38 A GENTLE SPIRIT. 



is the only one who has dared to do that. Here- 

 tofore that receptacle has been a safe place 

 for anything denied to birds. No matter how 

 tempting the article, I knew that in the waste- 

 basket, away from the outside, it would not be 

 touched. But all that is past : the thrush 

 calmly drops into the mass of papers and rub- 

 bish which usually half fills the basket, and 

 seeks the bit of apple or bread, or whatever has 

 pleased his fancy from the edge, and even turns 

 over the contents in search of treasures. 



Gentle, amiable, and friendly as is my thrush, 

 spending much time on the back of my chair, 

 my desk, my shoulder and even my hand, he 

 does not like to be taken in the hands, as in- 

 deed no bird does. Once or twice it has become 

 necessary for me to do so, and on such occasions 

 he expresses his mind plainl}^ The first time 

 I caught him, he had stayed out too long, and 

 as it was growing dark he could not get home. 

 I quietly walked up to him where he stood on 

 the window, and before he suspected my in- 

 tention closed my hands over him. He was not 

 frightened, but indignant, and at once turned 

 his bill towards me, and reproached me for the 

 liberty in a few emphatic remarks — a modifi- 

 cation of his usual liquid " Chook, chook, 

 chook," into " Chack, chack, chack." 



This interesting bird has never given me a 



