24 
A Reminiscence. 
partially feil liimsell, but he nc\ei" did so \villinL;ly, and if he 
knew anyone was in the room, insisted always on beini; fed, 
i^ivini^ i)lainti\e. helpless chirps and fluttering" his wings in a 
way that plainly intimated he was starving in the midst of plenty. 
He never touched any insecti\()rous mixture, Init would take 
gentles and wasp grubs. His favourite food was mealworms 
of which he ate prodigious cpiantities ; he has taken as many as 
30 at a time from the writer's lingers ; this was in pre-war limes ! 
He was never seen to drink or bathe, though he always looked 
neat and trim. He also never came down to the ground; they 
are not addicted to running or hopping, but he used to fly a g'ood 
deal in his cage. His chief and most attractive characteristic 
was his extreme and confiding friendliness; he depended on his 
friends for all the necessities of his life, and showed a helpless- 
ness which was most endearing. If anyone came into the room 
he would call loudly for attention, coming to the bars of his 
cage for conversation and a mealworm, and was without a trace 
of nervousness. 
After the food difliculty was settled he seemed quite easy 
to keej), and was always in the best of health and plumage, 
passing through the winter without any special care. When 
Lady Ivathleen had owned him for over a year he met with his 
death owing to the carelessness of the writer, wdio left his cage 
door open. This had been done before and he had never shown 
the slightest wish to leave his cage. On this occasion the room 
was empty, the window open, and he got into the garden. He 
was in the garden two days, during which time he had no food, 
as, on any attempt to fly, he was at once mobbed by a crowd of 
vociferous s])arrows, and driven l)ack into the trees. On the 
topmost Ijranches he sat, calling loudly and plainti\ely for help 
from his agoniseil friends below, but too hel])less to come down 
to them, or his cage, and safety. On the evening- of the second 
day a gardener marked him tlown in a tree, climbed it and g'ot 
liim, but whether he had caught cold, it was a wet day, or 
whether the sparrows had injured him. was not known; he never 
recoA-ered from the effects of his ad\ cnture, and died after about 
ten days, to the great regret of his many friends. 
^^^^ 
