TO TAME HIM 37 



dainty the bird desires, will tame the wildest 

 in time. Some birds are extravagantly fond 

 of fruit a berry, a soft-soaked currant, a bit 

 of apple or pear ; others prefer a morsel of 

 fresh beef. Try your bird till you discover 

 his choice, and keep that to win him with. 



The old way of tiring out a bird, and re- 

 fusing him any food or water till he takes it 

 from the hand, seems to me unnecessary and 

 cruel. When the victim at last snatches it 

 because he is perishing for want of it, he is 

 just as much afraid, and, besides that, he as- 

 sociates you with suffering and fear. The 

 effect is the same as the parrot-taming above 

 described. When coaxed with a tidbit, on 

 the contrary, he is not suffering hunger ; he 

 has his common food ; it is a luxury for 

 which he is tempted to brave you. The ef- 

 fect is quite different. 



If you let him out of the cage, you can 

 easily teach him to come to your table or 

 your hand for the coveted morsel, and if 

 you are always gentle of voice and manner, 

 he will rapidly lose his dread, and some- 

 times become troublesomely familiar, and 

 strange as persons who have not kept pet 



