BIRD NEWS 



"grouse disease," so much dreaded 

 by the sportsmen and game keepers 

 on the moors of Great Britian. — B.N. 



HUMMING BIRDS AS HOUSE PETS 



(Mrs. Emersoii-Ci'owell, Hay ward, 

 California. ) 



One of the most wonderful of na- 

 ture's works is the "hummers." Its 

 breast covered with iridescent plum- 

 age; its wings of gauze, hovering 

 hither and thither over the bright 

 blossoms in search of sweets, hid- 

 den in the depths of each corolla. 

 When the cup is drained, with a 

 quick dart he is away to other fields 

 of luxury. 



I had often wished to companion- 

 ize them ,and was so favored the 

 spring of 188 2. While my son and 

 myself were in a small grove of 

 cypress and gum trees watching 

 birds, we found a nest of the Allen's 

 humming-bird (Selasphorous alleni) 

 — the young just about ready to fly. 

 I carried them home in their nest 

 and fed them with moistened sugar. 

 After three or four days I taught 

 them to thrust their long wiry bills 

 into a glass vase filled with syrup 

 made from white sugar; which they 

 ate by a rapid thrusting of their 

 long thread-like, white tongue, sim- 

 ilar to the method of a cat drinking 

 milk. Very soon they learned to go 

 to their cage and feed themselves, 

 and they were allowed to fly about 

 the rooms through the day, as 

 screens at the doors and windows 

 secured them from escaping; they 

 did not attempt to get out or fly 

 against the windows, as wild birds 

 generally do. 



I soon taught them to come to 

 my call, and feed from my lips, or 

 rest on my brush, while painting. 

 That recalls an amusing incident that 

 happened to one of my pets, being 

 "furiously" hungry, he made a dash 

 at a mass of chrome yellow on my 



palette, which stuck to his bill, and 

 as I was hurrying to finish, I did not 

 notice the mishap until his plaintive 

 peep and fluttering before my face 

 attracted my attention. Upon re- 

 lieving the poor little "OMOLINE 

 ORESE" of his super-abundance of 

 yellow, he returned his thanks and 

 made a hurried dart after a fly. 



I have often seen both making 

 short turns, and not stopping until 

 one or the other had made captive 

 a fly. Often they would perch up- 

 on the rounds of my chair, chirping 

 with a squeaky unmusical note, as 

 if to let me know of their presence. 

 When their food was gone they 

 would poise themselves in the air 

 close to my mouth and thrust their 

 bills between my lips, then fly to 

 their empty cup, then back to my 

 mouth, repeating it until I answered 

 their demands. Dr. J. G. Cooper 

 while watching their flight one day, 

 remarked that he never had known 

 of hummers having been taught to 

 gather honey from flowers, and I 

 decided to make the experiment. I 

 took some scarlet geraniums and 

 placing them in a vase on the table, 

 I called the pets, holding out my 

 brush on which they alighted, then 

 placed a drop of syrup in the centre 

 of each blossom, then putting their 

 bills in the drops of sweets, which 

 they sipped greedily, trying each flow- 

 er hovering in the air as we see them 

 out of doors; they did not need a 

 second lesson, nor did they forget 

 their instruction. 



When fresh flowers were brought 

 in, there was a gleaning without 

 delay. I noticed that the scarlet ger- 

 aniums received first attention, and 

 they would perch upon my arm and 

 hover about me with evidently more 

 delight when I wore a scarlet jacket, 

 showing a preference for the bright 

 colors. 



After a few weeks, I noticed one 

 of them on a rug where the sun 

 shone, fluttering its wings as if wish- 



