ANNA has a little bird, and she calls it Tot. You must try to find out
from the picture what sort of a bird it is. It can sing and play; and it
is so tame, that it will put its bill between Anna's lips when she says,
"Kiss me, Tot."
Her dog Fancy is quite fond of the bird, and will let it light on his
head; and Anna is trying to make Muff, the cat, give up her habit of
killing birds. But I hope that Anna will be careful, and not trust Muff
too far.
I have heard of a cat in a bird-shop, that was trained to take care of
birds, instead of harming them; but this is a rare case. It is hard to
keep a cat from catching birds, and from troubling the little young ones
in their nests.
Anna is so fond of Tot, that she will not let a cat come into the room
where he is. Tot can whistle a tune. He likes to light on Anna's head,
and will sometimes almost hide himself under her thick hair. She feeds
him, and gives him a bath every day, and lets him fly about the room.
[Illustration]
If Tot were to fly out of the window, I think he would try to get back
to his own little cage, so fond is he of Anna.