rapidly; he became surprisingly tame, and soon appeared to enjoy life thoroughly. Occasionally, he was permitted to enjoy his freedom in a large room, but after running about awhile, always seemed glad to return to his cage, the door of which was left open, so that he might go home when he pleased.
He was a beautiful singer, and used to stand in the long grasses and fresh clover of his sod, quiver the poor pinions that could never again soar skyward, and burst into the glorious carol with which he had been wont to salute the sunrise, when, high up among the fleecy clouds, he had appeared an almost invisible speck of personified melody to the enchanted listeners below.
As the years sped by, this much-indulged bird craved petting and attention to an abnormal degree, could be coaxed at any hour into singing, and formed the strange habit of trilling a low, sweet carol at ten o'clock every night, which his mistress called his "good-night song. " When he had been caged for twelve or thirteen years he become as playful as a kitten, and was particularly fond of going through what his mistress called the "jungle tiger act," which consisted of crouching down out of sight in the grasses of his sod, and then springing suddenly forward to bite in a gentle way a finger poked between the wires of his cage. He never wearied of this game so long as he could induce a child or grown person to engage in it with him. and before he died, a year or so later, he developed a degree of playfulness that almost amounted to imbecility.
For Teachers and Students
‘On the Ethics of Caging Birds.’
[As stated in our last issue, Mrs. Miller's paper on ‘The Ethics of Caging Birds,’ in Bird-Lore for June, brought us numerous letters, from which we have selected two, representing both sides of the question, for publication. As a further contribution to this discussion we publish in this number of Bird-Lore several papers describing experiences with caged birds.—Ed.]
To The Editor of Bird-Lore,
Dear Sir:—I have always been such an admirer of Mrs. Miller's writings that I confess to a feeling of great disappointment in her article concerning caged birds, which appeared in your June number of Bird-Lore. Will you allow me to comment on it briefly?
Mrs. Miller starts out with the position that while she disapproves
