THE EAGLE AND THE CANARY 215 



wants, might remove this reproach, and silence 

 these vague suggestions of a too fastidious con- 

 science, I have taken the trouble to add something 

 to the seed with which these little prisoners had 

 been supplied. For we give sweetmeats to the 

 child that cries for the moon an alternative 

 which often acts beneficially and there is noth- 

 ing more to be done. Any one of us, even a 

 philosopher, would think it hard to be restricted 

 to dry bread only, yet such a punishment would 

 be small compared with that which we, in our 

 ignorance or want of consideration, inflict on our 

 caged animals our pets on compulsion. Small, 

 because an almost infinite variety of flavours 

 drawn from the whole vegetable kingdom a 

 hundred flavours for every one in the dietary 

 which satisfies our heavier mammalian natures is 

 a condition of the little wild bird's existence and 

 essential to its well-being and perfect happiness. 

 And so, to remedy this defect, I went out into 

 the garden, and with seeding grasses and pungent 

 buds, and leaves of a dozen different kinds, I 

 decorated the cage until it looked less like a prison 

 than a bower. And now for an hour the little 

 creatures have been busy with their varied green 



