THE OOLOGIST. 



63 



My Transient Captive. 



One warm, sunshiny day in the early 

 sunimer of several years ago I lay 

 dreamily in our hammock and watched 

 ed the slight quivering of the leaves 

 overhead and the high piles of white 

 clouds as they floated across the blue 

 sky with a movement scarcely percep- 

 tible. Everything was so quiet I be- 

 lieve I would have fallen asleep in a 

 few minutes more had not a slight, 

 hnmming noise aroused me from my 

 languor. A Ruby-throated Humming- 

 bird (Trochilus colubris) had flown di- 

 rectly over me, and several yards dis- 

 tant was hovering over the flowers of a 

 bnglo vine [Ajuga reptans), as it clam- 

 bered up the side of the house. Glad 

 of a pleasant diversion I watched its 

 rapid evolutions around the vine, as, 

 disappointed in some bugles, it instant- 

 ly withdrew and flew to others. I no- 

 ticed the chalices of the bugles were so 

 deep that to reach the coveted sweets 

 it was compelled to insert its beak so 

 far that its eyes and sides of its head 

 were completely covered by the pro- 

 jecting petals. The recurrence of this 

 fact together with its seeming uncon- 

 sciousness of my presence suggested 

 the possibility of its capture. I waited 

 an instant till it had again dived into 

 the recess of a bugle; then springing 

 from the hammock I ran to the vines as 

 noiselessly as possible and threw my 

 handkerchief softly over it. 



The little creature did not struggle 

 as I removed the cover and held it in 

 my hand. Without evincing the least 

 alarm it peered at me with its little 

 bead-like eyes, and seemed to be won- 

 dering whether I was an enemy or 

 friend. I was quite a boy then and 

 proud of my success I ran into the 

 house and showed it to my father, 

 mother and sisters. Its diminutive size 

 and brilliant plumage elicited great ad- 

 miration and a still deeper sympathy 

 was raised on account of its gentle 



manners and the quiet indifference 

 with which it submitted to our caresses. 



After these had continued for some 

 time my father, who always regarded 

 the caging of birds as cruelty, told me 

 that as it had afl'orded a good deal of 

 amusement, I must repay it by the re- 

 lease of the little captive. With boy- 

 ish reluctance I began to offer some 

 protests and entreating remonstrances 

 but they were stopped; and after a 

 short sermon on the rights of liberty 

 which belongs to every creature and, 

 probably, not a little sternness inter- 

 mixed, I obeyed. I took it within sight 

 of its place of capture and released it. 

 As I did so I noticed a second hum- 

 mingbird flying around the bugles. 

 My little captive saw it also, and evi- 

 dently regarding it as an intruder.|dart- 

 ed after it with a sharp chirping note. 

 The intruder hastily retreated with the 

 other in full pursuit. I watched them 

 intently. After a short chaseijmy freed 

 captive returned, hovered again over 

 the vines and then perched upon one of 

 its slender stems. I approached it, 

 and to my surprise it allowed me to 

 take it into my hand, offering no resist- 

 ance except uttering a soft note and 

 sidling movement. Could it, I thought, 

 have been tamed so easily and so soon? 



I carried it once more to the house, 

 and after my relation of the little inci- 

 dent I was permitted to retain my do- 

 cile pet upon the condition that it was 

 to be confined in no cage but a room 

 seldom used and that if it should ever 

 seem dissatisfied and pine for its free- 

 dom I was to grant it. 



This was pleasant news. I took it to 

 to the room mentioned, and freed it. 

 It circled around several times, and 

 passing by a mirror perceived its image. 

 Thinking the latter another bird, it 

 poised before the glass, and, pecking at 

 times upon its surface seemed trying to 

 get at its own mistaken likeness. I 

 made a small perch and placed it be- 

 fore the mirror and the bird became 



