208 BIRDS IN TOWN AND VILLAGE 



ject of sight! She must chirp and sing, and hop 

 from place to place, and eat and drink, and preen 

 her wings, and do at least a dozen different things 

 every minute; and her time is so fully taken up 

 that the narrow limits confining her are almost 

 forgotten — the wires that separate her from the 

 great world of wind-tossed woods, and of blue 

 fields of air, and the free, buoyant life for which 

 her instincts and faculties fit her, and which, alas ! 

 can never more be hers. 



All this sounded very pretty, as well as true, 

 and there was a pleased smile on every face in 

 the audience. 



Then the rapid movements and gestures ceased, 

 and the speaker was silent. A cloud came over 

 his rough-hewn majestic visage; he drew himself 

 up, and swayed his body from side to side, and 

 shook his black gown, and lifted his arms, as their 

 plumed homologues are lifted by some great bird, 

 and let them fall again two or three times; and 

 then said, in deep measured tones, which seemed 

 to express rage and despair, "But did you ever see 

 the eagle in his cage?" 



The effect of the contrast was grand. He 

 shook himself again, and lifted and dropped his 



