HIS BATH 65 



about his requirements. From that day to 

 this no bird of mine has ever been obliged to 

 bathe in a regular bird-bath. 



Of course, this dish would not go through a 

 cage door, and I had to take out the bottom 

 of the cage, put the bath on a folded cloth or 

 paper, and set the cage over it. The happi- 

 ness of the bird amply paid me for this little 

 trouble. 



I think a bird's bath should be nearly as 

 wide as the spread of his wings, so that he 

 can indulge, as he does in freedom, in beating 

 the water, and tossing it over him in spray. 

 This is some trouble, to be sure ; he must be 

 placed where water drops will hurt nothing- 

 in a bath-room, or on a table covered with 

 oiled cloth or folds of linen or muslin to ab- 

 sorb the wet, and at a distance from furniture. 



In my bird-room I had on the floor an oil- 

 cloth six or seven feet square. On this stood 

 the bathing-table covered with enamel cloth, 

 with a thick towel laid over to absorb the 

 greater part of the water. When bathing was 

 over, the towel was always dripping wet, and 

 the oil -cloth on the floor thickly spattered. 

 The towel was wrung and hung to dry for 

 s 



