222 



Bird -Lore 



sides but soon merely the touch of the spoon was the signal for opening the 

 mouth at once. 



In a couple of days Beauty began to hop to the edge of the basket, then off 

 the basket to the floor, and from the floor attempted to fly to the chair-rounds. 

 At first our bird could only reach the very low ones, but each day it reached a 

 higher one and soon could fly anywhere about the room. When first learning 

 to do this, it would back off about a foot and then give a sort of leap. If it 

 failed it would back off a little farther and would finally gain the round. 



When very young it kept up an almost incessant calling, but as it developed 



this changed to an occasional low, soft 

 call or a quick trill or chatter in answer 

 to our call or whistle. 



The tail and wings developed rapidly 

 and by the end of two weeks Beauty 

 was almost an exact reproduction of 

 Mother Oriole. The feathers under the 

 wings and along the sides of the breast 

 seemed to become a deeper yellow each 

 day. 



We soon placed Beauty in a cage 

 with a shallow dish of water and also 

 one of food, and before long the little 

 bird was beginning to drink and pick up 

 things for itself though it still liked to 

 be fed. One day we found it soaking 

 wet. It had been down in the water- 

 dish for a bath. Some of these warm 

 days Beauty washes several times and 

 has become so tame as not to seem 

 afraid of anyone. Before being able to 

 fly. Beauty would hop after mother's 

 skirts, and as soon as strong enough to use the wings, would fly after us every- 

 where, lighting on our heads, shoulders, or hands, coming to the table at meal- 

 time, and taking a helping of anything if allowed to alight on the dish, the 

 remains of cereal, butter, cocoa, berries, etc. 



After our bird had lived with us for about three weeks we hung its cage 

 from an upper window near an elm tree. How it loved that elm tree ! It spent 

 most of the time in it, coming back to the cage quite often for food. If the 

 window was open it would come in for a time and then fly out again. Once in 

 a while it flew to trees farther off but always came back when we whistled or 

 cafled. 



Our pet found the water on a bird-shelf about fifty feet away and loved to 

 bathe there, though still drinking in the cage. Beauty constantly surprised us 



RUTH AND 'BEAUTY' 

 "For the first few feedings it was necessary 

 to force open the bill by a slight pressure at 

 the sides" 



