THE EDUCATIONAL HUMANE SOCIETY 



5i7 



A Chapter of the Agassiz Association. (Incorporated 1892 and 1910.) The Law of Love, Not the Love of Law 



Taming an Adult Ruffed Grouse. 



BY ERNKST L. NIXON, ATHENS, OHIO. 



When I was twelve years old my 

 work during July was picking- berries. 

 One of these trips is especially promi- 

 nent in my boyhood memories. On 

 this particular morning I started out 

 very early, for the berry patch was 

 nearly two miles away. It was my 

 rule to stay in the field until my 

 "buckets were full," but on this occa- 

 sion I had scarcely entered the patch, 

 when a large bird, which I immediately 

 recognized as a grouse, flew out of the 

 briers and perched on a small persim- 

 mon tree. This I thought a little un- 

 usual for 1 had never seen one of these 

 birds in a tree. Cautiously approach- 

 ing the tree I shook it and the bird 

 flew to the ground and ran under some 

 running briers. This enabled me to 

 capture it with little difficulty. How 

 surprised and glad I was when I had 

 it first in my hands, then in my arms, 

 caressing and talking to it as though 

 it were conscious of my actions. 



I did not "fill my buckets" this day 

 but immediately started for home. 

 The journey seemed longer than ever 

 it did — but how 1 did walk! When I 

 reached home, I prepared a store-box 

 for my pet, which I afterwards called 

 Polly. Then I offered her a bountiful 

 supply of bread but she did not eat 

 it as I had hoped she would. Later in 

 the day my father suggested that I 

 feed her what she would get were she 

 in the field, so I went out in search 

 of grasshoppers and other insects. 



These were found in abundance almost 

 everywhere and these proved very ac- 

 ceptable to Polly. After so many years 

 I am unable to make an estimate con- 

 cerning the number and kinds that my 

 bird would eat, but I recall distinctly 

 that it soon became a burden to cap- 

 ture enough to satisfy her. 



I kept up my task of collecting and 

 feeding for several weeks and Polly 

 became quite tame. I could now reach 

 my hand into the box and stroke her 

 sleek feathers. At last — pleasure of 

 all pleasures — she would alight on my 

 arm and eat from my hand. Finally 

 the sad day came when my father ad- 

 vised that I let her out, as he said, 

 I could not feed her during the winter 

 and she ought to be out for a time 

 while the weather was warm in order 

 to learn how to gather her own food. 

 1 fe went with me to give her her 

 freedom. I lifted a board and away 

 she flew. My father said : "That is 

 the last of her." How sorry I was! 

 But oh the pleasure to find, within an 

 hour, that she had returned again to 

 her box. It ma}- be that she had re- 

 turned to teach me one more lesson 

 in the care of wild birds. I found her 

 enjoying a dust bath in front of her 

 home — the first since her capture. 



Polly was given her freedom late in 

 August. She continued to come back 

 daily for several days and always to 

 roost in her box. Her visits became 

 less frequent and finally ceased entirely 

 and so I gave up ever seeing her 



