A Faacinallny Bird. 2ll 
am to wi'itc tliis article. Probably many, but never miiul; it 
is not lOi' tlieir b;'neiit 1 am writing this — far from it. 
Then why write, tlo you ask? Well, here is my one 
and only excuse, viz.: to introduce to otliers one of the nicest 
and tamest of birds one can possibly desire. 
For the benefit of those who do not or Avill not keep 
British birds in their aviaries I may say that there is a (Con- 
tinental variety of iuii bird, slightly more expensive it is 
ti'ue, but against this it is a little prettier, as the head is 
almost white. 
I first bought two pairs of the Continental variety 
from Mr. Frost, tuining them straight out of doors; next day 
I entered the aviary, carrying mealworms with me. Soon a 
Tit, appeared on the scans and wishing to be polite I held a 
mealworm up to it. Would you like a mealworm Mr. Tit? 
Yes, please said he, as to my surprise he flew down, settled 
on my hand and took it. 
Thus encouraged I tried again until all four had eaten 
their fill. If you had asked me then which were the nicest 
birdf-i I ihad, there would and could only have been one answer — 
Long-tailed Tits. 
Too late I discovered that they had )>een kept in a 
warm room, and to my sorrow my four pets died, I at once 
bought another pair, and this time kept them in a liage 
and both have lived, taking mealworms from my fingers at 
once, and proving themselves most delightful pets. 
So tame are they in fact, that if you enter the room 
where their cage is and forget to .give them a mealworm 
they soon remind you, clinging to the wires of their cage and 
calling their loudest to attract attention; and never in vain 
do they call, for w^ho can resist a hull of bfack and white Huff 
which clings to the wire and stares at you with large black 
eyes. At first sight you imagine that nothing larger rhan a 
pin's head could possibly enter such a tiny little beak, but tiny 
as it appears you will find that half a mealworm is very, 
soon a thing of the past, you feed the hen, then hubby, w^ant^ 
one, and by that time her ladyship is quite ready for another. 
You may say, and not without reason, that these birds 
were tame when I bought them, they were, but that does not 
alter the fact that they are perfectly easy to tame once rhcy 
are meated off. 
