

A Street Troubadour *y |V - 



So Randy is once more in a cage, carefully Jj^- 



watched and fed, the central figure in a small , I 



world, and not at all unhappy. After all, he J|f 

 was never a truly wild Bird. It was an acci- / 

 dent that set him free originally. An accident 

 had mated him with Biddy. Their brief life 

 together had been a succession of storms and 

 accidents. An accident had taken her away, 

 and another accident had renewed his cage life. 

 This life, comparatively calm and uneventful, 

 has given him an opportunity to cultivate his 

 musical gifts, for he is in a very conservatory of 

 music, and close at hand are his old tutors and 

 foster-parents. 



Sometimes when left alone he amuses himself 

 by beginning a rude nest of sticks, but he looks 

 guilty, and leaves that corner of the cage when 

 any one comes near. If a few feathers are 

 given him they are worked into the nest at first, 

 but next morning are invariably found on the 

 floor below. These persistent attempts at nest- 

 ing suggested that he wanted a mate, and sev- 

 eral were furnished on approval, but the result 

 was not happy. Prompt interference was 

 needed each time to prevent bloodshed and to 



i35 



