''THESE ARE YOUR BROTUERSr 205 



large room, without attempting to tame them, 

 further than, by letting alone, to inspire confi- 

 dence and dispel fear. 



The most noticeable thing about birds is 

 their individuality ; even those of the same fam- 

 ily differ as greatly as children of a household. 

 One goldfinch that I have studied is a shy, 

 timid little creature, utterly unresponsive to its 

 human neighbors, while another is the embodi- 

 ment of gayety, brimming over with good spir- 

 its, and always ready to answer a greeting with 

 a cheerful " Pick-wick." This bird is extremely 

 fond of human society, and after being without 

 it for an hour or two will pour out a torrent of 

 greetings in his loudest voice, wriggling his 

 body from side to side, as though too full of joy 

 to keep still. Even in times of adversity, when 

 he is moulting (which he does with difficulty), 

 and his wings fail of their office, so that on set- 

 ting out for his favorite perch, after the bath, 

 he flies wide of the mark, beating the air vainly, 

 and at last fluttering to the floor, where he 

 never willingly goes, — even then he will has- 

 ten to a ladder placed for him, hop up round 

 after round, stopping now and then to call out 

 gleefully, as if to say, " I 'm not hurt a bit ! 

 I 'm all right ! " When at last the time comes 

 that he does not try to fly, he cheerfully avails 

 himself of a series of perches running around 



