“I found no difficulty in effecting my escape, for I was considered so tame, that I was sometimes allowed to be about the room when the door was open. On one of these occasions (Miss Stanton being busily occupied in finishing a drawing, which she intended as a present to the lady she was going to visit) I dexterously slipped out. “I now found myself in the hall by which I at first entered. My heart palpitated with terror, lest I should be perceived by any one, and I anxiously sought for some opening by which I might get into the garden; fortunately, I perceived that the staircase-window was open. My joy on this discovery is indescribable. It almost deprived me of the power of flight: but making, at last, one vigorous effort, I darted into the garden, where I remained no longer than was absolutely necessary to recover myself, lest I should be pursued, and conveyed back to a place which I now considered as a prison. “My freedom at this time was less irksome to me than formerly, for I felt a degree of courage to which I was before a stranger; and that, I imagine, preserved me from the attacks of the other birds, for they now treated me very courteously. One of them in particular, by his kindness, so engaged my affection and gratitude, that we became inseparable companions, and shortly after the commencement of our friendship, we mutually agreed to build a nest together. Ah! then it was that I first knew the delights of liberty and society. Our labours, sweetened by affection, were converted into pleasures; while hope, displaying to our imagination the little brood nourished by our mutual toils, and reared by our mutual cares, imparted a new relish to every enjoyment. “Time thus happily spent passed quickly, and the blissful period at length arrived, when our little ones, bursting their brittle enclosure, greeted our delighted ears with their chirping, sweeter to us than the most melodious warblings. Oh, what were my feelings then! To you they must be inconceivable, for it is not in the power of language to describe them. Of the cares and anxieties of a mother, you may form some idea, by recurring to the solicitude of your own; but the sensations of delight she experiences, can be appreciated only by one in a similar situation. For some time we tended our offspring with unremitted care: they throve amazingly, and becoming strong enough to sustain a longer absence on our part, my mate and I ventured to fly abroad together. Our first excursion was short, for I was all anxiety; but finding our little ones safe and well on our return, we were, by degrees, emboldened to quit them during a longer period.