168 
SYLVIAM. 
on a finger, deliberately prepare himself for sleep : which on one occasion he indulged 
in so long, as to completely weary his perch. He would eat off my lap, hop about 
there without any concern, pick at my shawl, and then look up in my face and begin 
his little song, or prattle ; occasionally he became quite coquettish, disregarding my 
call, while sitting on a high branch and only descending at his leisure, with a digni- 
fied hop — hop, from twig to twig, as if quite aware of how much I was his humble 
servant. Finding that neither Cresty, nor Big-eye, visited the terrace, but that we 
always found them waiting for us, either in the garden, or in the melon-pit enclosure, 
we began to suspect there was some appropriation of landed property amongst the 
birds, and were soon convinced of the fact, by witnessing grievous battles between our 
two favourites, Terry and Cresty, the former attacking the latter if he appeared within 
a certain distance of the terrace, and the latter seizing Terry, if he made any move- 
ment towards the melon-pit. It would have been amusing, had it not been distress- 
ing, to view these beauteous little creatures, who seemed only formed for harmony 
and love, bristling up with rage, every feather like “ quills upon the fretful porcupine,” 
eyes on fire, and their tiny heads making circles of defiance before the final collision, 
which always terminated by our separating the combatants, who retreated severally 
to their respective districts, — so fierce have they been that they have fought even 
upon our hands. Terry, though by far the mildest and quietest creature in times of 
peace, was the most daring and determined in war : he seemed also to have more 
respect for the rights of property, for Cresty was generally the intruder upon his 
neighbour. 
We often marvelled, that we had never seen tlie slightest quarrel take place between 
Cresty and Big- eye, though we had often perceived frequent trespassing upon what 
we deemed Cresty’s peculiar domain; the riddle was solved however, in spring, 
when one day the latter gentleman made himself very busy by snatching a crumb 
from us at repeated intervals, which he would eagerly carry to a neighbouring hedge. 
On examining the premises, we saw Mrs. Big-eye, snugly ensconced in her bower, 
and her gallant Cresty, playing the kind little husband by bringing her food, which 
she opened her mouth with much satisfaction to receive. Afterwards we watched 
them both go down to the bank next the sea, which proved to be the spot selected 
for their nest. And in process of time (the lady having disappeared altogether), Cresty 
would carry large cargoes of food to madame and the chicks. Often about this period 
have we seen both him and Terry, (with green caterpillars caught in their bills, and 
writhing round their heads like so many small serpents,) hop on our hands, and add 
to their burthen eight or nine bits of oaten cake, and thus, with bills well packed, fly 
to their nest. Cresty never was, at any time, so familiar with us as Terry ; his habit 
was to flutter round the hand for a moment, pick a crumb, and away:, but he would 
occasionally rest for a minute or so, then sit on a flower-pot, or twig, and talk to us. 
Big-eye never came near us but in the absence of Cresty, and then only to about the 
distance of half a yard, where she fed quietly and securely on the crumbs we threw 
down to her, — and when this pair brought their young ones abroad, they kept close 
to the hedge and seemed to inherit the shyness of their parents. But not so, the 
progeny of our sweet Terry, who were careless and confiding ; their mother never 
came near us, and we have sad reason to believe that she met with some untoward 
