might set the house on fire.

Often when I got up from my chair a shower of the bird's playthings
would fall from his various hiding-places about my dress,--nails,
matches, shoe-buttons, bread-crumbs, and other things. Then he had to
begin his work all over again.

Jakie liked a small ball or a marble. His game was to give it a hard
peck and see it roll. If it rolled away from him, he ran after it and
pecked again; but sometimes it rolled toward him, and then he bounded
into the air as if he thought it would bite. And what was funny, he was
always offended at this conduct of the ball, and went off sulky for a
while.

He was a timid little fellow. Wind or storm outside the windows made him
wild. He would fly around the room, squawking at the top of his voice;
and the horrible tin horns the boys liked to blow at Thanksgiving and
Christmas drove him frantic.

Once I brought a Christmas tree into the room to please the birds, and
all were delighted with it except my poor little blue jay, who was much
afraid of it. Think of the sadness of a bird being afraid of a tree!

II

Jakie had decided opinions about people who came into the room to see
me, or to see the birds. At some persons he would squawk every moment.
Others he saluted with a queer cry like "Ob-ble! ob-ble! ob-ble!" Once
when a lady came in with a baby, he fixed his eyes on that infant with a
savage look as if he would like to peck it, and jumped back and forth in
his cage, panting but perfectly silent.

Jakie was very devoted to me. He always greeted me with a low, sweet
chatter, with wings quivering, and, if he were out of the cage, he would
come on the back of my chair and touch my cheek or lips very gently with
his beak, or offer me a bit of food if he had any; and to me alone when
no one else was near, he sang a low, exquisite song. I afterwards
heard a similar song sung by a wild blue jay to his mate while she was
sitting, and so I knew that my dear little captive had given me his
sweetest--his love-song.

One of Jakie's amusements was dancing across the back of a tall chair,
taking funny little steps, coming down hard, "jouncing" his body, and
whistling as loud as he could. He would keep up this funny performance
as long as anybody would stand before him and pretend to dance too.

My jay was fond of a sensation. One of his dearest bits of fun was to
drive the birds into a panic. This he did by flying furiously around the
room, feathers rus