Page 18 - A Little Bush Maid

The canaries had a cage to themselves-- a very smart one, with every device
for making canary life endurable in captivity. Certainly Norah’s birds

seemed happy enough, and the sweet songs of the canaries were delightful.
T think they were Norah’s favourites amongst her feathered flock.

Finally there were two talkative members--Fudge the parrot, and old
Caesar, a very fine white cockatoo. Fudge had been caught young, and his

education had been of a liberal order. An apt pupil, he had picked up
various items of knowledge, and had blended them into a whole that was

scarcely harmonious. Bits of slang learned from Jim and the stockmen were
mingled with fragments of hymns warbled by Mrs. Brown and sharp curt
orders delivered to dogs. A French swag-man, who had hurt his foot and

been obliged to camp for a few days at the homestead, supplied Fudge with
several Parisian remarks that were very effective. Every member of the

household had tried to teach him to whistle some special tune.
Unfortunately, the lessons had been delivered at the same time, and the
result was the most amazing jumble of melody, which Fudge delivered with

an air of deepest satisfaction. As Jim said, "You never know if he’s
whistling ’God Save the King,’ ’Pop Goes the Weasel,’ or ’The Wearin’ o’

the Green,’ but it doesn’t make any difference to Fudge’s enjoyment!"

Caesar was a giant among cockatoos, and had a full sense of his own

importance.

He had been shot when very young, some stray pellets having found their
way into his wing. Norah had found him fluttering helplessly along the
ground, and had picked him up, sustaining a severe peck in doing so. Tt

was, however, the first and last peck he ever gave Norah. From that
moment he seemed to recognize her as a friend, and to adopt her as an

intimate--marks of esteem he accorded to very few others. Norah had
handed him to Jim on arriving at the house, a change which the bird
resented by a savage attack on Jim’s thumb. Jim was no hero--at the age of

eleven, he dropped the cockatoo like a hot coal. "Great Caesar!" he
exclaimed, sucking his thumb, and Caesar he was christened in that

moment.