ome days, then perched on it; but finally
she went in, and it was amusing to see her evident delight: how she went
incessantly in and out, and turned round and round inside, and finally
sat down and remained in it for an hour or more, quite still and happy,
peering out at any one passing by, her sleek head and neck looking
remarkably like a snake, and her furtive black eye observantly watching
all that went on around her.

Her cage, when not in the conservatory, was placed on a table in the
drawing-room, close to where I was sitting, and thus she was frequently
spoken to and noticed, which is one great secret in taming birds and
animals. They soon learn to greet one with some token of recognition,
and their often solitary lives are brightened and cheered by such
companionship.

An amusing thing occurred one day while I was away from home for a few
hours. Zoee's cage had been placed in the sun, and a friend of mine,
glancing at the bird, saw her in an apparently dying state, her head
hanging on one side, the beak wide open, all the feathers ruffled, and
the whole aspect of the bird indicating the near approach of death. The
bell was rung, the servants came in, and whispered consultations were
held as to what could be done, and "What would mistress say?" seemed the
uppermost thought. All at once, Zoee jumped down and began a vigorous
hammering at her tree-stem, as full of life as ever, and she was at once
voted "a little impostor." When I returned and heard the account, it was
easy to explain that my birdie had been enjoying a sun bath, which
always gives rise to most lackadaisical positions while the state of
dreamy absorption lasts.

The mealworms which Zoee mainly lived upon were kept in a tin
biscuit-box, which she knew well by sight, and one day, being too busy
to spare time to feed her with them, I opened her cage-door and put the
box down a little way from the cage on the floor, and placed a small log
of wood for her to descend by. Down she came, perched on the edge of the
box, looked at the layers of flannel which covered her delightful worms,
and tugged at one corner after another till she obtained her prey. After
swallowing two or three, she thought a little store might be useful, and
began taking them in her beak, and searching for some convenient
hiding-places, but as I did not desire to have the drawing-room neatly
ornamented with mealworms, I had to prevent that little design being
carried out. My tiny pe