Fust off, sum raly good peopul thought it was goin to amount to sumthin, but after forty years of spendin money on it, ther aint enny more chanst of civilizin Afriky in that way than ther is of makin a rifled cannon out of a basswood log.
"Letters of Major Jack Downing, of the Downingville Militia"
Seba Smith
Their nest was made of sticks, and grass, and mud, and was so well hidden in the largest fork of the tree that if you had been standing near the foot of the big basswood, you could not have seen Mister Robert Robin's nest at all.
"Exciting Adventures of Mister Robert Robin"
Ben Field
But if you had been able to fly up into the top of the big basswood tree, then you might have looked down and seen the nest and Mrs. Robert Robin's four greenish blue eggs, right in the middle of it.
"Exciting Adventures of Mister Robert Robin"
Ben Field