The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1880-11-25
Humming.Biris in Captivity.

written a very interesting paper on
captive humming- birds. In May,
year ago two humming-birds strayed
into the house of lady of his acquaint-
ance and were captured. The lady was
a warm friend of birds and animals,
and she resolved to try the experiment
of demonstrating the little creatures, al
though she was not unaware that such
attempts ended usually in the death of
the birds after few days. She had no
suitable cage so she selected candy
jar and fixed a perch inside. In the
bottom she placed a bouquet of flowers,
and covered the open end with gauze.
The flowers were renewed every day.
The convolvulus, tropeolum, honey
suckle and other flowers with long
calyx were selected. A little honey
was dropped into every blossom, the
birds began to sip the sweet food the
the first day, humming above the flower
caps, darting their tongues in and out
among them swift as lightning. They
also snapped at little insects and de-
voured them.
After some weeks they were given
some honey thinned with water in a
small dish. They sat upon their low
perch and Tapped the honey with their
tongues Ii Ike dog drinking water. In
a short time the birds were so tame
that the gauze which confined them
was removed and they flew about the
room while their glass palace was
cleaned and furnished with fresh flow
ers and honey; but as soon as this oper-
alton was finished they flew into the
glass again and began eating the honey.
If the lady took nap after dinner,
they perched themselves on her fore
head and enjoyed their siesta there.
They hummed about the room for hours,
hating for rest upon the finger of our
friend and dressing their feathers.
For change, they would fly again to
the honey, but after a momenTary taste
away they would go, flying about their
friend. Toward evening they sought
their perch in the glass palace and sang
quick notes in the finest pianissimo.
They occasionally snapped at small
insects, but their chief food was honey,
and later strong sugar water, since the
honey thinned with water often settled
to the bottom of the dish. They thrived
finely on the sugar-water, too. As the
weather became warn in June the gauze
covering was entirely removed from
their glass palace and the little Great
ures were given the range of the whole
room, but their food was always placed
in their old dwelling.
The tiny birds were not at all timor-
Gus, even at first; they did not futter
obo,,+ opvioucIv w h. nm +bnir Houarc yvora
removed and fresh ones brought. Their
eyes said plainly we know you are good
to us. They thankfully appreciated the
care of their protector, and, although
they manifested no uneasiness when
strangers were in the room, they could
not be induced to perch upon anybody's
finger but that of their tender keeper.
At the end of September one of them
began to be ailing and few days after
was found dead upon the floor. The
other pinned from hour to hour, and
when the cooler nights at the end of
October approached, it too succumbed
to the unfriendly climate and to its
plainlv-manifested hOmesickness.
Humming- birds appear to prefer GER
tain flowers from which to draw their
nourishment, whether insects or honey,
They hover about the blossoms of the
horse-chestnut especially, says DIR. Zip
perlein. He knows a tree of that kind
about which dozens of them may be seen
of an evening. He adds: - 1t is true
that this is not the first successful at
tempt at tanning humming-biris since
the time of the Montezumas, when they
were kept in great Conservatives, but
it proves anew with proper nourishment
and care they can be kept long time
in captivity. A conservatory fitted up
with tropical plants would be well
adapted to the purpose and render our
observation of these flying diamonds
easy, aside from the attraction these
shimmering little birds would present
in every geological garden"