MR. CHUPES AND MISS JENNY 



There was to us humans, however, a sugges- 

 tion of perpetual summer in the compan- 

 ionship of these dear redbreasts. Not a 

 day passed without its interesting record of 

 their performances. Not an hour could 

 one spend in their company without deriv- 

 ing amusement and benefit from the con- 

 tact. 



I must tell you that, although Jenny be- 

 came less and less playful and more and 

 more absorbed in her nest-building, she 

 nevertheless took time for the occasional 

 and earnest contemplation of herself in the 

 mirror. I have seen her throw down her 

 building materials and rush to my bureau, 

 where she would take up her stand on a lit- 

 tle box that served as a pedestal, and there 

 she would gaze and gaze and gaze at her 

 reflection with the greatest complacency. 



One day I placed a fine new supply of 

 strings on the top of her cage and it seemed 

 168 



