after he had eaten.

Luckily Major Monkey was a person who could usually find a way out of
any difficulty. And now he made up his mind that a light meal of eggs
was the very thing he needed in order to begin the day right. So he
went straight to the woods and climbed the first tree he came to--a
pine tree just beyond the fence.

There Major Monkey found exactly what he was looking for. In a
warbler's nest, a dozen feet from the ground, he beheld five speckled
eggs.

The owners of the nest were not at home. But knowing that one or the
other would soon return, the Major did not care to linger long over
their treasures.

He noticed that one of the eggs was bigger than the others.

"Really there are too many eggs here for this small nest," the Major
said to himself. "If I take the big one I'll be doing the owners a
favor."

So he picked up the big egg, and holding it carefully in one hand he
hurried away.

When he had put some distance between himself and the nest, Major
Monkey stopped to enjoy his breakfast. He was just on the point of
opening the egg, when who should come up but old Mr. Crow.

The Major quickly hid his breakfast behind his back.