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OUR FEATHERED FRIENDS. 
But the perch it liked best by day was the top of its 
master’s head. As soon as this gentleman came in and 
sat down in the rocking-chair and put on his skullcap, 
the bird would fly to his shoulder. Sometimes it would 
take a nip at his ear or his hair. Then it would give 
a hop and a flutter, and land in the middle of the black 
SK 
MocKING-Birp. 
skulleap, where it would sit for an hour if no one dis- 
turbed it. It liked to take erumbs from our hands, or 
bits of apple from our lips, standing on our shoulders. 
It bathed every day in a large pan of water placed in 
the middle of the carpet. Then, too wet to fly farther, 
it would flutter all dripping to a low stool, where it 
would dry its clothes after the wash. If a door 
chanced to be left open, the bird would fly to the top 
