BREEDING 91 



curely tied a strong muslin sack of assorted 

 grain to the slats on top. The birds and their 

 equipment were the admiration of all that saw 

 them. But the expressman, after asserting that 

 it would take but three days to reach their des- 

 tination, laughingly said I had supplied them 

 with enough grain for a three weeks' journey. 



The next morning at five o'clock came the 

 terrible earthquake of April i8th, 1906. Later 

 in the day, after I had summed up my com- 

 paratively few losses, I congratulated myself on 

 having gotten the silver runts off early the pre- 

 vious day, believing they were then well on 

 their journey. Three weeks later I received a 

 letter from the lady saying the birds had just 

 arrived but in excellent condition. They had 

 been detained in Oakland over the night of the 

 17th, and for much longer after the i8th, and, 

 finally, were shipped by sea. It was most for- 

 tunate that they had gotten out of San Fran- 

 cisco, otherwise, they must have perished in the 

 fire that immediately followed the earthquake. 



