34 



THE OSPREY. 



railroad track to g-ather up the grain, or on 

 shade trees close to houses, and once the whole 

 famil3' settled in our little fifteen foot Tyson 

 pear tree within a few yards of the jjorch. where 

 the weakling- of the young- clamored with open 

 mouth for food. 



As it is said to winter south of our state line, I 

 kept a daily recoi-d of its occurence, expecting it 

 to disappear at any time in the fall. The young- 

 ■were not seen after December 13th, but the old 

 birds have not deserted their haunts, not join- 

 ing the g-reat flocks and roosts of C. aiin'rica7iiis 

 even in the coldest weather, apparently roosting- 

 in a nearby small cedar grove. During- the 

 month of March, they have appeared at their 

 feeding- ground about the railroad by 5.45 

 o'clock in the morning. I feel positive that they 

 are of recent and local introduction. Perhaps 

 the locality will prove cong-enial, and their 

 permanency be assured. 



This bird' is a great favorite of the farmer, as 



it diligently helps to rid the fruit-trees and berry 

 bushes of their insect enemies, but never insists 

 on appropriating the choicest and best priced 

 of their fruits to its own use, as a reward for its 

 industry. Indeed so hig-hly is it esteemed, that 

 I confess to a few twinges of conscience, this 

 morning-, when I abstracted a couple of eg-g-s 

 from the nest of a happy pair as the nucleus of 

 a future collection; but, as three eggs were yet 

 left in the nest, I consoled myself by the reflec- 

 tion that I could have taken as many more 

 without causing- the parents distress, as I have 

 often heard it said, that none of the feathered 

 kingdom are capable of counting beyone one; 

 the truth of this statement we see exemplifled in 

 the domestic hen, who seldom abandons her nest 

 as longf as it contains the customary nest ^^g- 

 I mig-ht mention many other pleasing incidents, 

 relating to this bird, but they would, probably, 

 prove less interesting- to others, than to us, under 

 whose observation it daily comes. 



DUSKY, OR SOME TRAITS OF A CANARY BIRD. 

 By Miriam ZiEbkr, Philadelphia, Pa. 



A couple of 3'ears ago when Marks Brothers', 

 large department store in Philadelphia, Pa., was 

 selling- canary- birds, the son of a friend of mine 

 decided upon" buying a rather scrubby looking 

 bird with dark plumage. 



"Oh, don't take that one!" said his mother, 

 but Harr}^ wanted no other. 



"The man says it was born in Germanj^ 

 mamma". 



"I guess so", laughed his mother. 

 But, however that may be. Dusky, as he was 

 afterwards named, began at once to distinguish 

 himself. He no sooner was purchased than in 

 some manner he got out of his cage (probably 

 the door of it became ajar) and flew to another 

 part of the store. Harry, much concerned, beg- 

 ged the salesman not to let his treasure get away. 

 With very little trouble the fly-away was caught, 

 promptly returned to its cage, and carried to 

 what was hereafter to be its home. 



Of course, the first thing Harry did was to 

 provide it most abundantly with food and drink, 

 at the same time remarking: on its fearlessness; 

 there was no fluttering whatever — only a keen 

 interest in what was taking place; the cup 

 of water was no sooner placed at the side of the 

 cage than this remarkable bird made an efi'ort 

 to get into it, ducking its head repeatedly. 



"It wants a bath", cried the family, who had 

 gathered around the barred home of the new 

 arrival. 



So the bird's bath tub was filled with water, 

 and put into the cage. 



Then the fun began. Such splashing! It 

 seemed as if that bird was determined to take a 

 year's washing in advance in case he should not 

 have the chance of another bath. After it was 

 over it took him an hour to plume himself to his 

 satisfaction. 



He is the cleanest of his kind, wanting: his 

 bath every day. 



But his intelligence shows to the best advant- 

 age when he is let out of his cage. He appears 

 to be delighted with the liberty allowed him; 



everything and everybody is used for a perch. 

 All any member of the family has to do in order 

 to become a resting place for the dear little 

 winged creature is to say — 



"Tweet, tweet; Dusky, come to me". 



Down conies the tiny fellow from mirror, 

 mantle piece, back of chair Or whatever he hap- 

 pens to be on, and makes straight for the top of 

 the head of the person who called him. If the 

 head moves too much, its feathery occupant 

 hops to the shoulders. 



It is very amusing to watch him as he inqui- 

 sitiveU' peers up into the person's face. Every 

 few seconds he gently pecks at the corner of the 

 mouth of anj' one on whose shoulder he has 

 alighted. 



But the most wonderful thing of all is, that 

 if he is told to sing he will at once start to do so. 

 The request must be accompanied by a sound 

 resembling the word rush or swish or anything 

 with sh in it. Dusky at once ceases his explo- 

 rations around the room, settles himself to his 

 music, and sends forth the most beautiful song, 

 seemingly in a perfect rapture. 



When anyone is sewing, as she draws the 

 thread out of the goods. Dusky flies on the 

 hand of the sewer, and unless put off, remains 

 there some minutes, going up and down with 

 the hand. 



He gathers all the threads and shreds of 

 things he can find and carries them to the tops 

 of the places he uses to perch upon. 



All this is so delightful that one feels inclined 

 to give that bird "a good squeeze", the fear of 

 crushing it alone helping one to resist the temp- 

 tation. 



Indeed one might receive a good pecking, as 

 this accomplished creature does not at all relish 

 being handled. It prefers literally to keep 

 human beings under its feet, not having the 

 least desire to feel even the fingers of one of 

 them on its head or its back. 



When it is required to enfer its cage again one 

 has but to hold out one's finger, upon which it 



