Prince Charming and his Charming Princess. 69 



CHAPTER X. 



PRINCE CHARMING AND HIS CHARMING PRINCESS. 



EBRUAE.Y had now arrived, and with it came 

 Y a few warm sunshiny days which soon had a 

 visible effect upon our birds, and told us that 

 the sooner we got our full complement together the 

 better. Instead of making them more happy and 

 peacefully inclined, it seemed to stir up all the wildest 

 passions of their nature, as it were, in a moment, so 

 that they were now perpetually quarrelling and fighting 

 with each other. This told us that we must not only 

 separate those birds which v^e wished to pair with each 

 other, but also that it would soon become positively 

 dangerous to introduce a new member into their society. 

 To do so would be to expose him not merely to the 

 loss of the best part of his wardrobe, but probably of 

 his life ; for when the pairing mania once begins, the 

 canary becomes as pugnacious and savage as any of 

 the feathered tribe. To avoid this risk, all birds that 

 are intended to live together should be introduced not 

 later than the first or second week in February, when 

 usually the first symptoms of spring begin to appear. 

 Up to this time our own birds had lived together in the 

 most peaceful harmony possible, but two or three days 

 of warm sunshine which occurred, as we have said, 

 about this date, had the effect of converting the whole 



