It seemed to Peter Rabbit that Ol’ Mistah Buzzard was gone a long time. You know how it is when you are waiting for the end of a story when the story-teller has been called away. Really it was only a few minutes that Ol’ Mistah Buzzard was gone, but it seemed to Peter ages and ages.

“Let me see, where was Ah?” said Ol’ Mistah Buzzard as soon as he had once more seated himself comfortably on the tall dead tree under which Peter sat.

“You had reached the place where Granddaddy and Granny Buzzard decided to wait to see how the other birds built their nests,” prompted Peter.

“Just so. Just so,” replied Ol’ Mistah Buzzard. “Well Granddaddy and Granny Buzzard just sat around and watched the other birds and said nothing, and looked wise. Ah reckons there was a terrible time building those first nests, and when they were all done Ah reckons none of them was much as nests go now. There was a right smart lot of fussing and worrying and quarreling, but Granddaddy and Granny Buzzard kept out of it and when any one asked them where they were building their nest and what they were making it of, they simply looked wise as befo’ and said nothing.

“Of course eve’ybody tried to make a powerful secret of where their nests were, but sitting around just watching, Granddaddy and Granny Buzzard found out where most of them were. They waited until the last of their neighbors had finished their nests and then they just went around looking at each to see how it was made and what it was made of. They found all kinds of nests, some made of sticks and some made of straw, and some made of mud, and some made of moss. Seemed like nary one of them just suited Granddaddy and Granny Buzzard. Anyway, they kept hoping that they would see one that would suit better, and so they kept a-looking and a-looking and a-looking. Granny Buzzard wanted her nest made out of something soft and comfortable, and Granddaddy Buzzard wanted it made of something it wouldn’t be much work to find and less work to put together.

“So they couldn’t make up their minds, and time went drifting along and drifting along, and first thing they knew eve’y last one of the other birds had a nest and aiggs, and here was Granddaddy and Granny Buzzard without even a place picked to build a nest. When Granddaddy Buzzard realized this he scratched his haid and began to look worried. Granny Buzzard scratched her haid and looked mo’ worried.

“‘’Pears like to me we-uns haven’t got time to build a nest,’ said Granddaddy Buzzard at last.

“‘Ah was thinking that ve’y same thing,’ replied Granny Buzzard. ‘If we stop to build a nest now, we-uns will be so late the season’s gwine to be all over befo’ we know it. Ah reckons Ah ought to be sitting on those aiggs right now.’

“‘Ah reckons that’s right,’ replied Granddaddy Buzzard, ‘but fo’ the life of me, Ah don’ see what we-uns gwine to do about it.’

“Two or three days later Granny Buzzard called him to one side in a place where nobody is likely to come along and showed him two aiggs right on the ground. ‘Ah reckons that is better than any nest,’ said she. ‘Nobody’s gwine to look on the ground fo’ aiggs, and if they do there’s a powerful lot of ground to look over for two aiggs. The wind can’t blow them out of a nest, and when they hatch the babies can’t fall and hurt themselves. Ah’m gwine to sit right here until they hatch. Ah reckons this nest building is all plumb foolishness anyway.’

“‘Ah reckons it is too,’ replied Granddaddy Buzzard with a sigh of relief because he hadn’t got to help build a nest.

“And ever since then the Buzzard family done get along without nests and have saved theirselves a powerful lot of work,” concluded Ol’ Mistah Buzzard.

And to this day Peter isn’t sure whether the Buzzards are smart or just shiftless.