Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1876-11-15
MY Startling.

MY Startling.
l feel very lonely now since my star
ling is gone. could not bear to look up
on his empty cage his bath and pliythings,
SO have had them all slowed away; but
the bird will dwell in my memory for ma
ny day. The way in which that STIRLING
managed to insinuate itself into my hcalt
and cntwine its affections with mine. can
never rightly tell :; and it is only now when
it is gone that really know how much it
is possible for a human being to love a lit
e bird. The creature was nearly always
with me. talking to me, whi>thng to me,
or even doing mischief in 4 small way, to
amuse me; and it was often the very best
relaxation | could have had to throw down
my pen. stragiitcn my back and have a
romp with Dick.
The rearing of Il nest of starlings is al
ways very difficult task. and | found it
peculiarly so. In fact one young startling
would require half dozen servants at least
to attend it. l was not master of those
starlngs. not :, bit of il; they were masters
Of me- | had to get out of bed and stuff
them with grub at three O'Clock every
morning They lived in Il band-box in
closet of my bed room. | had 10 get up
again ut four o'clock TO feed them, again
ut five, and again at SIX; in ttct, | saw
more sunrise during the infancy OF that
nest of >tarlings than | ever did before or
since BY day. and all the day long, |
stuffed them, and at intervals the servant
relieved me of that duty. In fact, it was
pretty much all stutting; but even then
they We're not satisfied, and made several
Intellectual attempts to swallow my finger
rs we'll At lengIh-tnd how happy |
felt,-thev could both feed themselves and
iy. This last accomplishment was any
thing but agreeable 10 me, for no sooner
did open the door than out they would
all fly, one after the other, an seat them
selves on my head and shoulders, each
one irving to make more noise than all
the rest and outdo his brothers.
got tired of this sort OF thing that
one dav determined TO set them all At
liberty. | accordingly hung their cage
outside the window and opened their door,
and they All flew, but back they came INTO
the room again and settled on me as usual
- hem SAID |, I'm going a gardening.
BY the way they clung to me Ii was evident
their answer was -" And 50 are we. And
so they did. And rs soon rs commenced
operations with the spade. they commenc-
ed operations, too. by searching foF anu
eating every worm turned up. evidently
thinking l was merely working for their
benefit and pleasure. | got tired OF Tins
80 bother YOU all :" | cried; " I'm sick OF
YOU" threw down my spade in disgust.
and before they could divine my intention.
| had ltaped the fence and disappeared IN
the plantation beyond.
Now" said | to myself rs entered
the garden that evening after my return.
and could see no signs OF starIlnT>, " m
rid of Won ulaguts at last, and smiled
with salts >i;,rtun. II WAS shurt-hved. for
inst AT that moment Skra Oh. >kralTh.
.klaigh." sounded from the trees atilnlnlng.
and before | could turn !, fpot my tornrn
tors seemingly mad with joy. were all
sitting upon me aS usual. l"o ol th'ih
died about week after this. an / the
others. being cock and hen, | resolved 10
keep.
Both Dick and his wife soon grew to be
very fine birds procured them 4 lar-e
roomy cage. with plenty OF sand and a lay
er of straw in the bottom ot 1t. a dish OF
two, !, bath, a drinking fountain. and al
WAYS 4 supply of fresh green weeds on the
roof of their domicile. Besides their usu-
al food Of soaked bread, &c. they had
>lucs occasionally. and fie> and earth
worms Once Il day the cage door was
thrown open. and out they both would fly
with iovtul >kr,igh. to enjoy the luxury OF
:, bath on the kitchen floor. One would
have imagined that being only two they
would not have Sood on the order of their
going; but they did at least Dick did, for
he insisted upon using the bath first. and
l.: s, ,r,tlnntlv nntl1 his
lordship finished This was part of Dick
domestic discipline. When they were
both thoroughly wet and draggied,
AMI everything within y radius of two
wards was in the same condition, their
next move was to hop on TO the fender.
and hutter and gaze pensively into the
fire; and two more melancholy looking,
RAGGED wrctches you never saw. When
they began to dry, then they began 10
dress; and in Il few minutes Richard was
himself AGAIN, and SO was his wife.
Starlnrs have their own natural song.
and a strange noise they make, too. Their
GREAT faculty, however, is the gift of mi
tation, which they have in 4 wonderful de-
,,ree of perfecton, The first thing tn It
Dick learned to initiate was the rumbling
of carts and carriages on the street, and
very proud he was of the accomplishment,
Then he learned to pronounce his own
pane. with the prefix pretty" which he
never omitted, and to which he WAS Justly
entitled. Except when sitting on their
perch, singing OF piping. these two little
pets were never tired engineering about
their cage, and everything was minutely
examined. They were perfect adopts ut
bon inc holes. BY inserting the bill closed
and opening it like Il pair of scissors, 10,
the thlnr was done. Dick rule of con
duet was that he himself should have the
first of everything, and be allowed first to
examine into everything, to have the higL-
est perch and all the tit-bits in a word, to
rule, king and priest, in his own cage. |
don't suppose he hated his wife, but he
kent her in a state of inglorious sublection
to his royal will and pleasure. " "lIezeki
ah" was the name he gave his wife; l
don't know why, but | am sure no one
taught him this. for he first used the name
himself, and then it WAS only to correct
his pronunciation.
Sometimes Dick would sit himself down
to sing song, and presently his wife
would Join in with a few simple notes of
melody, upon which Dick would stop sing
ING instantly and look around 1T her with
inIirnation Hezekith. IIczckiah.' he
would say, which, being interpreted, clear
" meant, - IIezekiah, my dear, how can
YOU SO far forget yourself rs to presume to
Interrupt YOUR lord and master with that
crao ked and quavering voice of yoars?"
Then he would commence anew, and HeZ-
ekiah, being so good natured, would soon
forget her scolding and again join in.
This was too much for Dick S temper, and
Iezeki,h was accordingly chased round
and round lhe cage. and soundly thrashed.
His conduct together rs II husband. am
sorry to say. was very far from satisfactory.
have lid he always retained the highest
perch for himself; but sometimes he would
turn one eye downward, and seeing Hezc-
kiah sitting SO costly and contentedly on