OUR PETS. 195

was busily engaged eating nuts, a strange once, and so frightened at last did the
cat sprang upon her, and killed her. boys become, that they used to sit upon
Dear me, how grieved we all were! and their chairs with their legs under them,
we laid her beside Jaco under the daisies like tailors, or the figures of Indian idols.
Loro was very lonely after Polly died, and At last we removed into the, country,
drooped sadly; so we got another parrot, and Jack roamed all about the neighbor-
a South American bird, bright green, hood, but would always come home at
with gay colors, and a very gentle, amia- twilight, and perch himself within sight,
ble bird. -He had a very funny name, it to remind us to take his cage to him, in
was 'Papagazia;' he always called him- which he always slept. He grew tame,
self so, and we all learned it very quickly, so that he would allow us to scratch his
though the little ones called him 'Pop- poll, but it was always with a croak of
sey,' for short. I do not think Loro ever warning against any further freedom be-
liked Papagazia as well as he did Polly. ing taken.
He preferred his old friends, the cats, He was particular about breakfasting
but by and by poor Papagazia drooped early; there were some families near who
and died, and we had him stuffed, he was breakfasted earlier than we did,-how he
so handsome, and I kept him on a little could find this out I don't know, but he
bracket in my room for a long while. did find it out,-and he used to go and
When Loro died we buried him in the tap with his beak at their windows till he
prettiest place we could find, for we loved was fed. He would then come back to
him better than all our parrots." us ; we used to have large loaves of cur-
 A lady once had a jackdaw for a pet. rant bread, and of this Jack was very
She said : It was given to me, and I fond, although, as he had already had one
took it home to the great delight of a or two breakfasts before, he cared for
number of children, who were just as nothing but picking out the currants.
noisy as so many magpies, or daws, them- When he came and tapped at the window
selves, of our breakfast-room, we used to give
 "In myfamily there were two little boys him a piece of this bread, and he always
who wore knickbockers and red stock- flew on to the roof of an outhouse to eat
ings ; now, the plump little legs in these it. But there were plenty of birds there
stockings were very tempting to Jack, as impudent and daring as he was, I mean
and if he could only find a darn, or a the sparrows ; and by some means they
crack, or a tear, where the slightest bit all came to know that he took his meal
of white showed through, he would give in this place. Twenty at a time would
such a 'dig' at the place,-the little boy come; I have counted thirteen 'dodging'
being at dinner, perhaps, and never round his legs at one time, and peck after
dreaming of this terrible jackdaw,-as peck would they give at his bread. Jack
would cause a dreadful scream all at would croak angrily at them, and rush