Chapter XVII 

 BIRD ODDITIES 



"I repeat them as I heard them." 



— Hiawatha^ Longfellow. 



One of our neighbors in the country, a lady 

 who was a great lover of birds, early one autumn 

 caught a pair of Juncos in the woodhouse and 

 placed them in a cage just made vacant by the 

 death of a Canary. Their handsome coats, clean 

 white bills, well groomed appearance, sprightly 

 call notes and genial ways, made them very at- 

 tractive pets. For some time they seemed quite 

 as happy in their new home as when roaming 

 about the country with their mates. But after 

 a few weeks, one of them lost something of its 

 cheerfulness, began to droop and showed such 

 unmistakable signs of illness that the lady, fear- 

 ing it would die, released it. 



The other seemed happy and contented until 

 the fall migration began, when from the perch 

 by the window it could see its fellows playing in 

 the lilac bushes in the yard. This sight, or the 

 sound of their merry calls, appeared to arouse a 

 desire for liberty again, for it, too, became rest- 

 less and discontented, fluttering and beating its 

 wings against the wires of the cage, seemingly 

 possessed of a deep longing for their companion- 

 ship. So clearly did it express its desire for free- 



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