128 



his play — a ver}^ whirlwind of riot and fun — as I have 

 said before, more kittenish than the most kittenish of 

 kittens. One of his favourite bits of mischief was to 

 stand on a perch and vainly try to lift it out of the 

 wires with his beak : realizing at last the futility of 

 this proceeding he would succeed, if the perch was 

 one of the lower ones, in converting his failure into a 

 brilliant success by throwing himself on his back on 

 the floor and pushing the perch up with his feet. 

 Having moved it up perhaps an inch he would then 

 turn over and finish the wicked business by prizing 

 it up with his shoulders. To disengage the other end 

 was then an easy matter, and now the real fun would 

 begin. Running toward the piece of timber as though 

 with the intention of violently assaulting it, he would 

 suddenly stop and run away with every appearance 

 of fright : after perhaps several feints he would 

 eventually seize it, and then a terril^le wrestling 

 match would take place, in the course of which the 

 gyrations of the little fellow were almost impossible 

 to follow, while the stick itself from its rapid move- 

 ments almost appeared to be endowed with sentience 

 and volition. 



Such games as this, marked ever with modifi- 

 cations devised on the spur of the moment, but all 

 equally extravagant, were the daily amusement of my 

 little friend and companion so long as he remained a 

 bachelor ; but when with a view to a succession of 

 Billies, in the early spring I obtained for him a 

 partner of all his joys and sorrows, he suddenly 

 seemed overwhelmed with a sense of the responsibilities 

 of life and forthwith began to experience the serious 

 side of existence. The jo3'OUS song, the school-bo}^ 

 romp, were now no more indulged in to gladden 

 the hearts of his featherless friends and erstwhile 

 companions, though he would still occasionally 

 condescend to take some tit-bit from the mouth 

 just to shew that he had not quite forgotten us. 



