40 FEATHERED FRIENDS. 



To come to the point, I purchased the lot and 

 transferred it to a very large unoccupied cage which stood 

 opposite the window on the top landing, where I con- 

 tinued to feed my new acquisitions as they had been fed 

 at the dealer's, and they seemed to get on very well, 

 and even began to sing a little, at least some of them 

 did, as soon as a ray of sunshine lit upon their dwell- 

 ing; but ohl dear me! they were extremely partial to 

 bathing, and would make themselves thoroughly wet 

 several times a day, splashing the water all over the 

 floor of the cage, and to some distance beyond it- 

 Then they were decidedly dirty and voided incessantly, 

 which, probably, was in a great measure due to the 

 nature of the food that was supplied to them, namely 

 bread and milk for the most part: much of this, I 

 suspect, they could but very inperfectly, if at all, digest. 

 Had I been acquainted with the merits of the dried 

 ants' eggs of commerce then, or had that admirable 

 substitute for live insect-food been as readily obtainable 

 as it is at present, I dare say I should have kept the 

 Pipits longer than I did but their slender figure, neat, 

 if not gaudy, plumage, confiding nature and pleasing, 

 if somewhat insignificant song, were insufficient to 

 compensate me for the unpleasant odour that soon 

 began to arise from their cage, and that, too, in spite 

 of the most scrupulous attention to cleanliness : so I 

 made up my mind to restore them to liberty, and really 

 they seemed to leave me with regret, for when I had 



