Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1871-07-05
Our JOe.-A True Story.
BY MARY MYRTLE.


| | want to tell the little readers of
| Hearth and Home of Our Joe, the
! dearest, brightest and iveliest little
/ fellow any where to be found. I wish
you cOuld all see his black eyes twinkle,
and hear his merry songs, for our Joe
| is pretty little singer He has bright
yellow feathers, with one little spot of
/ black on the side of his head. You
will have guessed by this time that he
is bird Yes, little canary bird; as
happy as the day is long. He some
times is too happy to sing.
Last spring Joe had little mate
named Addie given to him, and must
tell you how cunning and loving they
were. They soon built nice little
nest In a basket in one corner of their
cage. Day after day they worked I'M
oil one morning, what do you think
found in it Why, a tiny little blue
egg, and the next morning there was
another, and on the fourth morning
there were four. How pretty they
looked, and how happy the parent
brides must have felt.
Now, Addie scarcely left them at all,
but day after day for two long weeks,
sat patiently upon them, while Joe car
ried her food and sang her pretty songs.
At night he thought it too bad to leave
Addie all alone in the nest, so he cud-
died down beside her, and they both
slept there until morning, and kept the
eggs safe and warm,
After awhile two little brides found
themselves inside of egg-shells, and
pecked and pecked until they made
holes in the shells and walked out.
They had no feathers, and were very
ugly looking, but their papa and mann
ma were very proud of them, and L
have no doubt thought them really
beautiful o, how busy and impor-
be fed and taken care of!
But papa Joe was naughty; he con-
tinued sleeping in the nest at night in
stead of on the perch as he ought to
have done. He loved Addie so much
that he wanted to be close beside her
all the time. Alas when the little
ones were week old, they both died
We thought they must have been
smothered. But Joe and Addie soon
got over their sorrow, and built their
nest again as buisily as ever.
Then we found four more little blue
eggs, and Addie sat faithfully upon
them two more weeks, while Joe fed
her as before At the end of this time
they were rewarded by having four
hungry little baby birds
We had allowed Joe to sleep in the
nest with his little mate all the time she
was sitting but thought it best now to
take him out of the cage at night lest
these little ones might be injured. So
for two nights j took him out, return
ing him in the morning III season to
give the babies their hheakfast. When
/ went for him the third night, he was
nowhere to seen. Was a door open or
wire bent so he could get out No,
all was secure, and there sat Mrs. Adj
die on the nest as complacently as pos
sible. not at all distressed at the loss
of her mate. But we thought her little
ones must have grown very fast, or she
was nearer the top of the nest than u.s.
ual; so, to crafty curiosity, gave her
a little touch, but found her very I'M
willing to leave. At last, after getting
pretty hard pushes, she hoped off, and
what do you think There was the
lost Joe! He had hoped into the nest
first and she had spread her feathers
so as to cover him all up.
suppose he didn't want to be taken
out of the cage away from his little
family, and they held a consultation
which resulted in his hiding in this
way. Was not that cunning, and
knowing and loving2 1t seemed a
shame to separate them. when they
cared 50 much, so we took Joe out OF
the nest, but let him stay in the cage.
He never slept in the nest again, but
roasted on the edge of the basket,
keeping watch over his dear little
family. Do you wonder that we love
''our Joe, and think him very smart
birdg He and Addie are as loving as
ever, but their little ones are all grown
and scattered to other homes.-Hedrh
and Home.