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beating their little fragile lives out in unspeakable despair, shut away by man’s 
cruelty in a filthy room in a still more filthy slum, where a glimpse of blue 
could never reach them. . , . Many times have I pointed out to dealers the 
folly, if only from a pecuniary point of view, of leaving dead birds (a common 
sight) for days and weeks in the same cage with apparently healthy living ones. 
Nor is this the only evil. The crass ignorance which prevails as to the treat¬ 
ment of insectivorous birds is almost as great; but although Nature tries her 
best to point out the error of feeding her foreign favourites oil seed alone, it is 
persisted in until death mercifully puts an end to the feathered captive’s 
existence. It is grievous to think how many thousands of foreign birds annually 
imported to this country perish through the cruel neglect meted out to 
them here.” 
It is frequently said by the advocates of bird caging that the 
birds are happy enough or they would not sing in captivity. As 
well might one argue that the human prisoner, if in the dull 
monotony of his life he should sing a song he had learnt in his 
childhood to while away the time, was happy in his prison life. 
That the song of a bird expresses joy only is an assumption 
entirely. Our interpretation of the sounds of nature is very 
conventional. We say that the tide “moans,” and the rippling of 
the brook is called “merry.” Even the so-called “laugh” of a 
hyena passes with some people for mirth. And so with birds, we 
do not know the meaning of their songs. The free dove is 
described as being mournful, and the captive lark as being gay. 
In captivity the bird repeats the songs he has learnt in his 
days of happiness. That we usually associate them with joy is 
no proof that the bird is enjoying a happy life. The quiet 
little conversation that the small captive carries on with himself 
while hopping restlessly from perch to perch seems to me a very 
sad indication that he feels the times are out of joint with him. 
If the singing of a bird necessarily denotes joy, then must their 
happiness be in proportion to the smallness of their cages, for 
fanciers unite in giving as a reason for keeping them in small 
cages that they sing the better for it. 
It is sometimes urged that caged birds are shielded from many 
evils which beset their wild relatives, but the argument is not a 
sound one. In as far as birds may be considered as irresponsible 
