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it is almost an impossibility to learn their respective 

 characteristics, unless one has special reasons to single 

 out and mark the doings of any particular specimen. 

 But if, owing to circumstances or choice, some have their 

 pets in their own rooms, this pleasant feature of bird life 

 is easil}' and quickly noted. Each have their little traits 

 which are often sufficient to their owner to distinguish 

 them from their cage-mates. Of course in some birds these 

 traits are more pronounced than in others, and where we 

 fail to notice any it is simply because the little 

 mannerisms are too minute for our e3'es to note ; but 

 they are vindoubtedh' prominent to their feathered com- 

 panions. 



The most prominent distinction, by which we know 

 our birds, are those of plumage and tameness, and it 

 generalh' requires but little observation to identify them 

 by these means, unless several of the same species are in 

 the aviary together. Then it is that our close observations 

 stand us in good stead and enable us to identify them 

 with certainty. Among the more common and more 

 easily noticed actions, is a liking for a particular perch 

 by one bird, another has a pronounced peacefnl or 

 pugnacious disposition, another is full of energy, while 

 others may be just the reverse : yet another may delight 

 in, or have a marked antipathy to bathing, and I 

 have known some birds have a preference for one 

 particular seed pan. No doubt a few minutes reflection 

 will readily recall to our minds some of the pretty little 

 ways by which we learnt to love and remember our tiny 

 friends. Personally I can remember many of my pets 

 now, alas ! no more, by the intelligent little mannerisms 

 they had. Particularly do I recall a certain cock Zebra 

 Finch. Within a short time of coming into my 

 possession this engaging mite would always fl}^ to meet 

 uie whenever I went near his house, and getting on the 

 perch nearest tome, he would chatter awa\^ like an M.P. 

 Then hop, skip and away for a seed or a drink, and back 

 again more voluble than before. Many a long dis- 

 cussion did we have, and I had hard work at times to get 



