The Audubon Societies 325 



ful as to what to feed it, I was relieved when I noticed an inch of tail of a six- 

 inch wood-lizard protruding from its mouth. 



This bird had rows of blue blood quills all over it, but a white hair remained 

 on the tip of each. Not a single feather had appeared, although some of the 

 quills looked ready to burst. 



After taking it home, I put it in a bucket, with coarse straw in the bottom 

 and a board on top, so it would not wake up before I did. Upon waking, 

 however, I lifted the board, and its large mouth was wide open for food. 

 I gave it a horned frog, which it took whole. It was too weak to stand upon 

 its bluish legs yet, so I kept it in the bucket till I thought it was old enough 

 to get around by itself. On this same day I fed this little seven-inch bird four 

 crickets, a Cardinal which was found in a snake, a green lizard, a piece of 

 bread soaked in milk, another horned frog, and four young English Sparrows, 

 which had died from the effects of falling from their nest. 



The next morning I was pleased to find that the tail and the primary blood 

 quills had commenced opening. It was indeed a queer creature, its tail re- 

 minding one of a Mot-mot, with the long quills, and small bursted tips. 

 It readily took food from my hands, and, as I remember, it never refused to 

 eat until it grew more aged. However, it grew, and always seemed to enjoy 

 its diet. On this day I gave it three horned frogs, two pieces of bread soaked 

 in milk, seven crickets, one lizard, one snake about eighteen inches long, which 

 the bird took whole with apparently little effort, although it was indeed hard 

 to imagine where it all went to, a part of a Bartramian Sandpiper, and three 

 English Sparrows. 



On April 23 the tail had grown one and one-half inches long, while, previous 

 to this, the blood quills had burst all over, and the hairs had even left those 

 feathers which had first come into sight. They kept leaving the throat, breast, 

 and rump continually, and the shoulder hairs left first. The wings grew very 

 fast, and my bird began the fine art of raising its crest. Its legs, too, had grown 

 firmer, and it began to toddle around a little. On the next day the tail grew 

 another half-inch, and the quills burst so much that there was but a little 

 part in sight. I fed the bird the remains of some meat, three English Sparrows, 

 and seven crickets. 



From this time on, its hunger seemed to grow less extreme, although 

 it still seemed to me to consume an enormous amount. My pet was truly 

 getting pretty now, as the hairs had left all the feathers save those on the head, 

 belly and back. It raised its crest continually, and was quite tame. The 

 naked patch on the side of the head was getting reddish now, — it was formerly 

 blue. The bird particularly liked to come to me when I lay on my side and 

 called to it; but, though I made up a dozen names, I never regularly called 

 it anything but "Birdie." The tail grew on an average of nearly three-quarters 

 of an inch a day, and the beautiful blue and violet iridescence appeared as- 

 it grew longer. 



