Baths, Foodholders, fyc. 137 



layer of green nioss in which the pots should stand. 

 The perches, round and polished, should be made to 

 fit in along the wire front, and near the ceiling. A 

 flat panelled ceiling should be always used. A frame 

 filled with felt and covered with waterproof cloth 

 would answer well. 



Along the front of such an enclosure, a few 

 creepers trained on wires are beautiful the blue 

 Passion-flower, for instance, and the Japan honey suckle* 

 Hanging baskets of flowers also look very charming, 

 while the gay yellow plumage, red bills, and crimson 

 heads, of the bright inhabitants take the place of 

 flowers within, and adorn the evergreens with the 

 gayest balls of colour. 



CHAPTER XYIL 



BATHS, EOODHOLDEUS, ETC. 



1. WHAT pretty pebbles we can all remember gather- 

 ing on the shore so shining and so transparent t 

 we quite thought cutting and polishing would be all 

 unnecessary, and that our finds were gems. Alas ! 

 the pebbles got dry, and they were gems no longer ; 

 the lapidary looked contemptuous, and said they 

 "were common flints," and we went home disconso- 

 late. But now, I, for one, often wish that I had 



