G


Introductory

one  appreciative  listener  for  a  single  half-hour  out  of  each  year,"
and  so  mi.
But  1  must  remind  all  readers  that  any  one  who  does  keep
pets  incurs  responsibilities  along  with  the  pleasure  they  bring.
To  deprive  any  wild  animal  of  its  liberty  and  then  neglect  it  is
sheer  barbarity.
Having  birds  in  this  way  affords  almost  the  only  means  of
studying  the  remarkable  individuality  possessed  by  different
members  of  the  same  species.  That  each  bird  has  a  character
peculiar  to  itself  may  be  doubted  by  some,  but  1  have  never  seen
two  individuals  showing  the  same  peculiarities.  Two  rose-
breasted  grosbeaks  that  have  been  rearj^t^gettef^from  the  same
nest,  and  are  now  eighteen  months  old,  arei^fifferent  in  almost
every  way.  One  is  intensely  jealous  and  objects  to  attention  being
paid  to  any  other  bird;  the  other  seems  not  to  know  what
jealousy  means.  One  wants  to  deep  at  n'lgj],^  the  other  keeps
up  a  perpetual  jumping  from  perch  to  percrwuntil  all  hours.
The  female  (who  has  most  of  the  bad  traits)  never  lets  her  mate
have  any  little  tid-bit  in  the  way  of  food;  no  matter  how  much
she  has,  she  immediately  seizes  whatever  is  given  to  her  better-
natured  companion.  So  it  is  with  all  the  other  birds;  one  will
be  naturally  wild  and  timid;  another  knows  no  fear;  one,  though
tame,  cannot  endure  being  touched;  another,  like  a  bluebird  I
have,  wants  to  be  handled  most  of  the  time,  and  is  quite  content
if  allowed  to  sit  quietly  (and  go  to  sleep)  inside  a  partly  closed
hand.
