Marshall Saunders

“ In the morning I hurried to their basket, and uncovered the nest I had made for them. They were as warm as toast, and four wide-open beaks pleaded eloquently for food. I cut up more meat, and for days fed them when hungry, and carried them out of doors in the sunshine, where they were objects of interest to every one about the place, especially to the dogs that would fain have devoured them.
One Sierra collie dog, Teddy Roosevelt by name, in whose upbringing I was assisting, used to tremble as he stared at them, partly from jealousy, partly because he recognized lawful prey in them. ”

“ I got to dread the sound of young Virginians chirping in the nest. They were rarely allowed to live more than a few days, and it was painful to find the plump, dead bodies, well-shaped and looking well-nourished. What killed them? I shut up one suspect after another. The gallinules, the mockingbird and Ruby himself. Red-top would not dare to go near his enemy’s nest. Not until two years ago did I discover that Virginia herself lifted them out. ”

“ Whistler, I am sorry to say, after his return to the city, developed into a confirmed pugilist, and some one had to take time to fight with him every day. Bracing his two red feet firmly he would close his eyes, grunt vigorously, keep a tight hold on the finger that had been extended to him, and jerk convulsively like a dog that has hold of another dog’s throat. His pinches and twists were so scientific that at last we wore gloves while contesting with him. After getting pretty well warmed up he would vary the twisting process by giving hard slaps with his wings. ”

“ When Bob took a sun-bath, any member of the family who happened to be near him would always be convulsed with laughter. He would stretch his legs far apart, stick out his ragged plumage, elevate his head feathers till he looked as if he had a bonnet on, and then half shut his eyes with the most ludicrous expression of robin bliss.
All birds look more or less absurd when taking sun-baths. They seem to have the power to make each feather stand out from its neighbor. ”

“ Those that I have had have been quiet and amiable, and among the most good-natured and obliging of my birds. The first time I heard them sing I was enraptured. Their song was so sweet, so modest, so melodious. One finch I possessed amused me greatly. He fell into a kind of slavery to a siskin, who followed him and worried him until he at last consented to help her make a nest, in which there were some fine young ones that might have turned out promising hybrids if some wicked, larger bird had not one day killed the neat, determined little mother. I found her headless body beside her nest. ”

“ To return to the guineapigs—to those persons who insist on saying they are stupid, I would like to state that I never saw any animal or any bird kinder to the young of other animals or birds than those same guineapigs.
I have seen human mothers kind and devoted to their own children, and to say the least of it, neglectful and egotistical when it came to the offspring of others. I have seen dogs, cats, and birds absolutely hateful to the young of their own kind. ”

“ The young pigeons in the aviary always hissed at human beings who went near them. Princess Sukey, on account of her upbringing, looked upon human beings as her friends, and when I showed her a bird for the first time, she rose up in her nest, clapped her beak, and hissed in terror.
She hated birds, and has hated them ever since. One day, when she was a plump young pigeon, her father walked up to her, bowing and scraping as polite pigeons do. I was greatly amused to see Sukey take him by the long neck feathers and give him a good shaking. ”

“ I tried to make him view this proposition from the bluejays’ point of view, and embraced the occasion of preaching again the doctrine that it is a cruel thing for a boy to rob a bird’s nest, or confine a bird in a cage. Also, that I wanted no eggs from nests, and no nestlings, except those that had wandered far from their parents, and who would starve if left to themselves.
I found no trouble in getting boys to understand this. Boys and girls are just what the grown people make them. If we are kind to birds they will imitate us. ”

“ The rats are the only creatures that willingly stay underground with the men, and beside acting as scavengers, their sharp eyes and ears are ever on the alert for slipping sand, or pebbles falling from the rocky roofs. They hear noises unperceived by the men, and previous to a caving-in, will run for the open air with wild squeals of terror. Small wonder that the miners protect them.
They have also admirers of their intelligence, among whom I am proud to number myself, for why should carnivorous human beings be too hard on rats for killing birds? ”

“ Well, the instant the lost sparrow opens his little beak and gives a cry of distress, three or four mother sparrows come flying toward him with their beaks full of food. They don’t wait to see whose baby he is, as some human mothers would wait. ”

“ Birds arouse certain emotions, and touch a certain set of feelings that no other creature has power to stir. They are so beautiful, so finished, so fragile and elegant, and so helpless. Baby birds always remind me of human babies. The young of many animals will nose about and search for food. The tiny bird does nothing but open its beak. ”

“ The trained birds and animals that used to give me so much pleasure are now distressing sights to me. Why should little canaries be taught to wear jackets, and fire cannon, and draw little carts? They don’t like it—they can’t like it. Those actions are contrary to bird nature. They were created birds. Why not let them be birds? Bird intelligence is not human intelligence, and it seems foolish to try and wrest it into a semblance of ours.
I now let my pets do just exactly what they wish to do in the line of accomplishments. ”

“ Then there are storms and variable winds, and often the birds’ overpowering sense of fatigue, for many fanciers give their homers cruelly long journeys to perform. What a temptation to a weary bird perching on a tree branch, to rest himself for a few minutes, to go with a strange pigeon who so politely invites him to his near-by loft, where he will find rest and refreshment. ”

“ If human beings gave as much attention to the raising of their young, we should have an almost perfect race. However, we would scarcely lift sick young ones out of the nest to die. In that respect we are ahead of our bird friends. We might imitate them in one respect, and that is in the way they seem to prevent sick and delicate birds from becoming heads of families. I have noticed that ailing birds in my aviary, in some way or other, do not wish, or are not allowed to have mates.
One handsome but delicate canary never seeks a mate, but all day long flies by his father’s side. ”

“ He is usually in the best of health, and he opens his yellow-rimmed beak and stares trustingly at me, and after I give him one meal my fate is sealed. I am nurse-in-chief for many days, though a young sparrow, of all my birds, learns soonest to feed himself. Life is sacred in the eyes of children, and the way to get rid of sparrows is not by inciting boys and girls to destroy them. ”

“ A lady had brought her handsome parrot into the room where the owls were. The poor little mites put up their ear tufts, swayed to and fro on their perch, and instead of packing their feathers and becoming thin and elongated in appearance, as they did for cats and dogs, they puffed themselves out, snapped their beaks, and uttered the loudest hissing noise I had ever heard from them. ”

“ This seemed to me to show some sense of humor, and I afterward noticed other birds indulging in tail-pulling. Canaries are particularly fond of it, and I often have seen a mischievous canary sneaking up to another who is sitting on a branch, his little throat distended, his head back. He is singing the most eloquent song he knows. Perhaps he is showing off before some pretty stranger whose good graces he wishes to gain, when, lo, he is thrown into a most pitiable state of confusion and contortion, for canary number one has seized his tail and has given it a good tweak. ”

“ Pigeons wear the same gown all the time. They do not moult into different colors, and Sukey does not like me to do so. When I moult into a new hat or a new gown she is either in a fright or a rage. If the former, she holds herself erect, packs her feathers and becomes slim, and grunts like an Indian several times—“Ugh, ugh, ugh!”
One can never mistake the pigeon sound of fright. If she is merely angry she flies on the hat, bites it, scolds incessantly, and shows her displeasure with me by talking rapidly. ”

“ RAISING YOUNG BIRDS My canaries with their bites, and nips, and blows, reminded me of naughty children. However, it does not do for a bird to be too meek in an aviary. The bird that, when struck on one cheek, turns another, must say good-bye to happiness. The bird that keeps out of the way and is never attacked, gets on very well, but the bird that is not afraid to stand up to a bully, has the best time of all.
I was amused with a hen bird one day that was attacked by a larger bird. ”

“ His chief pleasure in life was to mischievously frighten birds from their food.
Sometimes he would select a bird as large as a pigeon. I have seen a big fantail spring from the ground in nervous terror when Dan, with a menacing hiss, came rushing at him from some sheltered nook.
His attacks were always in the rear, when it was a case of a large bird. If he had dared to attack the pigeon in front, the big fellow would have given him a disdainful peck.
One day I found a Java sparrow dead in a box beside her nest full of eggs. Poor little mother bird! ”

“ He is the most quiet, self-contained, meek little bird imaginable. If any bird chases him he flies to his little box in my room. The only thing he begs for is a cockroach. He will hop toward me in the morning with a pleading expression, if I have not one of the most unprepossessing members of the beetle tribe for him. ”

“ We suffer, and the lower creation suffers with us. We lie down and die, and so must they. The rational and really happy way is to struggle against this passion of tenderness for all suffering, created things, to endeavor to be wise and practical, and while doing everything in our power to alleviate all suffering and unhappiness, yet not to be weakened by it.
Little Solomon had a happy life, and an almost painless death. ”

“ I can always tell by the length of a young robin’s tail when he is old enough to look after his own food supply, but Tardy’s tail grew until it was almost as long as an old bird’s, yet he would not eat a morsel himself. He would fly at me on the rare occasions when he wanted food, would scream, peck at me, and go to his dish of worms. ”

“ One other item of interest about homers I find in a late newspaper: A bird was released from a balloon over Dover, Vt., eight thousand five hundred feet in the air, and above the clouds. The earth was invisible, but the homer in a short time arrived safely at its Fall River cote.
Now, after all my praise of the hard-working, clean-shaped homing pigeon, I must make the confession that the favorite bird in my aviary—the one that I am perhaps foolishly fond of, is not a homer, but a monstrosity. ”

“ In order to illustrate the vagaries of birds, I may say that the Brazil cardinal that hated Red-face and drove him away, allowed the stranger that looked exactly like him to sit near his nest. There is nothing but human nature that at all resembles the doubled and twisted workings of bird nature. ”

“ The Australians were nearly frantic to see that I had deprived them of their playmates, and flew about the veranda, chattering and screaming excitedly.
When I showed them the cage containing the Madagascars, they flew right up to it, and Little Eyes, whose love for Mrs. Madagascar had been made fonder by absence, shrieked something that sounded like, “Where have you been? speak! speak!” ”

“ While pigeons are excellent pets, and a means of relaxation for weary persons, I hold that of all classes to be benefited by their study and care I would put first boys and girls. Taking care of pigeons is easy work. They are hardy creatures, and books as to their management can be easily obtained. Nothing keeps a boy out of mischief like a loft of pigeons. Let him have homers by all means, rather than the elegant fancy pigeon monstrosities that care to do little but strut about a loft. Let him train his birds and have his traveling-basket to send them on railway journeys. ”