今天下午在阳台上看到楼下一层邻居挂在树枝上的鸟笼。一只小鸟在里面蹦蹦跳跳，一会儿啄点食，一会儿点点水，关着窗户，听不到它的鸣叫声，但看上去蛮高兴的。突然想起Lora前几天给我的邮件中提到，她看到了蜂鸟！她把喂鸟环放在屋外3周了，那天是第一次看到小鸟光临。在鸟儿们漫长的冬季迁徙之后，再看到它们总是令人快乐的事儿。

Lora是我在美国的挚友。我们一起打网球认识，我父母经常去看我们打比赛，她和我父母也成为了朋友。2017年下半年开始，我们经常不在辛辛那提的家，Lora担心我父母闷得慌，就送给他们一个喂鸟小“花”环，让他们挂在后院树枝上。

不久后，红色的蓝色的小鸟们都来了，吃的不亦乐乎。说是“花”环，其实是由各种谷物和种子做成的，非常好看，中间还坐着个“小红雀”。估计是吸引其它小鸟，告诉它们这儿很安全。北美红雀是俄亥俄州和其它6个州的州鸟，是留鸟，从不迁徙。据说还是“愤怒的小鸟”的原型。

与笼中小鸟相比，又有好吃的，又能自由飞翔的野生小鸟应该是更快乐的。也想起老话“子非鱼，安知鱼之乐？” 我又不是小鸟，怎么知道小鸟快不快乐。上网查了一下，笼中鸟一般都是由雏鸟开始养起，与其它宠物一样，养久了，与主人也会有感情，有依赖性。自然界的野生鸟，大都过着风吹日晒雨淋，吃不饱还有天敌的日子。但是，我相信还是野生鸟更快乐一些，能自由飞翔比什么都重要。我不会养笼中鸟，如果不得不养鸟，也会尽最大努力给鸟儿们一个能展翅飞翔的空间，鸟天生是飞翔的，而不是圈在笼子里蹦。

I saw a birdcage hanging on a branch in the garden when I stood on our balcony. From time to time, the bird jumped inside the cage. I could not hear its chirping behind a closed window. Suddenly it came to my mind that Lora mentioned a bird in her email several days ago. She saw a hummingbird at that day! She has had the feeder for 3 weeks and it was the first time to see such bird. It is  always a joy to welcome them back after their long winter migration.

Lora is my best friend in the US. We played in one tennis team. My parents enjoyed watching our games, then Lora became my parents's friend as well. Frank and I had been frequently on business trips since the second half of 2017. Lora worried my parents might get bored and presented them a bird (feeder) wreath. It was hanged  on a branch in our backyard. Ad expected, birds came, blue ones and red ones. They seemed all very happy. 

The bird wreath was made of various grains and seeds. It looked very pretty with an artificial cardinal seating in with the purpose to attract the real birds. The cardinal is the official state bird of 7 states including Ohio. It does not follow a yearly migration pattern like many other birds. It said that the cardinal is the prototype of Angry Birds. 

Browsing online that the birds in cage usually were raised since they were nestling. Like other pets, they will build emotions or senses with their owners, may not independent anymore. The wild birds have to  bear wind blowing, expose to the sun and get soak besides to face other life threatening challenges such as hungry, and natural enemy. I believe the wild birds should be happier compared with the caged birds since freedom is priceless. 

However, there is one old saying that "You are not a fish; how do you know what constitutes the enjoyment of fishes?" Indeed, I am not sure if I am right since I am not a bird. One thing for sure is I will not raise caged birds. If I have to raise birds, I would give them enough space to fly around. Birds are born to fly not to jump in a cage.