February 5, 2008 [LINK / comment]
Say hello to "Luciano"
A couple weeks after George died so suddenly in early January, we decided to bring home a new canary to keep Princess company. She had given up calling for her dear, departed mate and was becoming very subdued, causing us to worry. Fortunately, one of the local pet stores had a male canary who was just starting to sing and who bears a resemblance to George 
, lacking only his crown. Sold! After thinking about it for a long time, we settled on a name for him: "Luciano" (as in Luciano Pavarotti, who died last September), because he is such a good and persistent singer.
His first few ventures outside of the cage were hesitant and awkward, as he slowly got used to the novel concept of flying free. As soon as he mastered the trick of landing safely, he quickly started exploring the other rooms. Now he constantly flies up and down the hall, grazing our heads more than once. He relishes the broccoli and green leaves we provide them, but he is not as fond of apples, for some reason. To our surprise, he followed the example of Princess in taking lengthy, vigorous baths, in contrast to George who was always a bit skittish in the water dish.
While it brings us great joy to have this "new bird on the block" (or cage), we are still grieving for George. He was very good to Princess, understanding that she was disabled and needed special attention. It will probably take a while before Luciano learns that.
Luciano, nibbling on lettuce, as usual. Roll mouse over the image to see a profile view.