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BIRDS EASY TO TAME.


By A. G. Butler, Ph. D., etc.


As there are some birds which are naturally of a quarrel¬

some disposition, although individuals may occur which are

exceptionally pacific ; as also there are birds which rarely or

never dispute, or which confine their differences to members of

their own species ; so also there are birds which are of a trustful

and docile nature, appreciative of kindness and always ready to

make friends with their recognized keeper.


Among our British birds, when caught wild and turned

into an aviary, I have found most soft-billed birds more or less

easy to tame after their first moult; but there are some species

which become confiding long before that — the Robin and

Stonechat and the female of the Grey Wagtail having taken

mealworms from my fingers in less than a week after they came

into my possession. The Blue-tit is a very trustful little bird,

and soon learns to know its owner and take liberties with him ;

but of all the Finches I have only found the Siskin really

friendly in a short time ; one pair having flown down to my

hand three days after I purchased them.


When kept in cages many birds appear to be tame long

before they really are so. A birdcatcher once brought me a fine

Goldfinch, in one of those diabolical cages about the size of a

match-box; he had kept it thus confined for a year or two and

prided himself upon its tameness ; for, however terrified the poor

bird might be when he poked his finger at it, there was no way of

escape; so that it simply crouched without fluttering. The

man told me he was hard up and offered me the bird for three

shillings, and, pitying the poor captive, I bought it and turned

it into a large flight cage : never before or since have I owned

so wild a Goldfinch !


At the same time, when a bird is fresh caught, too much

liberty at first often retards the taming process : I have tamed

Blackbirds in three or four days by keeping them in a cage where

they were compelled always to face me when feeding, and where

they had no room to knock themselves to pieces ; then, finding

them docile, I gave them greater liberty: 3^et all Blackbirds will

not thus be tamed, but remain more or less wild until after the

autumn moult.


Among foreign birds, the Blue Robin, so-called, and the

Pekin Nightingale so mis-called, are the quickest to recognise

their owners ; whilst, among the Finches, the American Non-



