This man said, 'You may take one egg from each nest, but only _one_, remember.' So the boy went out and took a few eggs, but then he carried them to school, showed them to the other boys, and told them where they came from.

Then each boy said to himself, 'It will be all right if I take only one egg from each nest.' But when four or five boys had each taken one, all the nests were quite empty.

So the poor birds left that man's field, where the bugs and worms grew and throve, till they ate up his hay and all the rest of his crops.
"When the nesting season is over eggs that have not hatched are often left in the various nests, that you can take without doing any harm.

Of course I know it is not easy to keep your hands off such pretty things as birds' eggs; but if by doing so you can be patriotic and useful, it is an act of self-denial that you will be glad to do for the good of the country." "What is in that black case, uncle ?" asked Dodo.

"Is it a pistol to shoot birds?
I think it looks too fat for that." "Not the kind of a pistol that you mean, Dodo, but the only kind that you youngsters need to bring down birds so that you can see them.