Herbert having consented, away flew the cockatoo down on to the path; but at that moment a huge cat, which lived outside, and which had a lively young family of five kittens, under the summer-house, saw the bird and made a pounce at him, catching him by the feathers of his tail. Fortunately Herbert saw what had happened, and before the cockatoo had time to scream, he had pitched his cap at Mrs. Puss, and then drove her away with the branch of a tree lying near. Mr. Cockatoo was shaking with fright, and was thankful to find himself inside his cage once more, with the door securely shut. For some time after, when Herbert urged him to take a little exercise, he refused, saying that he agreed with Mrs. Polly in thinking that, as they were now in a foreign country, flying about did not seem to suit his health, and that there were worse places than his cage.
Some days after, Herbert's cousins came to pay him a visit; and as Minnie was recovering from a severe illness, the sofa was taken out of doors, and placed under the spreading branches of an oak-tree. There she lay, enjoying the fresh cool air that wafted along under the branches; while Herbert read aloud her last new book to her and her sister Grace. Polly, who had taken a great fancy to Minnie, had requested Herbert to place her perch close to them; for, though she liked to be out of doors, her terror of cats was so great, that unless she was closely guarded she preferred to remain in her cage. It was a book on natural history Herbert was reading from. In the midst of a dry description of the habits of the humming-bird, he suddenly broke out with——
"'The humming-bird! the humming-bird!
So fairy-like and bright
It lives among the sunny flowers,—
A creature of delight!
"'In the radiant islands of the East,
Where fragrant spices grow,
A thousand thousand humming-birds
Are glancing to and fro!'"
"Oh! how beautiful they must be!" exclaimed Herbert, pausing in the reading. "How delightful it must be to visit foreign countries! Only think of 'a thousand thousand humming-birds!'"
HERBERT AND HIS COUSINS. Page [74].
"Do you know," said Grace, "when I was a little thing, I used to lie awake at night and think of all the different animals and birds and fishes there are in the world, till I declare I got so frightened I used to scream out. Nurse used to call it the nightmare; but it was no such thing. I wish I could have thought of only the humming-birds—it would have been lovely."
"Cheer up, Sam!" sung Mrs. Polly from her perch, in a very pathetic voice, which set the children laughing heartily; for somehow, as Minnie said, Polly always knew how to bring in her wise sayings just when they were wanted,—and there was no doubt she was the very cleverest parrot that ever lived.
It was during the visit his cousins paid Herbert, that the great macaw arrived from Uncle James; and Herbert was delighted to find he was not a wild specimen, as he had supposed, but quite an educated one. They called him the "Great Mogul;" but though he was tamed, he had learned so many bad words from the sailors, that Herbert thought it would be better to keep him separate from Mrs. Polly and the cockatoo till he had forgotten them. He was a very greedy bird, and ate so fast that he was constantly dropping the best parts in his hurry to get some more. Dash, a little terrier belonging to Herbert's cousins, was not long in finding this out; and whenever he saw the boys feeding the parrots, off he would go and seat himself at the foot of the perch. He used to sit up and beg all the time, and evidently thought the pieces were thrown down to him out of pure good-nature; for he was always exceedingly polite to the parrots, and when he heard them shrieking at sight of the cats, would bark and drive them away.