PKEFACE. 



IN writing this little book for the use of those 

 who, like myself, are fond of birds, and anxious 

 to make their lives among us as joyous as their 

 songs, I do not set myself up to be a scientific 

 birdkeeper. My own birds have thriven and 

 become extremely tame, and they seem as happy 

 as little birds can be ; yet mine professes to be 

 simply a natural mode of treatment. My ex- 

 perience of birds' ways began when a child, in 

 becoming familiar with them while in their 

 wild state, and I have since gone on gathering 

 from books, and friends, and personal observa- 

 tions, details of their habits when free; thus 

 learning how to make them more happy in con- 

 finement. 



a 2 



