CURIOUS POSTURES. 245 



convinced that there was something not quite 

 natural about it, for, feeling hungry, he went, 

 with many a backward glance at the glass, to 

 the floor, took a hemp-seed and carried it out 

 into the room to eat, a thing he never did at 

 any other time. 



I spoke of my bird's posturing ; that was one 

 of his pleasures, and almost his only exercise 

 while he lived in the house. He was not grace- 

 ful, his body was not flexible, and his tail was 

 far from being the expressive member it is 

 with many birds, it always stood straight out ; 

 he could raise it with a little jerk, and he had 

 a beautiful way of opening it like a fan, but I 

 never saw it droop or stir in any other way. In 

 these movements his head and tail maintained 

 the same relative position to the body, as though 

 they were cut out of one piece of wood ; but 

 he bowed and leaned far over on one side, with 

 his short legs wide spread ; he passed down a 

 perch, alternately crouching and rising, either 

 sideways or straight ; he jerked his whole body 

 one side and then the other, in a manner ludi- 

 crously suggestive of a wriggle ; he sidled along 

 his perch, holding his wings slightly out and 

 quivering, then slowly raised them both straight 

 up, and instantly dropped them, or held them 

 half open, fluttering and rustling his feathers. 



He had also a curious way of moving over a 



