THE PLAY OF ANIMALS. 221 



parrots, mental experimentation is connected with, tlie 

 physical, especially where the destructive instinct is 

 concerned. Paske gives in the Feathered World (1881) 

 an interesting description of a raven that he brought 

 up. It delighted to fly into strange windows and do 

 all sorts of mischief. He once entered, in this way, a 

 room in the opposite house, found a collection of curios 

 that had been left out of their case, and destroyed most 

 of them. He showed his interest in the boys' ball 

 games by stealing and hiding the ball. The following 

 performance of his might have inspired Dickens to a 

 special chapter in Barnaby Eudge: " One day he en- 

 tered, through the window, a room where a military trial 

 was being conducted, perching on the desk littered with 

 writing materials and important papers, and refusing 

 to be dislodged. He threatened with his bill every one 

 who approached him, until I was sent for and carried 

 him off." 



If any strange object is held in a canary's cage he 

 w^ill examine it with great interest, turning his head 

 first to one side and then the other, and it is most amus- 

 ing to see the little creature crane his neck to look 

 down at something under his cage, while he keeps up 

 a succession of questioning peeps. Key had a 

 Carolina parrot which was so tame that he allowed it 

 to fly about at will, much to the wonder and excite- 

 ment of the domestic birds when this foreigner ap- 

 peared among them. A sparrow was " so fascinated by 

 the gay stranger that he followed the parrot about 

 for a long time, sitting near it and gazing till the 

 parrot returned to the window, without appearing 

 to notice that I stood with a friend at the open case- 

 ment." 



The starling, the robin, the nightingale, the sis- 



