220 " THESE ARE YOUR BROTHERS." 



though he would bite it off. Yet he will not 

 avail himself of his open door. The native 

 thrush alone, of all the birds I have watched, 

 fails to display temper. I never saw one angry. 



There is great difference in the general intel- 

 ligence of birds, and so far in my studies I have 

 found the larger ones on a higher grade in this 

 respect. The robin, cat-bird, thrush, learn the 

 intentions of the various members of a family 

 towards them much more quickly than those 

 that are smaller. These birds soon confide in 

 me, let me do anything I like about their cages 

 without a flutter, while the goldfinches, al- 

 though the oldest residents and very familiar 

 at a distance, a linnet and a chipping spar- 

 row are frightened if I touch the cage. 



That birds show selfishness I am obliged to 

 admit. Any dainty put into the cage of one 

 arouses the interest of all, and a big bird hov- 

 ering in the air before a neighbor's residence, 

 to discover if his grape or bit of apple is bet- 

 ter than his own, is a queer sight. A bunch of 

 fresh leaves in the goldfinch cage makes an ex- 

 citement that would be funny, except that it is 

 painful to see this ignoble passion so strong. 

 To avoid trouble I always put in two bunches, 

 one at each end of the longest perch. Neither 

 bird can settle to one bunch lest the other is 

 better, and so they vibrate between the two, till 



