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About a fortnight later the youngsters began to show their heads and their speckled breasts at the doorway, and presently they attempted to fly to the roof. Three of them succeeded, but the fourth fluttered to the ground; and Duncan’s mother, who happened to be watching, was just in time to save it from a neighbor’s cat. The hired man got a ladder and put the young bird back in the nest, and very soon the little family got safely away.
大約兩個星期以后，藍鳥寶寶們開始在門口露出頭和有斑點的胸部，不久它們就想飛到屋頂上去。有三只成功了，其余四只墜落在地；鄧肯的媽媽正好在旁邊看著，她及時地從鄰居家的貓手里把它們救了出來。雇工拿來一架梯子，把小鳥放回巢里。很快，這個小家庭就平安地飛走了。
Duncan was so much encouraged by his success that he began to plan for the following season. He built smaller, single-roomed houses for the bluebirds and tree-swallows, and put them up in the fall. He saved the larger house for the martins this time, by blocking the doorways with strips of wood until it was about time for them to return.
鄧肯被他的成功所鼓舞，他開始為下一個季節做打算。他為藍知更鳥和樹燕子建造了更小的單間房屋，并在秋天搭建起來。這一次他把大房子留給了馬丁，用木條堵住了門口，等它們再歸。
Just as he had hoped, the first bluebirds built in one of the smaller boxes, and a pair of tree swallows in the other. But when he spoke of trying to get the purple martins, most of the neighbors shook their heads and laughed.
如他所期，第一只藍知更鳥的窩建在一個小盒子里，一雙樹燕住在另一個盒子里。但當他說到想要讓紫燕飛來，大多數鄰居都搖頭大笑。
