210 " THESE ARE YOUR BROTHERS:' 



For cool impudence and offensive intrusion 

 upon the rights of humanity about him this 

 bird has no equaL He is a genuine gamin, 

 and shows the effect of life in the streets even 

 on a bird. 



Birds not only cough and sneeze, but they 

 dream and snore, making most distressing 

 sounds, as if strangling. They hiccough — a 

 very droll affair it is, too, — and they faint 

 away. A goldfinch, spoken of above, being 

 frightened one night, in his struggles was 

 caught between the wires, and gave a cry like 

 the squeak of a mouse in distress. On my has- 

 tening to his release, he slipped out into the 

 room, and flew wildly about till he hit some- 

 thing and fell to the floor. He was picked up, 

 and his fright culminated in a dead faint. The 

 little head drooped, the body was limp, appar- 

 ently perfectly lifeless, and he was laid in his 

 cage, ready to be buried in the morning. He 

 was placed carefully on the breast, however, 

 and in a few minutes he hopped upon his perch, 

 shook out his ruffled feathers, and composed 

 himself to sleep. 



One feat sometimes ascribed to man is in the 

 case of birds a literal fact, — they can sleep 

 with one eye open. This curious habit I have 

 watched closely, and I find it common in nearly 

 all the varieties I have been able to observe. 



