as many complimentary things as I could about him, 

 but regretted my inability to buy a ' lone lorn crittur.' 



A noise in one corner of the room attracted my 

 attention, and, peering in the direction of the sound, 

 I saw four small birds in a cage. I was obliged to 

 ask what they were, as the darkness was Stygian, and 

 I was told they were Bearded Tits ' from Jermany.' 

 Barring the fact that they had lost their caudal 

 appendages, they looked the picture of health, and 

 were manifestly two cocks and two hens. Knowing 

 that Bearded Tits are none so easy to acclimatise, as 

 we say up here, I determined to buy one pair. I did 

 not, you may be sure, select the second best ; and 

 having paid the modest price demanded, I popped 

 them into a travelling cage, and was just about to 

 depart, when the lady enquired anxiously if I knew 

 how to feed them. I modestly replied that I had a 

 little experience of softbills. Would I like some of 

 the food she gives them ? This also came from her 

 ' broder-in-law in Jermany.' It looked to me so like 

 linseed-meal that I declined to invest in any, though 

 in justice J must say that the Tits looked well on it. 

 I fancied, however, with the conceit natural to the 

 beast, that my own was better. The lady smiled a 

 pitying smile as much as to imply that the Tits and 

 myself would be soon parted. For once, at any rate, 

 she proved herself a false prophetess, as they are still 

 very much alive! 



When I got them home I let them loose in a fair 

 sized aviary in company with other Britishers, and it 

 was very pretty to see how they explored every nook 

 and corner of their new retreat. I could fancy them 

 saying, as I listened to their happy chatter, * Well, 

 this is really something like ! ' 



At first, like the lower orders, they were clearly 

 suspicious of every unknown object. The best rule 

 in such a case is to act naturally, with more quietness 



