126 STORIES ABOUT BIRDS. 



tiling was hardly possible ; that I was to leave 

 the city in the afternoon train for Washington, 

 and that I had sundry errands to do before I 

 left. ''Never mind the errands," said he, 

 " you must see the birds, at any rate." Now, 

 to tell the truth, I was half inclined to think 

 that the exhibition was rather a dull affair. 

 The Italian gentleman had previously spent 

 some time in the city of New York, with his 

 birds, and I had never been to see them. I 

 had taken it into my head that they were 

 hardly worth seeing. But my friend took me, 

 almost by force, to the exhibition, where, I 

 must confess, I soon discovered that my esti- 

 mate of the performances of the birds was a 

 very mistaken one. I cannot tell half of the 

 wonderful things that I saw the little fellows 

 do. It would take up a great part of my book 

 if I should describe to you all their perform- 

 ances in detail. 



Among all the birds, the canary was per- 

 haps the most interesting. The gentleman 

 who had the birds in charo-e would brinsr them 

 out, one by one, as they were called ; and they 

 would go through their several parts on the 

 platform. First he made a crow march out of 

 the cage where he was kept, and a little canary 

 bird, at the bidding of the Italian gentleman, 



