150 FEATHERED FRIENDS. 



wire front, which was annoying, for there were many 

 cats about which might easily catch and kill the birds 

 in such a position: I therefore had to catch and cage 

 the silly things up again, until they had acquired at least 

 a certain amount of use in their wings, and in order 

 to facilitate matters in this connection, I removed some 

 of the stumps of the primaries, which were quite 

 withered up and came out almost as soon as I touched 

 them, and in the course of two or three weeks the 

 birds were able to fly about and had, moreover, begun 

 to moult regularly. 



So far so good: I released them, and they exercised 

 their wings at once and seemed highly delighted. 

 Evidently, I thought, they were a pair, for one of them 

 had the regulation plum-colour on his head and neck, 

 and the black colour, or torque, while the other one 

 had a lavender-grey neck and head, and no ring. I 

 gave them the choice of two or three small barrels, 

 but they never even looked into any of them. Grad- 

 ually the days grew shorter and the nights longer, 

 but the pair of Blossom-heads did not appear to mind, 

 so I let them remain in the aviary through the winter, 

 and the cold did not affect them in the least. 



Surely, I thought, they will nest when the fine 

 weather arrives ; but they did not : then the male began 

 to exhibit many signs of age and infirmity, so that I 

 had to take him into the house, where I soon saw 

 that he had passed through many summers and winters 



