232 A SAUCY BRAZILIAN. 



The stanch little friend had many chances to 

 show his loyalty. The other birds in the room 

 were not slow to take advantage of one who 

 never defended himself. In particular a Bra- 

 zilian cardinal, a bold saucy fellow with a scar- 

 let pointed crest and a loud voice, evidently con- 

 sidered the tanager cage common ground, open 

 to everybody, until the goldfinch undertook its 

 defense. It was amusing to see the small bird 

 stand just inside, and rage, puff himself out, 

 wave his wings, and fairly drive away the foe. 

 So impertinent was the Brazilian that the finch 

 declared general war upon him, and actually 

 chased his big antagonist around the room and 

 away from his favorite perches, hovering over 

 his head, and flying around it in small circles, 

 trying to peck it, till he flew away defeated, 

 probably because he was too much amazed to 

 think of resisting. 



This was not, however, the worst enemy he 

 had to deal with. Next door to the tanager 

 lived a robin, a big, rollicking, fun-loving fel- 

 low who considered such a retiring personage 

 fair game. His pleasure was to see that the 

 tanager went out every day, and he made it his 

 business to enforce the regulation he had set up. 

 His tactics were to jump upon the roof of the 

 eage, coming down violently just over the head 

 of the tanager, who, of course, hopped quickly 



