CHAPTER XIX. 



Carger Kill 



I His bird, which enjoys an almost world- wide reputa- 

 tion as the prince of mimics among the feathered 

 tribes, is the size of our Jackdaw, but plumper in body 

 and has a shorter tail ; yet I cannot help thinking that 

 its merits are somewhat overrated. At least one I had 

 in my possession was not a brilliant subject, and 

 others that I have seen by no means came up to the 

 standard that I had understood they usually attained 

 to. Possibly the one I had may not have been a typical 

 specimen, for he suffered from a sebaceous tumour on 

 his head, which did not, however, seem to affect either 

 his health or appetite, but as he afterwards died from 

 the effect of a recurrence of the complaint in other 

 parts of his body, it may well be that his spirits were 

 more or less affected by it. 



In other ways it is not an encouraging kind of bird 

 to have, requiring a large cage, and the most scrupulous 

 care and attention to keep it sweet and clean, for the 



