140 TRANSIENT GUESTS IN THE BIRD-ROOM. 



six or eight inches of worm and instantly turned 

 upon the other, who had not made so great 

 progress. Away went the persecuted crea- 

 ture, screaming, tearing around the cage in the 

 most frantic way, and ever close on her heels 

 her relentless tormentor, bent upon snatch- 

 ing away the sweet morsel. He did seize the 

 free end, but she did not relax her hold upon 

 the other, and thereupon ensued a ridiculous 

 struggle, — a wild scramble through the cage, 

 sometimes on one side, and sometimes the other, 

 as the rightful owner or the high-handed rob- 

 ber secured a momentary advantage. The mat- 

 ter was settled, of course, by the separation of 

 the object of dispute, when each of the combat- 

 ants made haste to dispose of his fragment, and 

 again thrust out his hands for more. 



In a few days, I one morning quietly opened 

 the door of the marmosets' cage. The favorite, 

 — the persecuted one, from whom I expected the 

 best behavior — was first to spy this change. 

 She was out like a flash, and without an in- 

 stant's hesitation, exactly as though she had 

 planned it before, she made a direct line for a 

 bird-cage. All the cages were high, and 1 had 

 taken the precaution to close every door before 

 I made this experiment. At the first break she 

 climbed up the leg of a table, from there sprang 

 to the back of a chair four feet away, then gave 



