"The tableau is beautifully composed, centring around the song bird in its gilded cage. The girl, with her neatly braided hair, has discarded her puppet and both she and her mother, the latter pausing from her book, are both eagerly awaiting the bird’s sweet song. This bird is from the Oriole family, birds noted for their colourful plumage and cheerful singing." http://books0977.tumblr.com/post/136017219102/a-song-sweetly-sung-jan-frederik-pieter-portielje