The Days of a Man 



D8 93 



Other 



feathered 

 tenants 



Some 



monkey 



folk 



bird and almost as sweet a singer; many linnets, 

 the male crimson-washed and with exquisitely sweet 

 voice, as well as an inordinate taste for cherries; 

 the little house wren; two dainty species of hum- 

 ming birds; and the California jay with wonderful 

 sky-blue coat, but dreaded and detested by all his 

 smaller neighbors because of his evil temper. Out- 

 side in the great field lives the Western meadow 

 lark with thrush-like notes, quite unlike the in- 

 complete and querulous call of his Eastern cousin. 

 Mounted on a fence post, oblivious of the kindly 

 passer-by, hour after hour he lifts his ringing carol 

 to the day. 



In addition to our native neighbors, for many 

 years I harbored certain interesting aliens for pur- 

 poses of study. These were monkeys and parrots, 

 for which the climate of California is fairly well 

 adapted. Bob was the first and cleverest of my 

 monkey people that is, we called him Bob. His 

 real name we never knew; it was lost in the jungles 

 of Borneo. But as I long ago told his story 1 for 

 naturalists and for children, it need not be repeated 

 here. Concerning the others of his kin who came 

 after, a few words will suffice. 



One little ailing Cercopithecus, a member of Bob's 

 tribe, was given the run of the warm furnace room, 

 which he shared with two kittens. Of these he be- 

 came very fond, often sitting with an arm around 

 each until they grew too big for him. And when his 

 food was brought, he always carefully laid before 

 them some delectable morsel such as a cold potato 

 or a raw carrot! These they finally came to accept 



1 "The Story of Bob"; The American Naturalist, 1892. Reprinted in 

 "The Book of Knight and Barbara." 





