Daily Kennebec journal., 1881-11-26
wonderful. and onlv accounted by the faos


was in being overwhelmed By an avalanche
OF bedelofhes, which one Of rs carelessly
threw over him. on getting up from an
afternoon nap. He vas buried under them
for full FIVE minutes, and meanwhile we
we were looking everywhere for him, and
wondering where he could be. When at
length he was released he did not seem at
all Disconnected. but flew up to his favor
ite perch on the gas fixtures, where he
proceeded to plume his ruffied feathers.
He knewhis name and would come at
call He did not like at all To be left alone,
and would follow Us with cries to the door
when we left the room. and 50 swift were
his motions that il was often impossible to
get out and shut the door in time To keep
him inside he would dart through just as
il was closing. determined not 10 be left
behind. And when We came back. how
gled he was to see US, In consequence Of
living 80 much at liberty he was very
strong Of wing and delighted to fiy back
and forth through the hall, darling after
us az we ran and called him. and seeming
to enjov such game of ronp as much as
any child.
lie might, no doubt. have been taught
many tricks, but he knew only one or two
Ny sister taught him to fiy at her hand
when she shook it at him, and he would
continue fiuttering in the air like hum
ming bird. in pretended anger, scolding
and cha,tering as he did so We also
taught him to play with pins, bv placing
four or five in the palm Of the hand, and
holding it over the oiI-clOth or zinc on
which the stove stood. He would pick
them up one after another and whisk them
down. cooking his head over as each fell
and listening to hear it strike. He would
go on doing this as long As any one had
pttience to pick them up for him. If by
chance my earrings were left on the
dressing table, he invariably discovered
them and threw them down to the floor,
suppose for the pleasure of hearing them
fall
His habits with regard to going to roost
were interesting and peculiar. While
quite young-a baby in fact-he made up
his mind to roost on the top of my collar.
Just under my coil of black hair. liking.
suppose, to feel the warmth Of my neck
Sometimes he would get close up under
my chin. | had to remove him again and
again from these ftvorite places. After
this we kept plants in the room and he
chose these for his resting places, but was
variable in his tastes sometimes after 90
ing to sleep on one IN exactly the same
spot for weeks, leaving it for no reason
that we could see. and choosing some
other And Just where he made up his
mind to 20 to rest. there he would 90, or
he was restless and unhappy.
Nv sister and always took a nap IN
the afternoon, and Fritz formed the same
b,l Lot
calla or gcranium soon after we Law down,
and often. in the short winter afternoons,
refusing to wake up again until the next
morning, though sometimes when we rose
and dressed he would come out and flv
around again. | often wondered how he
could remain without food or drink from
early in the afternoon Of one day till the
next morning lie did not like to have
us lie down, because he was lonely, and
would hop on our faces and try to pick
our eyes open.
He had one habit. when going to roost,
which showed to Il remarkable extent the
/ strength of instinct. Before selecting his
favorite spot in the Gala or geranium, he
would make II careful examination of the
whole plant. going over it. and looking
everywhere to see that there were no enc.
mics lurking about. 1t was pretty to see
him peering over the broad calla- leaves
searching Tor burglars before he could
finally settle down for the night. When
once he had done this he resented being
disturbed. and if n finger was pointed at
him. his outstretched wings and wide
open bill made him look like little en-
bodiment of fury. while he would snap in
what he meant for very savage manner
| always put him into the cage when
went to my room at night, and was often
amused at the sleepy gravity with which
he would climb slowly up into the ring
from my hand. and then settle down again
to his broken slumbers.
An exception to the usual rule with re-
gard to pets. Fritz came to no untimely
end. He was neither caught by a cat, nor
crushed in door, nor forgotten and left
to starve slowly to death. knew nothing
of him that was not beautiful and happy.
And when the soft days of the last of Nav
came. and his bright little golden brothers
and sisters came fitting about his cage.
and calling to him; when, in spite of his
education. nature stirred so strongly with
| in him that he struggled and beat against
the bar aud longed to be out with them,
could not find in my heart to keep him a
captive longer. babe him good-by one
bright morning. and he flew from my
| finger out into the bloom and beauty OF
tho opening summer. hoped he would
remember me, and sometimes come back
and visit me. but though | kept his cage
out. and watched and called for him. he
never returned. and never saw him after
/ New-found liberty was too sweet to be
risked again.-Scri6ner.
| When man is seriously i'll he should call
on doctor at once but when his trouble is
| ha L.