he too grew accustomed to freedom, and expressed no further
fears when he was out.

Making arrangements for the night was an interesting event in bluebird
life. They always selected the highest perch in the darkest end of the
cage, and placed themselves so close together that they looked like a
wide ball, or two balls that had been almost pressed into one when in a
very soft state. In the morning the feathers on the side next the mate
were crushed flat, requiring much shaking and dressing to give them
their ordinary appearance. What was curious, the female took the
outside, no doubt with the motherly motive of taking care of him. To see
them settle themselves was pleasing. Being more quiet and less nervous
than his spouse, the singer generally retired first, some time before
she was ready, and composed himself in a moment in his corner, for they
were never restless at evening; she followed when she chose.
Occasionally, however, she went first, taking her place about as far as
usual from the wires, and leaving space for him. But if he went to his
place, there was not room to turn around, facing the middle of the cage,
as was their custom; and he seemed to appreciate the difficulty, for he
hopped up on the outside, or the wrong side of her. Instantly she jumped
to a lower perch, when he sidled up to his regular place, and she at
once returned and took her usual position beside him. One night
something startled them, and both flew wildly around the cage. I
produced a light to show them the perches, so they might quiet
themselves again. The male readily did so, but she remained on the lower
perch. I went close to the wires and began to speak soothingly, to calm
her, and induce her to resume her place, when, to my surprise, she began
to reply to me, every time I spoke, standing less than a foot from me.
She stared me full in the face, not at all disturbed, and answered every
word I said with her musical call, in a low tone, as if to tell me the
story of the fright. We kept up the queer little chat for several
minutes, and she did not return to his side that night.

One advantage of studying two birds of a kind at the same time is to
observe the talk between them, which has great interest for me. This
pair were exceedingly talkative at first, uttering not only the usual
musical three-syllable warble or call, which Lanier aptly calls the
"heavenly word," but often soft twittering prattle, of varying
inflection and irregular l