21 6 Cruelty to Birds 



which lent volubility to my Italian, he merely shrugged 

 his shoulders with a deprecatory foreign movement; 

 and I, hurling a final Diavolo at him, rushed from the 

 shop. 



In Rome a man used to stand at the bottom of the 

 great steps leading to the Church of the Trinita dei 

 Monti from the Piazza di Spagna, with a slight frame- 

 work hung from his shoulders, on which sat, apparently 

 at liberty, a lot of the pretty little Serin finches, and 

 also goldfinches. 



I had looked at these, en passant, but one day 

 stopped to examine them more closely. 



He usually had one which he used to make hop 

 from one finger to another of either hand. Any one 

 not understanding much about birds, would naturally _ 

 be attracted by their apparent tameness in the open 

 air. 



It didn't take one long to find out two things. 

 First, that their flight feathers were all pulled out ; 

 and, secondly, 'that they were evidently drugged, for to 

 a practised eye it was easy to see that the poor little 

 birds were almost unaware of their surroundings. 



Asking the man whether they could fly, he said, 

 " Oh yes, but they are very tame ; they do not wish to 

 go away," &c., &c. 



Then I rent him. 



Taking a bird in my hand, and extending its 

 pinion on either side, I said in Italian — 



" Can birds fly without wings ? " 



" Can birds fly that have been given medicine so 

 that they know not where they are .? " 



