Finches. 1 69 



kept in his cage, and she gave him opportunity for a 

 daily bath. He was, she says, a most charming com- 

 panion, so quick-witted and clever, and so devoted to 

 his mistress. If she put her hand into his cage to 

 stroke him in the dark, he would make the most en- 

 dearing little noise all the time to express his delight ; 

 if she moved away he gave vent to his annoyance by 

 a clicking note, which he discontinued as soon as she 

 returned to him. Then, when he was catching flies 

 about the room, which he delighted in doing, he would 

 carry his booty to her, and insist upon her taking a 

 share of it, and if he could get a lump of sugar from 

 the sideboard, he would fly across the room to her, and 

 put it gently into her mouth while hovering on the 

 wing ; and when she had been absent for an hour or 

 two, he would meet her with fluttering outstretched 

 wings, sometimes singing with joy. He had about six 

 different songs; one contained a "jug-jug," like the 

 English Nightingale, the others consisted of three or 

 four notes repeated over and over again. Some notes 

 were very sweet and liquid. She says he had the finest 

 intellect of any bird she has ever known : if he was 

 thirsty he would make believe to drink out of a spoon, 

 looking very hard at her all the while, and if he saw a 

 hawk or a cat at a distance, he would utter a note of 

 alarm, descrying the former when it was a mere speck 

 in the sky. This bird died at last of old age. A young 

 mate was provided for him some years before his death, 



