SONG BIRDS, 



AND 



HOW TO KEEP THEM. 



CHAPTER I. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



1. A GREAT many people think that to keep birds is 

 cruel. If it were so, indeed, few would be the cage 

 birds one would wish to see ; but happily, on the 

 contrary, for those who, like myself, are fond of 

 the feathered tribe, the more we know about them, 

 the more we are content to think theirs is a happy 

 prison. Not for all birds by any means ; some 

 would break their hearts, if they should be kept in 

 cage. The birds of passage, all those that come and 

 go, should never be kept from the sunny skies they 

 seek as the winter comes. We may easily, however, 

 find sufficient pets among our proper house-birds. 

 The Canaries generally, and all the home-bred 

 Finches ; plenty of sweet-voiced Linnets ; and amongst 



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