26 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[January, 
1©YS <k 
The Bird Fancier and His Pets. 
To those who are fond of pets, no more interest¬ 
ing place can be found than a large bird store. It 
is wonderful, what an infinite variety of living 
■■specimens the bird fanciers collect together 1 Upon 
•entering the store, one is almost deafened by the 
"twittering, singing, 
and chattering; it 
■seeming as though 
each canary, parrot, 
and monkey was 
"trying to outdo the 
others in making a 
noise. On one side 
are the song birds, 
most of whom are 
natives of other j 
lands, their ances- ; 
tors having been im¬ 
ported to this coun¬ 
try. The mocking¬ 
bird, brown thrush, 
bobolink, and oriole 
are native birds, 
captured in our own 
woods. Nest come 
the talking - birds, 
foremost among 
which are the par¬ 
rots, a highly char¬ 
acteristic family, 
subdivided into 
groups,according to 
the form of the bill 
and claws. Here is 
a splendid scarlet 
macaw, measuring 
more than a yard 
from the top of the 
bill to the extremity 
of its tail. Its pre¬ 
vailing color is red; 
but the quill feath¬ 
ers are blue, the 
next yellow, while 
some are tipped 
with green. He is 
not much of a con¬ 
versationalist. The 
gray parrot, with a 
crimson tail, about 
the size of a pigeon, 
is the best talker in 
the family, and the 
facility with which 
he can be taught, 
is scarcely credible. 
Then there are the 
green parrots, paro¬ 
quets, cockatoos, 
and dozens of oth¬ 
ers, all more or less 
valuable. Thedoves, 
walking about in 
their ground-floor rooms, are very pretty and gentle 
looking; as are the little pink-eyed rabbits, content¬ 
edly munching their dinner of green cabbage leaves. 
See that frisky squirrel making the wheel in his 
■cage revolve with lightning rapidity. He is one 
of the prettiest and most engaging animals for a 
pet. The monkeys, however, are the funniest pets, 
and will attract the boys most. If not so trouble¬ 
some they would make fine entertaining pets, but 
they frequently perform some tricks and capers 
that are more annoying than amusing. All these 
animals can be tamed by kindness, and they become 
much attached to the owner who feeds them. In 
the engraving is a picture of William, the keeper 
of a bird store not far away from the American 
Agriculturist office. He frequently lets the ani¬ 
mals all loose in the room at once, when they 
gather and flutter about him with much affection. 
There can be no doubt that the best way to win 
the affections of all animals is to treat them with 
New Year’s came every day in the week.”—But 
poor Teddy had counted without his host, for 
when he was at length dressed, with a flower in his 
button-hole, and feeling as gay as a lark, he heard 
his mother calling gently “ Come into the parlor, 
Teddy dear, there is a friend of yours here, whom 
you will be glad to see,” and he entered to behold 
Mr. Pedagogue, the schoolmaster, in a suit of rusty 
black, seated on the extreme edge of the sofa, sip¬ 
ping a cup of strong coffee, and looking more bland 
and smiling than 
Teddy supposed 
possible. — “I wish 
you many happy re¬ 
turns of the day, 
young gentleman,” 
said Mr. Pedagogue, 
stretching out his 
long arm and pat¬ 
ting him on the 
head, “and trust 
each year may find 
you wiser than the 
one before it.”— 
“Thank you sir,” 
mumbled Teddy,be¬ 
ginning to quake, as 
he caught sight of 
a suspicious looking 
cane by the master’s 
side—“ but I must 
be excused, as I 
am going to make 
calls.” — “Perhaps 
Mr. Pedagogue will 
be so kind as to 
take you with him, ” 
suggested his moth¬ 
er, “ It will be such 
a comfort to me to 
know you are in 
good hands.” At 
these words Teddy’s 
blue eyes began to 
roll wildly, and his 
flame-colored hair 
almost stood on 
end; but he dared 
not make any re¬ 
monstrance, with 
that awe inspiring 
cane in sight. 
“I am sure I shall 
be most happy, 
madam,” said Mr. 
Pedagogue rising, 
“ If my little pupil 
is ready we will 
start immediately, 
and make our first 
call on Mrs. Reader 
and her family.” 
“Good bye Boli¬ 
var, and Lolly Pop,” 
thought poor Ted¬ 
dy, as he cast re¬ 
proachful glances at 
his mother and 
Belle, and with a very doleful face, trotted re- 
luctlantly along beside his master. Reaching Mrs. 
Reader’s house they were ushered by a servant 
whom the schoolmaster called “ Speller,” into a 
large library, furnished in black and white, and 
Mrs. Reader, very red in the face, and clad in the 
same sombre hues as her sofa and chairs, but 
crowned with a wreath of fluttering leaves, rustled 
forward to welcome them. “ Many thanks for this 
early call, dear Mr. Pedagogue,” she exclaimed. 
“And here is my brother, Professor Elocution, 
whom I know you will be pleased to meet. ” As she 
spoke, a robust young man,with a pec uliar voice that 
first rose to a roar and then sank to a whisper, 
emerged from the depths of an easy-chair, and 
gave his hand, with a grand gesture, to the school¬ 
master, bursting forth at once into such a flow of 
conversation, that Mr. Pedagogue could not slip in 
a word. Mrs. Reader, meanwhile, presented Teddy 
to her daughter, Primer, a youthful and extremely 
gentleness. Approach them with harshness, and 
nature prompts them to stand on the defensive ; 
but if a soft -word and kind look is used, if not 
entirely subdued, they are at least ready to listen 
to what you say. 
- — O - 
Teddy Schoolboy's Hew Year’s Calls. 
“ Happy New Year,” shouted Teddy Schoolboy 
a6 he sprang out of bed, bright and early, on the 
THE BIRD FANCIER AND HIS PETS. 
Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
first day of January ; and “Happy New Year,” re¬ 
sponded his sister Belle, from an adjoining room, 
where she was brushing out her bangs, aud count¬ 
ing up the number of callers she expected to re¬ 
ceive that day. It was crisp, clear winter weather. 
Alight mantle of snow covered the ground, and the 
glorious old sun was pouring a shower of golden 
beams upon the earth, as though wishing the world 
a pleasant holiday greeting. Teddy was in high 
spirits, for he had his plans for making a round of 
calls and welcoming in the grand New Year. 
Soon after breakfast he set to work on his list, 
which he headed with his two prime-favorites, 
Miss Bolivar and Lolly Pop. “And what a jolly 
time I shall have too, with Miss Snow-Ball, and 
Jenny Spinner,” he thought, as he proceeded to 
don his gayest necktie and deluge his handkerchief 
with his sister’s finest eau-de-cologne. “ I only hope 
Mrs. Pastry-Cook will have plenty of ice cream 
and plum cake on hand, and I shouldn’t care if 
