Nick glared at the starling. “Why do you have to be so nasty?”

“Your mother doesn’t want you in this tree,” the bird snapped. “And neither do I. Get out of it this minute.”

There was a shrill whistling sound. The starling looked around to see where it was coming from. The noise stopped suddenly.

The bird hopped higher in the magnolia tree. “What was that?”

“Mother’s teakettle,” Marjorie said. “She must be in the kitchen.”

Nick crawled along the branch to the trunk of the tree. He slid down the trunk to the ground.

Marjorie looked up into the magnolia. The starling was high in the tree now, and the leaves were so thick that the bird was hidden from sight.

Nick sniffed the air. “I smell bacon.” He walked toward the house. “Come on, Marge.” He opened the back door.

Mrs. Gordon was bending over a frying pan. “I thought you two were still asleep. What in the world were you doing in the yard at this hour?”

“There was a starling out there,” Nick told her.

Mrs. Gordon laughed. “Only one?”

“Don’t laugh, Mom,” Nick said. “I wanted to catch it and teach it to talk, but it already knew how.”

“Are you sure?” his mother asked.

“Nick’s telling the truth,” Marjorie said. “A bird was talking to us.”

Mr. Gordon walked into the kitchen.

Mrs. Gordon began to take the bacon out of the frying pan and put it on a plate. “Listen to this, John,” she said. “The children were talking to a starling in the yard this morning.”

“That’s not a bad way to start the day,” Mr. Gordon said. “It’s almost as good as bacon for breakfast.”

“How do you want your eggs?” Mrs. Gordon asked.

After breakfast Mr. and Mrs. Gordon both left for work.

Marjorie made her bed and walked down the hall to Nick’s room. He was sitting on the floor with a big red book in his lap.

“What are you looking up?” Marjorie asked.

“Starlings,” Nick told her. “I found out they build their nests in hollow trees. This book doesn’t say anything about them being able to talk.”

“Let’s go to the park,” Marjorie said.

“Great idea.” Nick put the book on his desk. “I want to climb that big tree the spoon fell out of.”