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The Story of Peter, a Purple Martin 



By FANNY HARDY ECKSTORM 



PETER came to me in an 

 automobile, his own physi- 

 cian attending him. 

 ''I found him fluttering in 

 the ditch," said the doctor, "and 

 took him along. He seems to 

 have flown against something, 

 but I cannot find any broken 

 bones; so I think he is more your 

 sort of a patient than mine." 

 Thereupon I took Peter in. 

 ^ This was August 24, igo6, and 



he lived with me just two weeks. 

 His name at first was not 

 Peter. He was just a young 

 Purple Martin without any in- 

 dividuality, and a very sore and 

 sick bird, too. All the great 

 muscles of his breast were green 

 from a bruise, caused probably 

 by flying against a wire, and his left wing was crippled from the lameness of 

 his breast. He was suffering greatly from the pain and shock, and for the 

 first day sat stupidly upon a little perch which I made for him on the kitchen 

 ironing-table. He did not care for food, he would not drink, he refused a bath, 

 he was so alarmed at a cage that I dared not try to confine him. His dislike 

 for water was so marked that I named him Simon Peter. It was later on, when 

 I began to respect him for his courage, that I shortened it to Peter. 



The only thing of which I ever saw him show any fear was captivity. 

 Though he trusted me implicitly and would let me handle him as I pleased, 

 he never would let me clasp him about the wings with my fingers. Nor was 

 it because I hurt his lame breast, for I was careful not to do that. Peter 

 insisted with so much spirit upon enjoying his freedom that T underwent 

 ' considerable annoyance rather than cage him. 



After the first forty-eight hours, Peter began to improve rapidly. His 

 I eyes brightened, his appetite came back, and in spite of the soreness of his 

 breast he began to be alert and inquisitive. He had to learn the art of being 

 (fed by hand, but he was so quick in acquiring knowledge that one lesson was 

 1 enough. I think I never saw a creature with a better brain. His power of 

 association was remarkable, and his memory was very strong. Like most 

 jiwild creatures he was quick in the mastery of new problems. Individuals, 



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