I 



— Bobbie and I. We had good times 

 together, and after a while, the girls 

 who called, discovered him to be quite 

 as interesting as I thought him ; and the 

 way he would "talk back" to them when 

 they teased him, was something re- 

 markable. 



The following conversation is but a 

 fair sample of daily occurrences : 



"Hello, Bob!" 



"Che-ee-p, Cheep !" 



"Hello, old sassy!" 



"Chee-p! Che-ep!" (with dropped 

 wings). 



"Want some candy?" (tauntingly 

 held up). 



"Zeep, zeep, zeep, zeep" (with flashing 

 eyes — and who says a canary's eyes 

 can't flash fire when aroused?). 



"Oh, don't get so gay or you won't get 

 a bite!" 



"Squeak! Squawk!!" (in as discor- 

 dant tone as bird could possibly utter). 



"Oh, Bobbie, don't get so angry!" (in 

 mocking voice). 



"Zett, zeet,*zett, zett, zett, zett" (with 

 swelling breast, ruffled feathers, beating 

 wings till the little body would almost 

 burst with excitement) . Perhaps this out- 

 burst would be followed with something 

 not quite satisfactory to his somewhat 

 fastidious taste; then looking about for 

 me, he would call "ch-e-ep" in wonder- 

 fully touching tones with such an injured 

 air. 



The college girls soon knew Bobbie, 

 and many pleasant hours were whiled 

 away with this little bundle of anima- 

 tion. Strange all the teasing he received 

 never spoiled his temper. It only made 

 him more confidential. 



He was a particular favorite of the 

 family with whom I roomed, Mr. Smith 

 often remarking, "Well, I never knew 

 that a bird could know so much." A 

 favorite game with Mr. Smith was to 

 give Bobbie the freedom of the room, 

 and then big, fat Mr. Smith would go 



down on the floor on all fours with a 

 broom splintj'and Bobbie would chase 

 the splint from one side of the parlor to 

 the other as a kitten might. Such a 

 comical sight ! 1 could carry Bobbie on 

 my hands out of doors across to a neigh- 

 bor's house, with perfect freedom. He 

 flew into an apple tree one morning. He 

 stayed about an hour, but came back, 

 and seemed pleased to know he was in 

 his cage again. 



When I turned him loose in the room, 

 a particular prank which he loved to 

 play was to light on some one's head, 

 and unexpectedly give them a peck. 

 This was oftenest played on a gray- 

 haired lady who lived in the house, and 

 who was quite a favorite with Bobbie. 

 He would rest on her head, pull up the 

 strands of hair and when she would put 

 up her hand, he would smartly peck her 

 fingers. 



Some times when several were talk- 

 ing, Bobbie was not contented to be 

 "seen," but wanted very much to be 

 "heard," which was not always conven- 

 ient for the speakers. 



A cloth or shawl flung over the cage 

 had the effect of lowering the song to 

 a mere whisper, but failed to stop it. 

 Often in the evening when callers came 

 in he would sleepily pull his head ou<- 

 from under his wing, sing a very sleepy 

 strain and then go to sleep again. 



This Very interesting pet lived to be 

 seven years old. After the excitement of 

 college life he was taken home, but he 

 soon grew feeble and one bright sum- 

 mer morning, I hung his cage in the 

 sunshine, and going out a short time 

 after, found that his little life was fin- 

 ished and Bobbie was no more. All 

 that remained of him was carefully 

 buried, but no pet I have since had has 

 shown the love or given evidence of 

 knowing as much as did mv ugly little 

 mongrel, Bobbie. 



Mary Noland. 



