Falling off the Perch

Tweet

Once upon a time my husband was given a Canary as a present. How he looked after that Canary. He talked to it as it swung on its perch and tried to teach it to sing. He placed him in a cage next to the glass doors so he could hear sounds from the great outdoors and at night the canary slept in his fancy cage covered by a sheet so that the cat who slept next to him didn't realize he was there. My husband and his bird became great friends and to a minor degree even the cat tolerated the canary. One night after the Canary had been living with us for a long time my husband found it lying at the bottom of the cage so he picked it up and placed it back on the perch. Over the next couple of hours this happened several times. Poor canary lands on the bottom of the cage and husband kindly places him back on the perch. Finally I asked him if he knew what the expression 'falling off the perch' meant. He looked at me horrified as he made the connection. His lovely Canary just wanted to be left alone to do what canaries do when they are not well. We left the canary at the bottom of his cage and made him as comfortable as we could. By morning the canary had died, he had fallen off the perch for the last time.