Daily Los Angeles herald., 1884-04-11
About tho Treatment or Mocklng
Birds,
u. A. spring In Arizona starl


yearly raid to be made upon tn,
brood of our mocking bird, know
to ornithologists as Harper hyn
chus- cabanis Of the numerous
Turdidae or Thrush family, Q fev
suggestions as 10 its treatmen
seem to be in season, principal,
to prevent the wholesale destruc.
tion which awaits the younl
brood in captivity. 1t may b.
safely asserted that at least II
per cent. OF the young songster
that are annually captured in thiI
valley and vicinity by ranchmen
farmers, boys and Papago In
dians die from injudicious treat
ment in their cages during thei
infancy, while others, although
surviving their unnatural diet, fai
from the same cause to develop
the talent which nature has given
them, namely, that Of song and
wonderful imitation. The great
death rate of which l speak has
induced most people to pronounce
the harper hynchusla delicate bird,
while natural history oontradicts
this assertion and in the case Of
this very bird Elliott Cones in bis
"Key TO North American Birds, 1"
states: "When taken from the
nest, the mooking bird becomes a
contented captive. and has been
known to live many years in con-
fnement. Naturally an accom-
plished songster, he proves an
apt scholar, susceptible OF i'm
provement by education to an
astonishing degree.
The great mistake generally
made in rearing this bird consists
in the feeding it with unnatural
substances to q too great extent.
The mooking bird, like all
thrushes, is an insectivorous and
not a granivorous bird; all young
birds are voracious eaters and
will naturally swallow whatever
is placed in their bills in aston
ishing quantity without any dis
elimination whatsoever; it there
fore follows that the great amount
OF oornmeal usually fed to these
young birds will cause them q
constipation Of the bowels and
bring them to an untimely end.
But not only the young bird
who is mercilsssly destroyed suf-
fer from this unnatral diet; the
grown birds who, Of course, in
the absence of suitable nour:sh-
ment are by hunger compelled to
eat whatever is placed before
them, suffer greatly from the
Inconvenience q great amount Of
mealy substance causes them;
they are not inclined to mirth
and song; their movements lose
their briskness and they remain
melancholy and mute. Let us
then give this bird food suitable
to his palate and anatomical con-
struction: Place before him such
insects or animal food as is Oh.
tsined with little or no trouble;
we have at all times some weevily
6our from which the mocking
bird will pick out with great
nicety and evident gust, the
larv@ insects; we can procure in
. few minutes a canful Of fish
worms by digging to a depth of a
few inches in recently ploughed
field or an irrigating ditch. Dur
ing the season An average Tucson
boy can gather in fifteen minutes
all astonishing army of grass
hoppers, june bugs and other in
sects, and in the absence of these
natural substasces we can set
before our bird a little finely
chopped raw meat, which, faute
de inieux, will be found yer,
acceptable. With such variegated
food we can expect our songsters
TO live, to grow, to thrive, to be
happy even in captivity, and to
repay us literally for all our
trouble with their melodious voice
raised now in song and then
again in funny and felicitous
limitations, That is, the male
bird only. In very rare cases
has the female harperhynchus
been known to sing in captivity.
And now comes the question by
what means to ascertain .he sex
Of a bird, which in a young speci-
men is q matter OF utter impossi.
bility, In q grown bird there is
Q positive and infallible means to
ascertain that very important diff
ference, but it is generally con-
sidered a very dangerous opera.
ton OF modus provandi, because
it consists in the opening of the
bird, which is, to say the least,
very dangerous to its healthfal
condition and future prospects
in his earthly existenoej and it is
generally conceded that the owner
1f the bird loses all interest in
his property after having satisfied
his curiosity in this manner.
When we can choose from
among several birds, the one with
the liveliest plumage and cleanest
cut is always to be selected, es
pecially if the white spots or
bands on the primaries upper
wingfeathers) are well pronounced
and Of good size. In other words.
the bird with the latter features
best developed is the most likely
to be o male bird.
As this is mainly written fol
the preservation Of the life o.
these birds, ! would add that be-