202 



THE OOLOGIST 



tame, auil he can handle them with im- 

 punity. ]n fact they appreciate atten- 

 tion fvnm him and always welcome him 

 by a ^lad scree scree. 



Another friend owned a pet Crow, 

 and this bird had i)y constant instruct- 

 ion been taught to repeat jump Jim 

 crow. I must acknowledge, that no 

 one, unless aware of the crow's pow- 

 ers, would understand a word of this 

 poll parrot talk, but I will give Mr. 

 Corvus the credit, by s yiiig that the 

 words were plain enough after we were 

 told what was attempted. This crow 

 would eat most anything from the 

 table. 



Blue Jays make lively pets. Theyare 

 handsome, wicked, v vaciousand noisy. 

 They will eat anything and are very 

 tough and easily cared for. 



Wild pigeons are easily kept, and I 

 know of their breeding successfull3' in 

 confinement. An acquaintance kept a 

 few for many years, which he used for 

 stool pigeons during the tight in spring 

 and fall, as he was a netter.* These 

 pigeons used to breed each spring in 

 confinement, rearing one young at a 

 time. 



Quail and partridge are easily kept, 

 but it is impossible to rear the young 

 when taken from the motherbird as I 

 have tried to my sorrow. 



Hummingbirds cannot be successfully 

 confined, as they wear themselves out 

 trying to escape, dashing themselves 

 against anything in their path. Fly- 

 catchers, warblers, swallows, wood- 

 peckers, nighthawks, whip-poor-wills, 

 and in fact all insect-eating birds are 

 impossible to raise from the nest. Nor 

 have I met with any success in keeping 

 the adults in confinement. In direct 

 distinction to this, it is easy to keep all 

 sparrows and other seed-eating birds, 

 and I have proved this with several 

 well-know^n species. The Indigo bird 



*It is owing to the work of these Betters, and 

 other despicable game butchers and pot hunt- 

 ers, that we are now suffering from the almost 

 utter extermination of the Passenger Pigeon. 



thrives in captivity, and I've heard the 

 full, bursting song of the Rose-breasted 

 Grosbeak from a caged bird. 



All ducks and geese thrive behind the 

 bars and I know a gentleman down 

 east, who has several species of wikl 

 ducks fairly domesticated. Herons and 

 Bitterns will live well in captivity, and 

 it is surprising how easily they will 

 change from a nearly pure fish diet to 

 a table-scrap feed and seem to thrive 

 on it. 



Snipes, plovers and sandpipers are 

 readily' kept, if one has the time. An 

 interesting pair of pets that I owned 

 were two Golden Plover. They pre- 

 ferred angle worms, of which food they 

 could manage an amazing amount, but 

 could live on beef if it was cut up fine 

 for them. Killdeers can also be kept. 



In conclusion, I will say, that the- 

 most satisfaction can be derived from; 

 seed-eating pets, and I would advise alU 

 bird lovers to attempt to keep no other' 

 kind of birds, unless it is the drolli 

 Blue Jay, tricky Crow or some of the- 

 Hawks, Owls, or game birds. On no 

 conditions attempt to raise young birds- 

 from the nest, for it is generally a fail-- 

 lire. Of the young birds that I have- 

 attempted, the common Cedar bird is- 

 an easy one to bring up. It can be- 

 reared on nothing but cherries of which 

 it will eat vast quantities eveiy hour in 

 the day; but it quickly becomes a nui- 

 sance. 



A Heronry. 



On the 15th of May I visited the Her- 

 onry which I am about to describe. It 

 is twenty miles from New York City, 

 and is situated on Long Island. 



The woods were full of Warblers, 

 Robins, Thrushes, Brown Thrashers, 

 Vireos, Black-l)illed and Yellow-billed 

 Cuckoos, Woodpeckers autl Creepers. 



As I walked through the woods I 

 heard a sound like the bark of a dog, 

 and stopping to listen I he rd another. 



