268 



Bird - Lore 



FROM YOUNG OBSERVERS 



TWO PET MOURNING DOVES 



My teacher, Mrs. Engleman, rescued a young Mourning Dove from the 

 mouth of her son's dog. She put him in a tree but later he was attacked by 

 Blue Jays. Another lady took him home and fed him until he was well enough 



to fly. Then she gave him to 

 me and I brought him home 

 for a pet and named him 

 'Flower.' My sister Con- 

 stance climbed a tree and 

 caught a baby Dove which 

 she named 'Daisy.' My 

 mother fed her by stuffing 

 bread and milk down her 

 throat. 



Flower was so tame that 

 we used to take him riding 

 outdoors on the baby carriage. 

 Although he was such a nice 

 pet with us, he used to peck 

 Daisy very unkindly until 

 Daisy grew big enough to 

 peck back. Daisy was tame 

 as long as she could not feed 

 herself, but as soon as she 

 learned to do that she became 

 timid and never seemed to 

 like us. We fed them weed 

 seeds, grain, and birdseed. We 

 kept them on the sleeping- 

 porch all winter, but when 

 spring came we let them go. Marjorie Duncan Nice (Age 8 years). 



[One soon learns from keeping pet birds that no two individuals, even of the same 

 species, arc exactly alike. The}' are often as dilTercnt in their behavior as two people. 

 —A. A. A.] 



A FIGHT FOR A HOME 



I had been watching a Woodpecker finish building his nest in a pine tree; 

 he had built it in a hole that he had made himself. One day I woke up to 

 hear an awful noise in the pine grove. It sounded like a lot of Magpies trying 

 to see how much noise they could make. I quickly got dressed and went out 

 there and I looked all around to see who could be making all that noise. I 

 happened to look up the pine tree where the Woodpecker had his nest, and 



A I'KT MOURMXG DOVE 



