gS The Canary Book. 



curiosity, but I thought I might as well have a look at them 

 when an opportunity was afforded me. Guess my astonish- 

 ment and gratification, then, when I discerned two light 

 mules there! I removed the nest in the twinkling of an eye, 

 and found, to my dismay, that the poor little hungry-looking 

 wretches had been half-starved for want of better attention 

 from the mother, and must, unless some succour was imme- 

 diately forthcoming, perish. 



My first impulse, on finding the two light-coloured mules 

 among the half-starved youngsters, was to transfer the brood 

 to the other hen ; but, seeing the great disparity that existed 

 between the size of the one lot and that of the other, I 

 resolved not to adopt this plan, as I well knew that the 

 larger and stronger birds would be pretty certain to smother 

 their small and weakly companions. My next notion was to 

 throw out the darkest, and consequently least valuable birds, 

 to save the others; had I done this I should have acted 

 wisely, at least in a pecuniary point of view; but, like 

 thousands of other people in this world, I adopted a "penny- 

 wise and pound-foolish" policy. 



I felt reluctant to lose any of the birds so long as there 

 appeared the least possibility of saving them; and beside, 

 I had some qualms of conscience, I am bound to admit, when 

 the idea of killing those poor unoffending little birdies crossed 

 my mind. I was in a dilemma, that is quite certain, and 

 how was I to get out of it puzzled me not a little. At last I 

 made up my mind to take the mule which I considered of 

 the least value from under the hen which was feeding her 

 young to my satisfaction, and give it to the one which was 

 not behaving properly to those under her care. I then re- 

 moved the clear mule for such it really was and put it in 

 the place of the one I had taken away, thereby effecting a 

 transfer, so that each hen in reality got one of her own progeny 

 by the change. 



There was still a grand mule left underneath the neglectful 

 foster mother which I was most anxious to save, and having 

 a canary hen with a brood of young birds some three or four 



