A JANUARY DAY AT REGENTS PARK. 23 



head was scarcely perceptible, they could hardly be re- 

 cognised as the same birds who stalk about their cages 

 with long and haughty strides, erect gait, and bold, 

 intelligent gaze. Perhaps, however, the most cm-ious 

 inhabitants of this aviary are the crested eagles, fine, 

 handsome birds, notable for an erect tuft or plume of 

 black feathers upon their heads, not unlike the ostrich 

 plumes of a lady's court dress. 



The last animals visited were our volatile friends 

 the monkeys, who seemed none the worse for the com- 

 paratively close quarters to which they are confined in 

 severe weather. The house is rather dark just now, 

 because the windows are thickly banked up with straw, 

 a precaution necessary lest the monkeys should be 

 chilled by coming in contact with the cold glass. The 

 temperature of the room is very comfortable, but not 

 unpleasantly warm, and is maintained by a partly open 

 stove or fireplace in the centre. I was sorry to miss 

 my dear old friend Sally, the spider-monkey, whose 

 gentle manners and wonderful length of limb I have 

 often admired. Agile as are all the monkey tribe, 

 Sally was certainly the most active I have yet seen in 

 this country, and her performances on the rope would 

 have put the combined efforts of a dozen Leotards or 

 Blondins to shame. I shall never forget her happiness 

 when dancing and swinging about on a clothes line in 

 a garden near Eeading, the curious air with which 

 she contemplated the surrounding objects, and the look 

 of piteous entreaty with which she deprecated the order 



