216 DEATH OF THE PERSECUTOR. 



door to his own middle perch, when instantly, 

 as before, she retreated into her cage. Thus 

 they went on an hour at a time ; he apparently 

 following her from one cage to another, and she 

 declining to occupy the same apartment with 

 him. Occasionally it was not so calm ; he lost 

 his temper, or grew tired of trying to please ; 

 once or twice, without warning, he lowered his 

 head, looked ugly, and fairly burst into her cage 

 and flung himself at her. She dived under or 

 bounded over a perch, any way to escape him, 

 and took refuge in the other cage. 



This could not go on long ; the cardinal lost 

 interest in everything, took to moping, and at 

 last died, disappointed affection, shall we say, 

 or what ? Virginia was relieved ; she sang 

 more and in a louder tone, hopping around 

 her cage with a seed in her mouth, flying 

 through the room, or splashing in the bath ; in 

 fact she was bubbling over with song all the 

 time, as if she were so happy she could not 

 keep still. She paid her daily visits to the 

 cages, forcing the robin to take an outing, 

 which he did not care to do while moulting 

 and not very sure of his powers. 



Many birds show emotions by raising the 

 feathers on different parts of the body, but 

 this bird was remarkable in the expression of 

 her crest alone. When she peeped into a 



