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cage for the reception of my coming family, and had 

 enamelled and fitted it up according to my own ideas, 

 — which, by the way now raise a little smile, they 

 were so quaint and original. However, there was the 

 cage all ready, with sand on the floor, hopper filled with 

 seed, and a large bath provided, so it only remained to 

 get birds to put in it. For this purpose I journeyed to 

 the famed Club Row, and I must confess to being 

 disappointed at what I saw there. I had imagined a 

 sort of miniature Zoo, and remember wondering 

 whether I should have lime to see all the birds before 

 deciding on what to purchase ! And " miniature " it 

 was indeed— so much so in fact that had there been 

 about two dozen foreign birds less, there would have 

 been none at all. You will gather, therefore, that my 

 choice was exceedingly limited, and but for my 

 eagerness to see something alive in that cage I 

 should probably have come away without buying 

 anything. As it was, I had to select between four 

 Mannikins, which were in the only clean shop in the 

 Row, and some half dead Avadavals and Zebra 

 Finches at a den a little lower down, where the 

 principal stock-in-trade seemed to consist of fancy 

 scents. So I was driven to the Mannikins — ordinary 

 Black-headed ones — and I believe they cost me just 

 two shillings for the two pairs. 



Having reached home safely after great trepidation 

 on my part, in which the birds died at least every half 

 mile, I cautiously undid the door of the large cage, 

 and then gently opened that of the small travelling 

 box, when out tumbled the four birds like boys at a 

 boarding school after cake, and hurled themselves 

 head first into the bath. Such a splashing and chirp- 

 ing and jumping about ensued for three or four 

 minutes ! Then out crept, one after the other, four 

 half-drowned disreputable looking objects which 



