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ORIS^ITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. lo-^o. 2 



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stray Hocks of Cedarbirds, occasional Purple 

 and Rusty Grackles, and ])lenty of Purple 

 Finches add to the crowd of birds; all so far 

 mentioned swallow the berries whole except 

 tlie last, who only eat the pulp. 



Pine Warblers, with an occasional Myrtle, 

 peck away at the berries and the Golden- 

 crowned Kin<;let often joins them. Both 

 Tufted and Carolina Tits and any Blue-headed 

 Vireos that are about vary their insect diet 

 witli (loo-wood pulp. White-throated Spar- 

 rows, Snowbirds and other Sparrows also feed 

 on them in immense numbers as also a <i;()od 

 scatterino- of Yellow Hammers and Yellow- 

 bellied Sapsuckers and a few of the other 

 Woodpeckers also, though the IJri/olKdc^ seem 

 to prefer poison oak berries and the ileldiierpes 

 acorns. 



As loni;- as the dogwood berries last there 

 are always plenty of birds in the woods, but 

 when they are all juone the woods seem com- 

 ])aratively empty and lonesome and the collec- 

 tor lind better try tlie o])en held or the creek 

 woodlands. <'. ^'. Urliiilei/. 



Kalfifili, \. ('. 



A Tame Jackdaw. 



A few years a<;o^ passing' a bird store in Xew 

 York, I saw a lot of youu"- .Jackdaws (CorvitH 

 morieihiUi) of Europe. 1 bought one: beins 

 very tame and intelligent I at once ^ave it his 

 liberty, first slightly cuttin.u one winy'. Tliis 

 soon moulted out jierfectly. 



Mine is a farm liouse in New .Jersey, a gar- 

 den in front and the rest of the ,ti;r<nind in 

 sm;dl fruits and orcliard. .lack made iiimself 

 quite at home, so much so that had his parents 

 been domesticated for aj^^es he could not liave 

 shown himself nu)re contented. He knew 

 every memlicr of my family, including (loos, cats 

 and poultry. Of course he abounded in those 

 little tricks, such as runninii off with any little 

 article that attracted his fancy. These he took 

 to his hidiiio phices, carefully deiiosiliii;^ them 

 when not observed. How curiously does this 

 natural habit of the l>ir(l show itself. As soon 

 as it was old enough to run about, it took uj) 

 any little thing it coidd carry and hid it under 

 cari)et or mat. In the garden it was into every 

 nook and corner, finding much of its own 

 living; but no matter where it was, we had 

 oidy to call .Jack and he flew straight towards 

 us. He would eat ahnost anything — bread, 

 meat, fruits, etc., — but was very foiul of 

 roasted peanuts, for wliich lie wouhl run his 



head into my wife's pocket in search of them. 

 He was extremely iiupiisitive, looking into every 

 crack, hole or crevice. When animated at 

 seeing a chicken fight, when called or hungry, 

 he would keep up a loud cawing wliich was 

 not un])leasant. I had a little house for him 

 with a glass window and hinged door in front. 

 This was Jack's residence, and lie retired in it 

 every night in the garden. As the weather 

 grew cooler I moved it by degrees toward a 

 cellar window, and Jack did not forsake it. 

 As winter approaclied I sat the house inside 

 the window, leaving a small pane of glass out. 

 Jack followed it along a board to a shelf. On 

 cold nights wlien he retired he ;ictually took 

 hold of a little hook and pulled tlie door close 

 after him. That seems more than instinri; in 

 the morning lie would open his door and come 

 cawing out for liis lu-eakfast. At times he 

 would Hy off ((uite away and visit crows on the 

 edge of a wood, and it was amusing to see the 

 surprise of tlie crows at sucli a stranger; the in- 

 terview generally ended at the crows intimat- 

 ing that his presence was not one of social 

 e(piality. He faitlifully returned home, in 

 fact, his lieart was set on his lioine and its 

 surroundings. Jack was after everyone on 

 the farm, watching their occupations, whether 

 hoeing corn or picking fruit, and was strongly 

 attached to his mistress wlio fed him. In 

 spring he was much interested in tlie i)oultry, 

 sometimes settling disputes, but tlie most sin- 

 gular part of his life was his affection for one 

 hen; lie followed her all day long when not oil 

 on a little ramble, or being fed. Although the 

 hen (lid not resent his affections she did not 

 on the other hand leciprocate them 



He would allow no male or female bird too 

 close to her while he was present. Every tiinft 

 the hen laid he sat by lier till she came off the 

 nest. In due time the hen wanted to incubate. 

 Thinking she would be better out of Jack's 

 Avay I removed her to the barn, and set her on 

 eggs in a barrel half tilled with hay-seed. 

 Jack soon found her and sjicnt most of his 

 time on the edge of the bairel. Now occurred 

 a singular freak of nature which will interest a, 

 naturalist. .Jack was under the impression 

 that he must perform some architectural duties, 

 so he kept bringing in all kinds of dry rubbish 

 such as corn cobs, sticks, etc. These he 

 droi)])ed all around the hen till .'♦he was deeply 

 buried ill the edge of the nest. After getting 

 enough of this material he stiuck a new idea, 

 that the nest must have some soft lining, so lie 

 took to carrying in horse-hair from the stable, 

 but as the supply did not sih'Iii i>lentiful enougli 



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