240 HE CHOSE A CORNER. 



seed as they want it, was beneath him. When 

 he wished to eat he did so like a civilized 

 being, that is, took his stand by the seed-cup, 

 and stayed there, attending strictly to the busi- 

 ness in hand till he had finished, leaving a neat 

 pile of canary-seed shells in one spot, instead of 

 the general litter common to cages. The meal 

 over, he was ready to go out of the cage, place 

 himself comfortably in one of his favorite cor- 

 ners, and remain for a long time, amused with 

 the life in the room and the doings in the 

 street, on both of which he seemed to look 

 with the eye of a philosopher. In the same 

 deliberate and characteristic way he disposed 

 of a meal-worm, or a bit of beef, which he 

 enjoyed. He never bolted it outright like a 

 thrush, nor beat it to death like a tanager, nor 

 held it under one toe and took it in mouthfuls 

 like an oriole : he quietly worked it back and 

 forth between his mandibles till reduced to a 

 pulp, and then swallowed it. 



The rosy shield-bearer was preeminently a 

 creature of habit. Very early in his life with 

 us he selected certain resting places for his pri- 

 vate use, and all the months of his stay he never 

 changed them. The one preferred above all 

 others was the middle bar of the window-sash, 

 in the corner, and I noticed that his choice was 

 always a corner. In this sunny spot he spent 



