; MR. CHUPES AND MISS JENNY 



several times; then came a pitiful squeak 

 from the victim, while Chupes held aloft 

 and swung triumphantly by the extreme 

 tip of its tail a poor, frightened baby field- 

 mouse, whose escape I very soon contrived. 

 Many a gentle little lizard has gone hurry- 

 ing away from us on account of a sharp 

 dig at his tail. I think that the valiant 

 Chupes would have been willing to attack 

 a small snake had the opportunity offered. 

 I have frequently been questioned with 

 regard to the attitude of my birds towards 

 earth-worms the natural food of robins 

 and the more I consider the question the 

 more convinced I become that their ac- 

 quired tastes interfered seriously with the 

 selections they would have made under 

 natural circumstances. Whenever Chupes 

 succeeded in unearthing a worm he always 

 made a valorous show of killing his prey, 

 but he seldom ate it. His indifference in 

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