` If , ' said he , ' a finch 's nest is placed on the Serpentine it fills and breaks to pieces , but a thrush 's nest is still as dry as the cup of a swan 's back . ' How the thrushes applauded ! Now they knew why they lined their nests with mud , and when Mrs. Finch called out , ` We do n't place our nests on the Serpentine , ' they did what they should have done at first -- chased her from the meeting . After this it was most orderly . What they had been brought together to hear , said Solomon , was this : their young friend , Peter Pan , as they well knew , wanted very much to be able to cross to the Gardens , and he now proposed , with their help , to build a boat . At this the thrushes began to fidget , which made Peter tremble for his scheme . Solomon explained hastily that what he meant was not one of the cumbrous boats that humans use ; the proposed boat was to be simply a thrush 's nest large enough to hold Peter . But still , to Peter 's agony , the thrushes were sulky . ` We are very busy people , ' they grumbled , ` and this would be a big job . ' ` Quite so , ' said Solomon , ` and , of course , Peter would not allow you to work for nothing . You must remember that he is now in comfortable circumstances , and he will pay you such wages as you have never been paid before . Peter Pan authorises me to say that you shall all be paid sixpence a day . ' Then all the thrushes hopped for joy , and that very day was begun the celebrated Building of the Boat . All their ordinary business fell into arrears . It was the time of the year when they should have been pairing , but not a thrush 's nest was built except this big one , and so Solomon soon ran short of thrushes with which to supply the demand from the mainland . The stout , rather greedy children , who look so well in perambulators but get puffed easily when they walk , were all young thrushes once , and ladies often ask specially for them . What do you think Solomon did ? He sent over to the house-tops for a lot of sparrows and ordered them to lay their eggs in old thrushes ' nests , and sent their young to the ladies and swore they were all thrushes ! It was known afterwards on the island as the Sparrows ' Year ; and so , when you meet grown-up people in the Gardens who puff and blow as if they thought themselves bigger than they are , very likely they belong to that year . You ask them .
-LSB- Illustration : When you meet grown-up people in the XXXXX who puff and blow as if they thought themselves bigger than they are -RSB- Peter was a just master , and paid his work-people every evening .
Gardens Pan Peter Solomon Sparrows Year day finch perambulators thrushes