GYMNASTICS ON THE ROOF. 231 



thing. If he wanted to bathe, he plumped into 

 the dish, whether it were empty or not ; thus he 

 often surprised a more dignified bird by boun- 

 cing in beside him and splashing as though no 

 one else were in sight. In fact, the bath was a 

 constant subject of dispute ; he was very fond of 

 it, and the sound of dashing water was always 

 irresistibly tempting to him. If he were shut 

 into his cage with no other amusement, he in- 

 dulged in gymnastics on the roof, running about, 

 head down, on the wires, as readily as a fly on 

 the ceiling, and often hanging by one claw, 

 swinging back and forth, as if to enjoy the up- 

 side-down view of the world. If he stood still 

 two minutes on a perch he was usually asleep ; 

 and both of these birds indulged in daytime 

 naps, in which they buried their heads in their 

 feathers, exactly as they did at night. 



The lord and master of this household was 

 extremely fastidious in his fare. Mockingbird 

 food he despised, bread and milk he left to his 

 cage mate, apples were too hard to please him ; 

 nothing appealed to his taste except the tender- 

 est of Bartlett pears, and of these he conde- 

 scended to eat one a day. After a while, in his 

 trampish fashion of prowling about in other 

 birds' houses, he discovered that mockingbird 

 food was not so bad ; and although he scorned 

 it at home, he soon spent half his time in going 



