Notes on viy Birds.



125



at would not pass through the aviary door, and the birds reso¬

lutely refused to come out when the coop door was opened and

the coop placed against the open doorway.


We did not like to catch the Cranes, for to tell the truth

the sharp bills of such tall birds were not very pleasant in such

near conjunction to one’s eyes. The persuasion of gentle pokes

with a stick only made the Cranes stand further back and matters

began to look desperate. There seemed nothing for it but to

put down the coop by the open aviary door and wait till hunger

drove the birds out. Then someone thought of the very simple

plan of loosening a single board at the back of the coop and

driving the birds out with a stick. Why no one had thought of

such an easy solution of the difficulty before I do not know. It

took effect at once and in a few minutes the Cranes were safe in

their new quarters.


But we soon found the place was far too small for them.

Cranes are great jumpers and, when frightened, the hen, who

was by far the most nervous of the two birds, did not hesitate to

jump upwards, a course of action very alarming to the onlooker

as it sometimes meant she cut herself on the wire netting and

lost a good deal of blood. At last there was no denying the fact

the Cranes must be pinioned and have their liberty, or we must

send them away to someone who could accommodate them better.

We dreaded the pinioning and pictured the birds as dying under

the operation, and there was a still further gloomy side to the

picture even if they recovered. My family take the keenest

pleasure in our old-fasliioued garden. No doubt the Cranes

would look pretty walking about in it, but suppose they were not

content with merely looking at the plants and flowers! They

might be as active working gardeners as Peacocks are, and if

they were it would be too terrible a thing to contemplate. We

were not without experience of suffering in the past. Some

Fancy Waterfowl we once had, though otherwise most interesting

and beautiful pets, always made a practice of walking straight

through a large patch of lovely blue Omphalode in my sister’s

rock garden 011 their way to the little stream each evening.

They wore quite a track through the plant, and it was a little

thoughtless of them as there are plenty of gravel paths down to



