BEHIND THE BARS 2tT 
wintering in Florida, with the request that she liberate 
the prisoner. For, as we could not get it to its winter 
haunt in the tropics, this seemed next best, and it would 
soon meet the flocks of its kin on the return trip. 
“So the bird was freed, and once more felt the joy of 
being lifted on his wings whither he would go, and what- 
ever loneliness he may have suffered after that, he had 
gained liberty, which is the right of the least of God’s 
creatures. 
“Of the four American birds that were most com- 
monly caged, the Mockingbird and Cardinal have always 
been the most popular, and this is what some of the 
writers have said about taking them into captivity. 
The Mockingbird 
“The Mocking-bird ranges from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 
and from middle Illinois, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, southward 
to the Gulf of Mexico. Usually the bird-hunters take the young 
from the nest as soon as they open their beaks for food. These 
are sold in Southern cities by negro boys for from fifteen to 
twenty-five cents apiece. . . . Thousands of Mocking-birds find 
their way across the Atlantic.” — Henry NEHRLING. 
The Cardinal 
“This is one of our most common cage-birds and is very 
generally known, not only in North America, but even in Europe, 
numbers of them having been carried over both to France and 
England, in which last country they are called ‘ Virginia Nightin- 
gales.’ ’? —— ALEXANDER WILSON. 
The Indigo-bird 
“The combination of musical ability, lovely plumage, and its 
seed-eating qualities long since has made the Indigo Bunting in 
