120 PASSERES. TROCHILID^ 



the cage, looking upwards, I suspect terror, at 

 their capture and novel position, had no small 

 influence. Many of those which were found alive, 

 were in a dying state, and of those which were 

 turned out into the room, several more died in 

 the first twenty-four hours ; generally, because, not 

 observing the lines which the domesticated ones 

 used as perches, they would fly against the per- 

 pendicular walls, where, after fluttering awhile 

 suspended, they would at length sink, exhausted, 

 perpendicularly downwards, the wings still vibrat- 

 ing, and alight on the object that intercepted their 

 downward course. If this was the floor, they would 

 presently rise on the wing, only again to flutter 

 against the wall as before ; but often it would 

 happen that they would sink behind some of the 

 many boxes with which the shelves were lumbered ; 

 in which case the space being too narrow for the 

 use of their wings, they soon died unobserved, 

 and were found dead only upon searching. This 

 was the fate of many ; so that out of the twenty- 

 five, only seven were domesticated. These, how- 

 ever, became quite at home ; and I may here 

 observe that there was much difference in the 

 tempers of individuals ; some being moody and 

 sulky, others very timid, and others gentle and 

 confiding from the first. I have noticed this in 

 other birds also; Doves, for instance, which mani- 

 fest individuality of character, perhaps as much 

 as men, if we were competent to appreciate it. 

 My ordinary plan of accustoming them to the 

 room, and teaching them to feed, was very simple. 



