The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1880-07-01
MisreAany.
-
Bill Nye's Experience with Birds
and Bugs.


Lately have made some valuable
discoveries relative to ornithology,
and / will close this letter by giving
some of them to the public, for |
love to shed information right and
left, like Normal School,.
When the soft south winds begun
to kiss our cheeks, and the horse
radish and North Park prospector
! began to start, the swift winged
swallows drew near to my pictu-
rescue home ON East Fifth street,
and | hoped, with great anxious,
throbbing hope, that they would
build beneath the ewes of my 5000
ranch.
would take my guitar at sunset
hour and sit at my door in a camp
eI4air with the fading glory of the
dying day bathing me in a flood of
golden light, and toucf up my
chubby form and S-zid warbte
"When Sparrows Build,p an old so-
10 in J which seems to fit my voice,
and the swallows would fit around
me on tireless wing, and squeak and
sling mud over me till the cows came
home
This thing had gone ON for sever
al days, and the little mud houses
under the caves were pretty near
ready, and turpentine and quicksil-
yer, and lime and acquafortis,. and
giant powder and feather, had
made my homes howling wilderness
that smelled like q city drugstore in
perdition.
But | didn't kill the bugs. II
pleased them. They called meet
ting, and rendered me vote OF
thanks for the kind attention will
which they had been received
They ate all of these diabolieal
drugs, not only on regular days, bat
right along through Lent
| | got mad, and resolved to insure
the house and burn it down. One
evening when / felt sad and worn
and was trying to solace myself by
thrilling a few snatches from Men
delshon's "Wail," written IN the key
of G for baritone voice, neighbol
came along and stopped to lean ovel
the gate and drink in the flood oil
melody which was spilling out on
the evening air.
When | got through and stopped
to tune my guitar anew and scratch
a warm place on my arm, he asked
if | were not afraid that those swal
lows would bring hedbugs to the
house.
| had heard that before, but
thought it was campaign lie.
acted on the suggestion, however
and taking long pole from behind
the door where l kept it for pictori-
al Bible men, | knocked down q
'dobe cottage and proceeded to ex-
anime it.
1t was level full of imported Meri
no Cotswold, and Southdown, and
Early Rose, and Duchess of Olden
burg, and twenty ounce pippins, and
seek no further bed-bugs. There
were bedbugs in modest gray ulsters
and bedbugs in dregs ashes of roses
and bedbugs in elephants breath
bedbugs with their night cloths Oh
and in morning wrapper, bedbugs
that were just going on the nj ght
shift, and bedbugs that had been al
work all day and were just going tC
bed.
l killed all l could and then drove
the rest into pan of coal oil. Wher
one undertook to get ovt of the pan
| shot him. This conflict lasted sew
eral days. / neglected my Other
business and emitting morning
prayers until there was a great calm
and the swift-winged swallows home
ward flew When these feathered
songsters came around my humble
cot another spring they will meet
with a cold unwelcome reception
| shall not even ask them to take of
their things.
!, / have formed the idea somehow
from watching the eccentric nervous
fight of the swallow, that, when he
makes one of those swift fanl
movements with the speed of chain
lightning, he must be acting from
J the impulse of large, earnest, tri-
angular bedbug Of the boarding
house variety. | may be wrong, bu
[ have given this matter a good dea
of attention. and whether this theo-
ry be correct or not / no not care
1t is good enough for me.