SANCTUARY 261 



in captivity. Undoubtedly, American species of 

 birds can be raised in cages, and, if they had never 

 kno^vn anything of wild life, after a few genera- 

 tions they might become domesticated and uncon- 

 sciously content therewith. 



'^ Still, the life of a caged bird is generally a tor- 

 ture, because it is a very easy matter to inflict pain 

 on a bird. Of all the pets of Man, birds are the 

 most sensitive to slights, and, in their wild state 

 being always on the alert, they find causes of un- 

 happiness where other pets would notice nothing. 



" 'Think what suffering,' says Miller," the 

 Feather Man continued, " 'must be endured by 

 creatures so delicate as birds in our ordinary care- 

 less way of treating them — teased by children, fed 

 and attended by servants (when they happen to 

 think of it) ; sometimes not spoken to for days and 

 regarded, almost, as a piece of the furniture; 

 cramped into cages so small that they can hardly 

 move about; hung in the burning sun with no 

 shade for their poor little brains, when in a state 

 of nature they are always in the shade of woods 

 and bushes ; placed by an open window in a draught 

 by a mistress afraid to let the breezes touch her- 

 self; fed on dry, often musty seed, with no variety, 

 which to birds, no less than men, is the spice of 



