C 307 1 



MY BIRDS. 



BY RE;V. THOMAS B. GIBSON, M.A. 

 ^ Continued fro7n page 289.) 



Of the Crow family I have three kinds, viz., the Starling, 

 the Jackdaw, and the Jay. There are about a dozen Starlings 

 at present in my aviary ; though I certainly would not keep 

 so many were it not that I fear to lose one which I have had 

 for about five years, if I released or gave any away, not being 

 able to distinguish my favourite from the others in any way 

 but by his voice, which is superior to anything I had ever 

 imagined in a Starling — superior I might say almost to any 

 other bird's voice I know — for he imitates everything in the 

 aviary and chuckles over his imitations when he has finished. 

 This bird, with three others, I obtained from a nest near my 

 aviary, having taken them while unfledged and placed them 

 in a cage which I then hung over the entrance to the nest. 

 The old birds attended to them for about a month, when I 

 placed them in the aviary, where they have remained ever 

 since. Two or three others have since been obtained, in the 

 same manner; but the greater number were placed in the 

 aviary last winter to save their lives, they having been caught 

 by my pupils during the severe frost. I may here say that 

 the Starling is a delicate bird I believe, though only one has 

 ever died with me ; and, last winter, for several mornings in 

 succession, I found dead Starlings lying upon the heaps of 

 crumbs I had placed for them. The want of water was, I 

 believe, felt by them even more than the want of food; and, 

 when I placed a basin full of water near the crumbs, the Star- 

 lings would at once crowd around it to drink, neglecting the 

 food till they had slaked their thirst. It is very singular 

 that my Starlings have never bredln the aviary though some 

 of them may be said to have been almost reared in it ; and I 

 have been careful to provide nesting material plentifully for 

 them. But, indeed, I may say that birds usually despise any- 

 thing that is done for them that way, in an aviary at least, and 

 will pitch upon the most unlikely places to nest, though you 

 may have arranged everything most beautifully for them only 

 a few inches away. Why, for many days, I have removed 

 portion of a nest from the lid of my seed-box, and in the end 



