Little Bird 
Friends. 
(29) 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
They tried it upside down, endwise, sideways, 
but it was no good. At last they seemed to 
be trying to make it waltz in ! But even that 
failed. What was to be done? Should I be 
obliged to send my beautiful cage back again to 
France? But the men turned to me. I think 
their hearts must have been full of pity, for I 
am sure my eyes were swimming with tears. 
A cheery voice said : “ It’s all right, mum, we’ll 
have to take out the window, and haul it up 
from the outside.” And so they did! First 
they carried it downstairs again, and out into 
the garden; then they removed the window- 
frame, tied ropes to the cage, and pulled it up. 
It was not hurt at all, and glad was I to see 
it safely in my room at last. 
But why has it such a queer name? Ah ! I 
must tell you about that. I was, of course, 
obliged to give the cage some name. It could 
not have a number, as it stands alone; it is not 
in a street. It is what the builders call a 
‘‘detached residence.” As it came from France 
I thought a French name would suit it best. 
“ Chateau,” as I dare say you know, means 
“ Castle,” or any fine, large mansion. “ Chez- 
les-Oiseaux ” means “ where the birds live,” or 
“ the birds’ home.” So the whole name means 
something like “The large, beautiful Birds’ 
Home.” 
The cage stands on a very low table, about 
two feet from the ground. The roof is a pointed 
one, and at the highest part is only a short dis¬ 
tance from the ceiling. All the arrangements 
inside are most convenient, but I saw directly 
one alteration I should have to make. There 
were three large swings or trapezes hanging 
from the roof, and these I knew would be much 
liked, but elsewhere nothing but long, straight 
perches, all exactly alike. Objections would be 
made to these, I felt sure. I had had talks 
with my birds on this subject before. They 
had said : “ Do not you like a little variety? You 
walk on smooth pavement, rough, stony paths, 
soft grass, up and down hill, and change like 
this is pleasant to your feet. And we, too, like 
a change, and in our natural home in the trees 
are clinging first to a thick branch, then to the 
tiniest twig, our claws adapting themselves to 
all.” I can quite see the sense of this, cannot 
you? So if you are obliged to keep your bird 
in a small cage with only two parches, let one 
be thick and the other thin, and he will thank 
you. I quickly took out nearly all the perches, 
leaving a clear, open spgce in the middle of 
the cage for flight. Then I fixed short bits of 
natural branches across the corners, up near the 
top, for quiet roosting places. Then I hung up 
six or eight small rush nests the shape of little 
barrels, open at one end for the small birds to 
sleep in at night, or to shelter in on cold days. 
Then all over the back of the cage I fixed 
branches, a few from dead trees, with very slim, 
little twigs indeed, and some green fir branches. 
They look so very pretty, and the birds love to 
hop in and out and frisk among the branches. 
But unfortunately the beautiful green effect is 
soon spoiled, as you will read when you come 
to the chapter about the “ Clown.” The seed 
is supplied to them in long drawers, little 
wooden roofs keeping it quite clean and whole¬ 
some. The floor is covered with sawdust, and 
sand given in a small wooden tray. This, as 
you know, all birds need to assist their diges¬ 
tion. Now you will be quite tired of this long 
description of Chateau Chez-les-Oiseaux, and 
want to know something of the twelve birds 
who live there. 
To be continued. 
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