86 WILD SCENES AND SONG-BIRDS. 



industrious old birds perseveringly laboring to fill gaping 

 throats that were nearly large enough to swallow them bodily 

 whole. I now narrowed the hole with wire so that the blue 

 birds could get in and the mocking birds could not get out, 

 for they were quite double the size of their foster parents. 



When they were full fledged we took them to the house 

 and placed them in an aviary I had prepared for them in a 

 recess which contained a large window and looked out upon 

 the gardens. In two days I found to my great astonishment 

 the old blue birds endeavoring to feed them through the 

 wires. They had found them out, the faithful creatures, and 

 not content with having already spent double the amount of 

 labor upon them that they would have bestowed upon their 

 own offspring, they followed them up with their unweary- 

 ing solicitude. 



I was greatly shocked at first to observe the cool indiffer- 

 ence with which the young aristocrats of song surveyed their 

 humble foster parents. After awhile it came in spite of the 

 shameful ingratitude it exhibited to be a constant scource 

 of merriment with us to watch the lordly and impudent non- 

 chalance with which they would turn their heads to one 

 side and look down at the poor blue birds fluttering against 

 the bars with tender cries to attract their notice with an 

 expression which seemed as plainly as could be to say, " Who 

 are you, pray ? get away you common fellows I" 



A fine pair of old mocking birds found them, too, but 

 when they came, our gentry behaved very differently, and 

 seemed crazy to get out. They became very tame, and I 

 finally fulfilled my vow of turning them loose, and for a long 

 time they were so tame that they would take food from our 

 hands anywhere. They lived on the place, and we felt our- 

 selves for years afterwards plentifully aye, bounteously re- 

 warded for our anxiety on account of the little outcasts, by 

 the glorious songs they sang for us the summer nights to 

 dream by. Thus it was my fair sister helped me out of the 

 scrape with my young mocking birds ! 



