Watching some children trying to catch butterflies one August afternoon, I was reminded of an incident in my own childhood. When I was a boy of twelve in South Carolina, something happened to me that made me never put any wild creature (living thing) in a cage(笼子).
We lived on the edge of a forest, and every evening at dusk the mockingbirds would come and rest in the trees and sing. There isn’t a musical instrument made by man that can produce a more beautiful sound than the song of the mockingbird.
I decided that I would catch a young bird and keep it in a cage and in that way, I would have my own private musician.
I finally succeeded in catching one and put it in a cage. At first, being scared, the bird fluttered(扑腾) about the cage, but finally it settled down in its new home. I felt very pleased with myself and looked forward to some beautiful singing from my little musician.
On the second day of the bird’s captivity, my new pet’s mother flew to the cage with food in her mouth. The baby bird ate everything she brought to it. I was pleased to see this. Certainly the mother knew better than I how to feed her baby.
The following morning when I went to see how my captive (caged) bird was doing, I discovered it on the floor of the cage, dead. I was terribly surprised! What had happened! I had taken extremely care of my little bird, or so I thought.
Arthur Wayne, the famous ornithologist, who happened to be visiting my father at the time, hearing me crying over the death of my bird, explained what had happened. “A mother mockingbird, finding her young in a cage, will sometimes bring it poison berries(毒莓). She thinks it better for her young to die than to live in captivity.”
Never since then have I caught any living creature and put it in a cage. All living creatures have a right to live free.
60. An ornithologist is probably a person who ____________ .
A. studies birds B. loves creaturesC. majors in habits D. takes care of trees