124 Sony Birds. 



2. The glass sashes have to be covered with wire- 

 work, or are, some say, much better taken out alto- 

 gether during the summer months. I do not quite 

 agree to that view myself, as it seems to me that 

 the means of closing a window is not to be despised 

 in case of heavy storms ; and, putting aside the birds, 

 I have visions of housemaids in confusion, and of 

 footmen in dismay when "-the water has come 

 through." Besides a permanent open window-frame 

 does not tend to warm, in spring and autumn, the 

 adjoining rooms. Thus I should be much disposed, 

 with all due deference to those who advocate the 

 more open plan, to advise that the window-sashes 

 should be left in place, covered within with a frame 

 in which wire-work has been fitted, the top sash 

 being let down every day in spring and autumn, and 

 in summer both day and night. A Venetian blind 

 outside, or between the window and the wire, is a 

 great gain if the room looks south, and the windows 

 can then always be closed directly if any violent 

 storm comes on. 



3. I have known birds often die in numbers a few 

 days or hours after a severe thunder-storm, to the 

 glare and fear of which the poor frightened things had 

 been exposed. When any such alarming event is 

 going on, I always let in niy birds to my own room, 

 and talk to, and pet them, which is an evident 

 consolation, for no one knows how much they get 



