Who is friendly with the Queen?"
"Who's the Queen?" asked all the creatures breathlessly.
"She's a bigger Human than the rest, and everybody's business is her
business, so she's always going to law."
"I know," said the Magpie, and she piped out six bars of "God save the
Queen."
"You are the one for the defence!" said the Swallow, quite delighted, as
were all the other creatures, at the Magpie's accomplishment; "you must
save the prisoner from the jury finding her guilty."
"But," objected the Magpie, "how can I, when only last fruit season my
brother, and two sisters, and six cousins were shot just because they ate
a few grapes?"
"That doesn't matter! you've got to get her off, I tell you!" said the
Swallow, irritably. "Go over there, and ask her what you are to say." So
the Magpie flew over to Dot's side, and she at once began to teach it the
rest of "God save the Queen."
"I like this game," Dot presently said to the Magpie.
"Do you?" said the Magpie with surprise. "It seems to me very slow, and
there's no sense in it."
"Why are the birds all perching together over there?" asked Dot, pointing
to a branch of the dead tree, "since they all hate one another and want to
get away. The Galahs have pecked the Butcher Bird twice in five minutes,
the Pee-weet keeps quarrelling with the Soldier Bird, and none of them can
bear the English Sparrow.
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