ORNITHOLOGIST 



$1.00 per 

 Annum. 



AND 



OOLOGIST. 



FRANK B. WEBSTER, Publisher. 

 Established, March, 18T5. 



Single Copy 

 10 Cents. 



VOL. IX. 



PAWTUCKET, R. I., FEBRUARY, if 



No. 2. 



An Experiment in Bird-Taming. 



The Black- crested Fly-catcher, {Phavn- 

 opepla nitens,) is quite a wild bird, always 

 keeping at a good distance, and as far as 

 possible, out of sight. Even when nest 

 ing and hatching its young it leaves its 

 nest while the visitor is yet at quite a dis- 

 tance. Like most other birds, however, it 

 cannot appeal" quite unconcerned, but with 

 raised crest it flies at a distance, and whis- 

 tles its toot ! toot ! of alarm, when the 

 egg hunter approaches the nest, but its fear 

 of man is too great to permit it to come 

 near to defend its treasures of smoky eggs, 

 or callow young. 



Till well able to fly, the young birds 

 cling fast to the nest in motionless silence, 

 if disturbed. They clutch hold of the 

 fibres of the nest with their claws, and 

 stick fast, even though the whole affair be 

 quite inverted, and it requires a good deal 

 of patience to remove them from the nest. 

 Nor do the young ones ever cry out, if re- 

 moved. From first to last they are perfect 

 heroes and stoics. 



Notwithstanding the apparently uncon- 

 querable wildness of this pretty bird, I de- 

 termined to try the effects of persistent 

 and uniform gentleness and kindness, and 

 see if it might be tamed. A nest was 

 found with a pretty pair of well-grown 

 young ones, so large as to nearly fill the 

 nest. At that age they looked very much 

 like the young of the White-rumped 

 Shrike, but the triangular, bare spot on 

 their heads, where the crest-feathers were 

 to grow, was distinct. So nest and young 

 ones were taken home. They grew apace. 



They fed on many things, and were raised 

 on such food as was given young Mockers. 

 This pair was a loving couple. During 

 their baby days they were never long sep- 

 arated. Whenever alone they worried and 

 called, till allowed to get together, and al- 

 ways, when at rest, either during the day, 

 or at night, they would snuggle up side- 

 ways together as closely as possible, in a 

 most affectionate manner, with little twit- 

 ters of comfort and peace, and never once 

 did they go to sleep in any other way. In 

 a few months, while they were yet but 

 baby-birds, they began to pick at threads 

 and fibres, and to move them about in cir- 

 cular shape, as if to make a nest. But, 

 alas ! soon the female began to have at- 

 tacks of nervous fits, starting up with a 

 shriek, and becoming stiff for a moment, 

 and at length the fits deepened into spasms 

 of longer duration, from which she would 

 recover with difficulty, and with laborious 

 gasps and pants, till at length, after such 

 a spasm, she quietly, and without pain, or 

 motion, died. The survivor still lives. It 

 has become so tame and familiar that the 

 instinct of fear is apparently lost. It is 

 never so happy or contented as when 

 perched on my shoulder, nibbling my ears, 

 or when standing on my finger, being fed 

 or talked to. In this ha2:>py captivity, it 

 still retains its pretty baby ways of flut- 

 tering its wings while being fed, and feign- 

 ing inability to help itself to food, although 

 no longer a young bird. But while so 

 gentle and apparently helpless, it is a brave 

 little hero ; its lion heart fears no bird of 

 twice its size, but, facing its enemy with 



Copyright, 1S34, by Frank B. Webster and Eaton Cliff. 



