Synopsis: Adapted from Wikipedia to reflect the book, not the film: It's dawn in the woods. Peterkin, a young boy satyr, wakes up, and, prodded by a croaking frog, picks up his flute and starts to play it loudly. When the mother birds in their nests up above tell him to "Be quiet!" and boast about their own well-behaved families (i.e., their eggs), Peterkin decides to get back at them. He sneaks up the massive "Maternity Tree", and covertly switches all the eggs in all the nests. Soon, the eggs hatch — each bird couple has a baby bird of a type different from themselves. The father birds, upset and very suspicious of their wives, fly off to "the club" to pout, while the mother birds "go home to mother". This mass desertion by all the parent birds leave the baby birds hungry, and crying for food and attention. Peterkin is the only one left to take care of them, a task he gamely tries, but one for which he finds he is totally unsuited. Worn out, an exhausted Peterkin confesses his shenanigans to the father birds, hoping they will get the mother birds to return. However, the father birds are outraged and furious, and chase after a retreating Peterkin in order to catch and punish him. In the end, all the families are restored to normal, and Peterkin is forgiven.