SOME CAGED PINE GROSBEAKS. 221 



they would chew each separately under the corner of their 

 beaks. Gravel they ate eagerly and seemed to need fre- 

 quently, but cuttle-bone they either did not desire or its use 

 they could not understand. 



They were exceedingly particular about their water, drank 

 much if it was good, but went thirsty rather than touch any 

 that had stood in the cage over night. A bath was their great- 

 est pleasure, and they threw the spray in such quantities as to 

 wet the floor for three feet around the cage. But the bath 

 must be fresh or they would go without it. They seemed to 

 need it to keep their feathers trim. For the first week it was 

 not offered them because we knew that in winter they could 

 get no water to bathe in but dusted themselves in snow ; yet 

 when given them regularly the bath produced an immediate 

 improvement in their personal ax)pearance. It was noteworthy 

 what a difference life indoors made in their figures. They 

 always look to be stout, puffy birds when wild, because they 

 fluff out their feathers so as to make a loose, thick garment 

 that holds the heat of the body ; but in captivity, needing no 

 extra warmth, they laid their feathers flat, and became trim 

 and elegant in figure, rather slenderer, it seemed to me, than 

 most birds. 



The little grosbeaks became very tame. Though they would 

 not willingly allow us to handle them, they were never afraid 

 of any grown person. Of a child they were suspicious ; in the 

 presence of the baby they showed positive alarm. The dog 

 terrified them ; but the sight of a cat made them frantic, and 

 often their cries of terror would draw one of us from another 

 room in time to see a strange cat slink away from the low ve- 

 randa windows. This excessive fright at a cat was at least 

 partly explained by a narrow escape they had one day from a 

 neighbor's pussy, which, having the liberty of the house, got 



