Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1883-08-17


a. tho cover which protected hlm from
cold a night ior lwo o. three morn'
iHFs he did the same. herame uneasy
IieW a while, and thea called, when ! q
once responded. IRON the thiid day
ho called the lnslaHs ht wanted 10 bo
uncovered, shevhg 40 moo restless,
ness AHt calling again and again 4 |
ild hol move a. once, a last giving bis
most haTst o9, and impatienuy soold'
ing with rage,
To beg for worms was an easy les.
son. Having two or throo times ~
eelYvd them from a pair II lwpcaAa ~
my desk he came regularly pefcheA on
tho books lusakgd n mo. aud then a.
thc cssp which had held the worms
then u | dla not got thou. opeheaand
oloscd bis bill, and i,fked HE lall Inn
patiently,
llis sicAi asllghl aud mystery Is .
rubber band, (which keep two sires'
uno hardly larger than A threAn. and
the other an eighth VI an inch wide and
two inchos ,ong doubled. These ho Is
WIN ~ get and since he treats them as
he does the worms, ! conclude that their
sofiness and elasticity are deceptive,
and mystery, like the glass, which he
can not solve. AT any rate. after beat.
ing them ON the floor a. he dues A
worm, he always swallows them He
viii persist IN swallowing even the large
ones and 81 pAiNa ont on his porch in
lvyldens sulotng for hours, before N
discovers that he can not digc,l It, and
at last dlsgorges IT, 10 lind rubber
band Is the drs.ie Of his heart, and to
keep him nom II u the desire Of mine.
A, hrst, when he pounced upon one he
would stand 'on my desk and swallow
IL but after | tried to get It away, he
learned cunning, The instant his oye
would spy one, generally under some
paper IN my drawer he would first
glance at me, then snatch the treasure,
and instantly Nv to the cornice, where I
can not reach him, | always know by
the manner Of his departure that he has
found what he knows, perfectly well, is
a forbidder object
Another thing interesting 70 observe
| IN the cat-bird Is his way OF hiding him.
self, when In plain sight all the lino.
lie simply remains entirely inotlonlosS,
and one may look directly at him. and
not see him, 50 well does his plain dark
dress harmonlzc with hisnsual SURROUND,
ings. Often ] come into the room and
look about for him, IN all his favorite
places on the eornice, the desk, and
before tine glass; no bird to be seer
As I move about TO look more closely,
ho will suddenly fly up almost from un-
der my hand. stu as he can keep, his
movements are rapid; he is delibera-
tion ',self in making up his mind to go
| anywhere, but once decided he goes like
n flash.
When a new bird was introduced into
the room, an English song thrush, twice
as big as himself, the cat.bird was at
first uncertain how 10 treat him; but
in one day he learned that he could
frighten him. The small, dark, impish-
looking fellow, rushing maaly at the
big, honest, simple thYNsh. put him into
an uncomfortable panic. As soon as this
fact was established the cat-bird became
a tyfant. lie will not allow him to en-
| JOY anything on the floor, drives him
away from the bath, mocks his singing
with harsh notes, and assumes very saucy
airs towards him.
The worst effect Of the thrush's COM
ing, however, was to show me new
trait Of the cat-bird's character -ieal-
ousy. The first day or two he sulked,
would not go out of his cage, would not
touch meat, and though he has gradual
ly returned to his liberty and his meat,
he still refuses, now after two months,
to alight on my hands for his tit-bits, as
he did before.
Nothing is more interesting than to
note the variety the cat-bird will give to
the cry which at a distance resembles
the 'mew" of cat. He has many
other notes and calls, beside his ex-
quisite songs, but there is harlly
shade of emotion that he cannot ex-
press by the inflexion he will give to
that one cry, Whether he proclailfls
melancholy word by softly breathing it
from closed bill, or jerks it out with
snap at the end, as though he bit it of,
when he is deprived Of some cherished
treasure-as, for instance, rubber
band-from one extreme to the other,
with all the shades between, each ex-
presses a meaning, and each is intelli-
gible to a loving and observing student
of his ways. -O Oiiue Ihorae Miller, in
atlantic MoRthlg