56 
HINTS ON* CAGE-BIRDS. 
which had thus been treated, and which he poked at with his 
finger to prove to me what “a wunnerful tame bird ” it was. The 
unhappy victim winced and shrunk, but could not retire. It made 
me feel sick to look at it ; so I bought the “ wunnerful tame bird ” 
and put it into a large flight-cage. It was the wildest and most 
nervous Goldfinch I ever possessed. If you want a bird to get tame 
quickly, as much as possible avoid bringing ladies or children to 
look at it — that is to say, ladies in outdoor attire, with picture hats, 
feathers, and parasols, or children, if in large hats or of an excitable 
temperament. Most birds caught in civilised countries have an 
instinctive dread of children. Possibly their ancestors for many 
Miss Babnes and her Great Spotted Woodpecker. 
generations have been chased and pelted by children, so that the 
fear of them has been handed down with other antipathies, such as 
that of the cat. Lady visitors, apart from their dress, often alarm 
birds by suddenly calling out and pointing, either with finger or 
parasol, at a bird which takes their fancy; and the unfortunate 
object of thoir admiration thinks it is going to be shot, or in some 
way annihilated, and rattles about in extreme terror. 
For these reasons, if you are trying to win the confidence of a 
wild-cauglit bird, it is better not to show it to more than one visitor 
at a time, and then only if you know you can trust that one not to 
get excited and assume alarming attitudes. 
A German once informed me that it was quite easy to tame 
birds directly they were caught. “ Take dom in ze hand, so ; plunge 
zem suddenly in a pan of voider, and zay are tame to once; zen zay 
vill sit on your fing-er and dry zare fezzars ; zay are tame ; zay 
