The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-02-08

1fs spss
,;v,I,,s a,nne RAY accompl thus nisleM
ps,t ~ two creatures 30 far removed -
h.rss md a peaceck zssirnilate The Knew.
49, &, ARCH an extent that the one gives
ana habit and the other resists tempting
= ats.g y;e must asafnit either the geth OF q
moral sense or an INTELLECT ~
al CAPABLE or POSITIVE DEpUcTfss. \: !;
The same horse once revealed TO. ME the
latter quality In a surprising way: On tell
IND The story privately I find thai 1t Is some,
times incredulously received; Fs. am sure
TINT no enc who cherishes the proper re-
spect for animals. will refuse Its credence,.
IN company with 0, friend, q was driving.
along country road In q ligE, open buggy,
paid no attention to the horse, for he
could turn, back, or,execnte any other ma:
nGuyTe In harness as Wen without as with
La driver. Hating ut house where my,
friend wished to call, i waited for him ont
side. Presently the horse looked back 7at
me, twisting bis body bess1een the thills 1ra
| singular fashion. perceived that ne !ssn
some communicates " make, and sasd,
!" hat is the matter now, Benz" There
upon, by twistinga little more. he maas sed
| to g.tsF ~s,
| HOLD UP HIS FaGHT HIND FOOT,
and saw that the shoe had beer lost.
THAT'S right" sadly; "you shall have !; a
1 new shoe as soon as'we' get to the village"
RI. SET down his foot, and for n soment
seemed satisfied. Then the same turning
of the head and twisting OF the body were
repeated. .eWhat, Ben is anything else
the matter ?" I asked. He now hfted up
the left hind foot, which was still 1shod. l
was quite ut a loss to understand him, and
remained silent He looked backsot me out
OF the corner OF his eye, and evidently saw
that was puzzled, whereupon he set down
his foot and seemed to think. Almost i'm
mediately he lifted it up again and shook it
vigorously. The loose shoe ratified! There
was
POSITIVE PROCESS OF REASONING
in this act, and it is too simple and clear to
be interpreted IN any other way.
I have had pleHty OF opportunity, yet very
little time, to study bird nature; but ever
since saw gentlenEn, in the park ut Mu-
Mich, entice the bird. TO come and feed from
his hand by standing perfectly still and
whistliug few soft, peculiar notes, I have
been convinced CT the possibility OF much
more familiar intercourse. Simply by feed
ing such birds as remain through the WIN
ter. and keeping sportsmGn off the place,
| all varieties OF birds soon became half tame.
| In the summer. when the windows were
opened, they entered the house every day,
and / frequently found that bird which
had once been caught and released readily
allowed itself to be caughta second time.
Once little re&rbreasted creature, with u
black head, lay exhausted in my hand,
overcome with the terror and mystery OF
glass pane. At first j thought it dead; but
suddenly it hoped on its feet, looked in
my face with its bright, piercing eyes, and
ch;rped few notes, which distinctly said,
''Did you deliver sac?
AN REALLY FRBE.f7'
Then, still chirping, it slowly hopped up
nv arm to the shoulder, sang a snatch OF
some Joyous carol, and flew away. brushing
my cheek as it went. Another time, when
I picked up some cal1ow cat-birds out Of the
deep grass and replaced them in the nest,
the parents actually dashed against my head
| in their distress and rage; but after had
retired few minutes to let them be re-
assured, they allowed me to approach the
nest without interrupting their talk with the
young ones. Even humming-bird, drench-s
ed and chilled by September rain, soon
learned to be happy in basket OF warm
cotton, and to sip sugared water out OF
teaspoon. .. 800.
We had a parrot but once, and that only
for few weeks. The bird was mystery
to me. and found him almost too uncanny
to be a pleasant acquaintance. Our parrot
came directly from vessel, but from what
port I neglected to learn. He apparently
understood the English language, but
would not speak it. He preferred toast and
coffee to any other diet, and was well be-
hayed, although tremendously exacting.
When he became a little accustomed to us,
he would sing the gamut, both upward and
downward, in an absent-minded, dreamy
way, as if recalling some memory OF an
opera-singer. He would sit beside me on
a perch, seemingly contehted, until he
saw that was absorbed in writing. Then
he mounted to the table, planted himself
on the paper directly in the way OF the
pen, or managed, by nips OF the ears and
hair, to get upon the top Of my head and
make coherent thought impossible Once,
remembering Campbell's ballad, I VEN
tured-though with some anxiety, for half
expected to see him flop around the room
with Joyous screech, drop down, and die
to speak to him in Spanish. He was sur
prised, interested, and at first seemed in
clined to answer in the same tongue; but
after rejecting half an hour upon the queS
ton he shook his head, and
KEPT THE SECRET TO HIMSELF.
No phrase or word OF any kind could be
drawn from him; yet the same bird, seeing
nv daughter week after we had given him
away to a friend, suddenly called her by
name. The parrot should have been the
symbol Of the Venetian Council Of Ten.
Three weeks after the great fire in Chi
cago, in 1871, I saw parrot which had
saved itself from the general fate OF all
household treasures there. 1t had belonged
to my old friend Mrs. Kirkland, and was
doubly cherished by her daughter. When
it was evident that the house was doomed,
and the red wall of flame, urged by the bur-
ricane, was sweeping towards it with ter
rifle speed, Miss Kirkland saw that she
could rescue nothing except what she in
stantly took in her hands. There were two
objects equally dear-the parrot and the
old family Bible; but she was unable to
carry more than one of them. After a sim
gle moment Of choice she seized the Bible,
and was fastening away, when the parrot
cried out, in a loud and solemn voice,
"GooD LORD, DELIVER ISL"
No human being, think, could have been
deaf to such an appeal the precious Bible
was sacrificed, and the parrot saved. The
bird really possessed superior intelligence.
T hoard hin, say sYeSD and SNOS in