Miss B. de Pledge—Precious has an Adventure



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PRECIOUS HAS AN ADVENTURE


By Miss B. de Pledge


Precious and I went for a walk in St. James’s Park the other day.

Precious, I must tell you, is a Cockatiel which I brought from North-

West Australia eight years ago, and he is a great character ; when he

feels in the mood for it he likes going out sitting on my shoulder with

a little lead on his foot. He is great friends with all the bus conductors,

who make a great fuss over him, and he seems to enjoy the noise and

racket of the traffic which sets him off whistling various tunes ; but,

to return to St. James’s Park. I was talking to one of the park keepers

when I heard a whirr of wings passing my ear and an excited cry of

“ Wirroo ! Wirroo ! ” (the natives of North-West Australia call these

birds Wirroos) and I turned to see my bird, who had slipped his leash,

making a most beautiful flight, finally alighting on the top of a very

tall plane tree. Even in the dreadful moment of losing him I was

thrilled by the beauty of it. He sat on that tree for hours, making

occasional flights, and for hours I waited, hoping he would come down

to me. He always answered my call, but seemed quite happy where

he was. I sent home for another Cockatiel, which was brought to me

in a cage, but he was a stupid bird and refused to make a sound.

About 9 o’clock suddenly out of the blue came thousands of Starlings,

half of which settled on the plane tree where Precious was, the others

passing on. After that I heard no further sound and no answer to my

whistles. I stayed on till the park closed and then went sadly home,

fearing I had seen the last of a wonderful companion. I was back in

St. James’s Park before 5 o’clock next morning, taking the other bird

with me in a cage. I walked round and round the park calling, but

got no response. In my wanderings I met Mr. Hinton, the bird keeper

of the park, who stopped and asked if I was the lady who had lost a

bird because, if so, he had seen it a short time before circling round by

the Guards Monument, and he very kindly took me to where he had

seen it. I whistled several times but at first got no response, then in

the distance a faint reply, and the next moment he was circling and

swooping down ; but he did not come down, and finally alighted on a

very tall tree. I located him and put the other bird under the tree.



