Chirps and 
Chatter. 
(56) THE BIRD WORLD. 
Chirps and Chatter, 
The Captive Eagle 
The Eagle in a cage is one of the 
sorriest sights on which sympathetic man 
can cast an eye. It will sit on its perch 
for an hour at a time looking with stone- 
wall eye at a point a thousand miles 
away, to all seeming in weary waiting 
for deliverance from a lot of incurable 
misery and despair. Its plumage is 
generally bedraggled, apparently indicat¬ 
ing that the bird has lost every vestige 
of the pride in dress which is common 
to all feathered creatures that are free. 
But there is probably no greater mistake 
than to attribute human emotions to 
either bird or beast, though it is a thing 
systematically done by a school of 
writers very much to the fore just now. 
It is reported that a Golden Eagle 
trapped in the Cairngorms in 1872, and 
since kept in captivity at Castle Grant, 
Grantown-on-Spey, has just died. It 
has thus attained the age of at least 35 
years, despite the depressing misery of 
its prison bars. Of course, it is no 
argument for the caging of Eagles, but 
it is almost certainly true that if this 
specimen had never been caged it would 
have met a violent death at least thirty 
years ago. The Golden Eagle is one of 
the long livers, and it is believed to be 
capable of attaining the century. But 
since the invention of guns few of those 
native to Scotland can have reached 
length of years. 
Brussel Sprouts and Thrushes. 
One of the most curious nesting places 
imaginable has been selected by a pair 
of Thrushes in the garden of Mr. S. C. 
Skinner, of Throapham Manor, just on 
the borders of Yorkshire and Notting¬ 
hamshire, where they have built a nest 
on a Brussels sprout plant. What is 
more, at the present time there is a 
brood of four young ones, and the 
mother flies to the nest with food for 
them, taking little or no notice of the 
men at work in the garden. 
Bird’s Nest in Cotton Waggon. 
Ornithologists will be deeply inter¬ 
ested in a discovery which the station- 
master of Royton has just made. He 
was examining some waggons of cotton 
when he found in one of them a nest 
containing five eggs. The bird was com¬ 
placently hatching her care, and did not 
seem to be much put about by the pre¬ 
sence of a stranger. It is thought the 
bird must have belonged to Liverpool, 
where the cotton came from, and tha f 
she sat on the eggs on the journey to 
Royton. Apart from the interest which 
the find may have for bird fanciers, 
those who took part in the recent dis¬ 
cussion about railway facilities and 
delays in the delivery of cotton will 
likely be anxious to know how long it 
takes to deliver cotton in Royton from 
Liverpool. 
A White-tailed Starling. 
Pure albinos among birds which had 
no natural tendency in that direction are 
sufficiently uncommon to be noteworthy, 
although individuals with partially white 
plumage of an exceptional character are 
met with almost frequently in such 
species as the common Sparrow. At 
the present moment a Starling with a 
white tail is,to be seen in Kensington 
Gardens. It is an old bird, and how 
it has managed to keep its tail so spot¬ 
less since its last moult, some nine 
months ago, is a mystery. But the 
Starling is always most particular as to 
its appearance, and takes its daily bath 
with strict regularity. Perhaps, on the 
other hand, it is a country bird that 
arrived in town for the season. 
Weather Influence on Cuckoos’ Choice of 
Nesting Place. 
A curious little event in natural his¬ 
tory is recorded from Hertfordshire. In 
a Thrush’s nest, built in a spinney 
separating a private park from the road, 
were found two Cuckoo’s eggs along 
with three Thrush’s eggs. The eggs 
