St. Landry democrat., 1883-08-18


on him, but proceeded with the music
till the end of the strain, when, as usual,
he paused. At that instant the cat-bird
gave his tail one upward jerk, as if to
say: Humph!" /" I noticed the insult
ing air, but / was surprised to see that
the cardinal appreciated it also. He
began again at once, in much louder
tone, rising to his feet-which he rarely
does-lifting his crest, swaying back
and forth in a perfect rage, glaring at
his enemy, and pouring out his usual
song in such flood of shrieks and calls
that even the calm cat-bird was dis
turbed, and discreetly retired to the OPP
posite window. Then the cardinal seat
ed himself again, and stopped his song,
but gave vent to his Indignation in a
most energetic series Of sharp "tsips :"
for a long time.
Quite different is the cat-b:rd's treat
ment of two English goldfinches. On
them he plays jokes, and his mischiev-
Gus delight and his chuckling at their
success are plain to see. One Of them
Chip, by name-knows that when he
! is in his cage. with the door shut, he is
safe, and nothing the cat-bird can do
disturbs him in the least but the
other Chipee-is just as fIustered and
panic-stricken in her cage as out, and
the greatest pleasure of his life is to
keep her wrought up to the tiuttering
point He has a perfect perception OF
/ the difference between the two birds.
When both are out he will chase them
around the room, from cornice to cor
nice; drive them away from tie bath,
which they all have on table, purely
for fun, as his manner shows. But
once Gagged, he pays no further attention
to Chip, while always inventing new
ways to worry Chipee. He alights on
the perch between the cages, crouches
/ down, with eyes fixed upon her and tail
/ Jerking, as ii about to annihilate her.
She. flies in wild panic against the wires,
! to his great qualification. Then he rufs
himself up to look terrible, spreads his
/ legs wide apart, busters and jerks his
! body and wings and tail, making feints
/ to rush at her, till she is so frightened
that take pity on her and drive him
away.
One day, when she was more nervous
and he more impish than usual, / COW
cred her cage with towel. He came
| back as soon as [ had left it, and pro-
| ceeded to inquire into this new screen.
/ After looking at it sharply ON all sides
he went around behind the cage, pulled
at the end of the towel and peeped in.
She tiuttered, and he was pleased. I
arranged it more securely, and the next
performance was to take hold with his
bill and shake it violently. This also
remedied, his last resource ws to come
down on the end of peYa with a
bounce, making much more E5oise than
usual; he generally alghts like feather.
After each bound he would stand and
listen, and the hutter he always heard
delighted him hugely. As long as they
i lived in the same rafSn she never got
over her fear, andFes never tired of
playing pranks around her.
i If to learn by experience is sign OF
reason in an animal, the cat-bird plainly
demonstrated his possession of that
quality. He learned very fast by ex-
perience. Once or twice alighting on
the cane seat of a chair, and catching
his claws, taught him that that was not
a place for him. and he did it no more.
/ When his claws grew so long as to
curve around an ordinary perch, or a
book, after being caught once or twice,
he managed to accommodate himself
to this new condition, and start in a
different way. Instead of diving off 3
perch, as he naturally does, he gave a
little Jump up. The-~hange was very
marked, and he caugAt his claws no
more.
! He learned to ask to be uncovered in
the morning, in about three days. He
would begin his uneasiness quite early,
flying back and forth violently in the
cage, and at last he would call. Iwant-
ed to see if he would learn, so the mo-
ment he called / would get up and take
foff the cover which protected him from
cold at night. For two or three morn
ings he did the same, became uneasy,
flew a while, and then called, when at
once responded. From the third day
he called the instant he wanted to be
uncovered, showing no more restless
ness, and calling again and again it !
did not move at once, at last giving his
most harsh cry, and impatiently scold-
ing with rage.
To beg for worms was an easy les
son. Having two or three times re-
ceived them from pair of tWeezers on
my desk. he came regularly; perched on
the books, looked at me, and then at
the cup which had held the worms;
then, if I did not get them, opened and
closed his bill, and jerked his tail inn
patiently.
His great delight and mystery is a
rubber band, of which keep two sizes;
one hardly larger than a thread, and
the other an eighth of an inch wide and
two inches long doubled. These he is
wild to get; and since he treats them as
he does the worms, ] conclude that their
softness and elasticity are deceptive,