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little sounds, of whicli it is difficult to give an}^ des- 

 cription, except perhaps that it was to their lowness of 

 tone and variations of inflection alone they owed their 

 charm : then suddenly moving slightly apart and 

 using both beak and feet, they would indulge in a 

 joyful game of romps, approaching a bout of Japanese 

 Ju-jitsu in character, in which they displayed the most 

 marvellous agility in maintaining their position with- 

 out falling, passing and repassing each other, now on, 

 now under the perch, and unceasingly talking their 

 own language, which now was easily distinguishable 

 from that used in the love making scene. Sometimes 

 I was forcibly reminded of an old nursery saying of 

 my childhood to the effect that " crying always comes 

 after romping," for very often something or other 

 would happen to spoil the pretty game. What was its 

 precise nature, whether rather too hard a bite, or an 

 unlucky scratch, or even just some jealousy at defeat, 

 was not of course apparent to the mere human eye, 

 but generally there would be a sudden assumption of 

 a decidedly rampant altitude, accompanied by vicious 

 digs at each others faces with the beak, and more or 

 less stealthy attempts to grapple each other with a 

 foot. Then one — generally the hen — would take 

 refuge high up on the wires of the cage, and both 

 would shout defiance in distinctly strident tones. A 

 curious reversal of the relative attitude of the sexes 

 could however always be seen if a single biscuit were 

 placed in the cage. If the male got to it first, his wife 

 always took it from him, and cleverly defeated any 

 attempt on his part to recover it. After a time he 

 seemed to have learnt his lesson, for without any 

 comment he eventually always took his stand on these 

 occasions under the perch, and thankfully picked up 

 the crumbs. Wise husband ! 



A few days before I took them from the waiting 

 room I pulled the stumps of their primaries and 



