CHAPTER VI. 



Grimsort--eareci 



I His very delightful little bird was for a long time 

 reputed delicate, but erroneously so, for although 

 I shared this opinion with many fanciers, a sad accident 

 that befel some of my other foreign pets convinced 

 me that the very opposite of the popular impression 

 respecting it is the correct one. 



I had a considerable number of Waxbills of different 

 species lodged in a very convenient and comfortable 

 lawn-aviary, in which they did well and enjoyed them- 

 selves immensely during the summer, but its last days 

 had gone and autumn had followed in its wake, and 

 the little strangers seemed so well and happy that 

 from day to day I deferred catching and transferring 

 them to their winter quarters indoors. 



The aviary consisted of two parts, the first a snug house 

 of octagonal shape that was partly glazed in front and 

 had two small windows at the sides (it had originally 

 been a summer-house), and the second part was an 



