THE TOY CANARY

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 394, 30 June 1928, Page 27

THE TOY CANARY

There was a toy canary in a little china cage. A bright yellow cage it was, nearly the colour of gold. Now, although he sat all day and looked as if he could sing, at night the canary really did sing, for whenever the bright moonlight lit up the nursery and shone upon him his eyes sparkled, and he sang fairy music to the Moon. But one day his cage was broken and he was thrown off his perch on to the floor. Then someone came with a broom, and the pieces of his cage were swept up and thrown away, and he was put into the nursery of the doll's house to be a bright, new toy for the doll babies. He was laid on the Little Doll’s bed, and covered with a pink blanket. But he did not cheer up very much; he just lay and waited for the moonlight to come. When the house was quiet and still and the Moon peeped in through the nursery window, she did not see the little toy canary, for he lay in the darkest corner of the doll's house, and as no moonlight could reach him he could not sing. And the Moon was so sad that she had missed him that she hid her face behind the nearest black cloud. The next day, v/hen the doll's house was being cleaned, the window stood wide open, and an old jackdaw on the apple-tree branch outside saw the little canary bird lying on the ground. He liked bright, shining things, and so he flew into the room, and then out again with the toy canary in his beak. Away he flew up to his nest on the thatch of the old barn roof, where he made a little nest for the canary. And now, when the night comes and the Moon shines brightly, the little toy canary bird sings fairy music to the Moon, and the jackdaw listens because he likes it.