WHICH SHALL WE CHOOSE? II 



properly encouraged, will sing enough to sat- 

 isfy the most exacting; in fact, most owners 

 of these birds are forced to keep a cloth cover 

 for the cage, to moderate their too exuberant 

 song, or to relegate the irrepressible to sol- 

 itary confinement in some retired apartment, 

 so that people may talk, and rest their weary 

 ears. So be sure of your object. 



If what you desire is something to amuse 

 the children, by all means procure a big cage, 

 and fill it with a dozen or two of the pretty 

 little African finches, who live amicably to- 

 gether, and with their endless pranks furnish 

 never-failing entertainment to the little folk. 



If you care for a delightful companion, I 

 recommend to you our own native birds, the 

 most intelligent you can get; perhaps one of 

 the thrush family the wood -thrush, robin, 

 or thrasher, or a bluebird, or, better still, a 

 pair. 



If your heart longs for the king of singers, 

 and one of the most intelligent birds in the 

 whole list, I suggest the clarin, a Mexican 

 bird. 



" He is the poet bird, who 

 Through joy, through sorrow, through all things;" 



