A MIND OF HER OWN. 209 



him ; perhaps he even thought she went with 

 the house, — it certainly looked as though he 

 did. 



But the little dame had a mind of her own. 

 On his first intrusion she vacated her home 

 and passed into his. When he appeared in his 

 cage she quietly hopped back; on his return 

 she changed cages with equal alacrity; when 

 he settled himself on her perch, she was quite 

 contented on his. There was no dispute, no 

 warfare; she simply said, in manner, "All 

 right, my friend, select your abode, and I '11 

 take the other. I 'm satisfied with either, but I 

 intend to have it to myself." After awhile it 

 seemed to strike his lordship that she avoided 

 him, and he resolved to settle that matter ; here 

 making his second mistake, in trying to force 

 instead of to win. He entered the cage where 

 she sat quietly, and flew at her. She dodged 

 him and took refuge in the other apartment ; 

 he followed ; and thus they rushed back and 

 forth several times, till she stopped for breath 

 on a lower perch, while he was on an upper 

 one in the same cage. Then he leaned far 

 over and fixed his eyes on her, crest raised to 

 its greatest height, wings held slightly out, and 

 addressed her in a very low but distinct song, 

 which resembled the syllables "cur-dle-e! cur- 

 dle-e ! cr-r-r " ; the latter sounding almost like 



