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My Bird Neighbours.



My garden and greenhouse are always full of birds I feed

them and they hunt insects for me. My greenhouse is made of

laths, and the birds can fly in from top or sides; when I am

working there they keep me company. The Jays fly on to my

head or shoulder and beg, and if I don’t pay attention to them

they pull my hair and pinch my ears, or pull the hair-pins out

of my hair, until I give them peanuts. When I sprinkle the

plants, they fly back and foi'th through the spray. They sit on top

of the shed for me to give them a shower-bath, fluff their feathers

and stay until they are soaked. When I turn the water on

the Crane, he dances.


The Florida Jays are most intelligent, If I give them a

whole peanut and then hand them a kernal or two, they will look

at the kernals, lay the whole peanut in my hand, take the kernals

back in their throat, and then take the whole peanut. The Jays

are not afraid of snakes ; I have seen them alight on a snake and

pick it and scream. When one gives the danger-signal, the

others all fly to him and join in the uproar, showing us where

the snake is. One day, while killing an adder, one Florida Jay

was on my head and another on my shoulder, both screaming with

excitement. I have found the Florida blue Jay the hardest to

tame, but I succeeded after a great amount of patience in coaxing

them to perch on my hand for peanuts ; when they brought their

young, it did not take two weeks to tame them.


Birds have dispositions like people ; some are so gentle and

sweet, others regular little bullies ; they tease each other and play,

and they love to be flattered.


My Cardinals bring their young here to be fed, and when

they can feed themselves the old birds leave and I see nothing of

them for severals weeks; when they come back and chase the

young ones away to ‘ shift ” for themselves.


I had a very tame Woodpecker which was fond of peanuts ;

he would sit or hang on my little finger, while a Jay sat on my

thumb, taking cut peanuts from my palm. One day I noticed

that he had difficulty in eating and, on examination, I found that

his tongue was broken in half, the lower part being so swollen he



