120 THE JAVA SPARROW. 



at the window where he hung, and played a 

 sweet Italian air; in an instant the bird roused 

 himself, and appeared to feel all his energies 

 awakened : he assumed an attitude of attention 

 so marked as to attract the notice of his mistress, 

 and evidently listened eagerly as if his ear drank 

 in the sounds with delight. The music ceased, 

 and with it the animation of the little captive, 

 who relapsed into his usual contemplative mood; 

 leaving his mistress to question, in vain, what 

 dream of the past the strain of the wandering 

 minstrel had recalled; whether it carried him to 

 the spicy groves of his native land, and the songs 

 of birds he was wont to hear there; or, what is 

 perhaps more probable, whether it might not 

 bring back the remembrance of some favourite 

 air of a former owner, often played in his pre- 

 sence. 



We must not fail to mention another particu- 

 lar of the pretty Javanese. When he first came 

 to his present home, he had a fair companion who 

 shared his cage with him : the lady-sparrow in a 

 few weeks sickened and died; her mate soon after 

 moulted, when the white spots on the side of his 

 head became black, and remained so till the 

 next moulting season: he then laid aside 

 his mourning garb, and resumed his former 

 appearance. 



