"You know," said daddy, "I saw such a strange thing to-day in the city."

"Tell us about it," said Jack.

"What was it?" asked Evelyn, who was always interested in whatever daddy had to say.

"Well," continued daddy, "in a tree in the park lots and lots of little sparrows were roosting. It was, of course, a perfectly bare tree without a leaf on it, and they were huddled together, keeping each other warm.

"I watched them for quite a time. There was one sparrow who looked the leader. He did most of the chirping and was apparently telling all the others what they must do and giving all sorts of directions. He chirped almost constantly for ten minutes, and then he flew down from the tree and hopped along the ground. He picked up crumb after crumb, and then when he had as many as he could carry in his beak he flew up in the tree again and left them on a branch where there was a kind of hole in which to put them. He was evidently showing all the other birds just what to do, for in a minute or two any number of them flew down to the ground and began to pick up crumbs.

"It was wonderful to see how many they could find, for I myself could hardly see any, and all the time he kept chirping to the others and telling them what to do.

"This kept up for some time, for the birds would fly back and forth, just picking up goodies and then putting them up in the tree. Meantime a lot of other birds who had stayed up in the tree were fixing them on the branch and dividing them all evenly."

"Didn't they eat any of them?" asked Evelyn.

"Yes. After quite awhile they all flew back to the tree again, and once more they huddled together and had the most marvelous meal. You see, it was their dinner time, and they all had it together at the same time to make it more sociable. From all the cries of joy and the noise I fancy they were having a pretty good time of it and enjoying themselves immensely. In fact, I think they almost forgot how cold it was."

"I think it's wonderful," said Evelyn, "how well the birds can look after themselves, for it must be pretty hard sometimes, especially in the winter."

"Yes," said daddy, "it is, but these birds seemed so happy together and to be having such a good time. After dinner was over they all chased each other from one tree to another in the park and played tag and had a beautiful time. So I think really birds and animals are smart and brave to be able to look after themselves and their little ones so well."