - The Magpie's Nest

Make sure it is night when you do this spell. Also, light one orange and one pink candle. Close your eyes. (You Must Have complete focus and be concentrating on the spell, ONLY.) Fill your mind with the color your eyes are. Picture that for abo... Read more of Spell to change eye color at White Magic.ca

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The Magpie's Nest

from Good Stories For Great Holidays - BIRD DAY

BY JOSEPH JACOBS

All the birds of the air came to the magpie and asked her to teach
them how to build nests. For the magpie is the cleverest bird of all
at building nests. So she put all the birds round her and began to show
them how to do it. First of all she took some mud and made a sort of
round cake with it.

"Oh, that's how it's done!" said the thrush, and away it flew; and so
that's how thrushes build their nests.

Then the magpie took some twigs and arranged them round in the mud.

"Now I know all about it!" said the blackbird, and off it flew; and
that's how the blackbirds make their nests to this very day.

Then the magpie put another layer of mud over the twigs.

"Oh, that 's quite obvious!" said the wise owl, and away it flew; and
owls have never made better nests since.

After this the magpie took some twigs and twined them round the outside.

"The very thing!" said the sparrow, and off he went; so sparrows make
rather slovenly nests to this day.

Well, then Madge magpie took some feathers and stuff, and lined the nest
very comfortably with it.

"That suits me!" cried the starling, and off it flew; and very
comfortable nests have starlings.

So it went on, every bird taking away some knowledge of how to build
nests, but none of them waiting to the end.

Meanwhile Madge magpie went on working and working without looking up,
till the only bird that remained was the turtle-dove, and that hadn't
paid any attention all along, but only kept on saying its silly cry:
"Take two, Taffy, take two-o-o-o!"

At last the magpie heard this just as she was putting a twig across, so
she said: "One's enough."

But the turtle-dove kept on saying: "Take two, Taffy, take two-o-o-o!"

Then the magpie got angry and said: "One's enough, I tell you!"

Still the turtle-dove cried: "Take two, Taffy, take two-o-o-o!"

At last, and at last, the magpie looked up and saw nobody near her but
the silly turtle-dove, and then she got rarely angry and flew away and
refused to tell the birds how to build nests again.

And that is why different birds build their nests differently.

Next: The Greedy Geese
Previous: The Quails A Legend Of The Jataka

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