The Red Cloud chief., 1885-09-04
BIRDS.

odJ AesoctAttpns-b fsh-HANh oou
tho BiAckbIrds-The Owl and the
Weaver.
There are all SORTS of birds. jus. So
there are al sorts OF people. Not only
big birds and Little b.rd-. but bad birds
and good birds; bird, that love 70 hight,
Ike the saucy little English Sparrows.
and birds that love each other, and
cUdIle together all tie time. Ike the
Java sparrows fierce birds and g.ntie
BIRDS: birds that build beautiful houses,
Exc tie Baltimore orioles. AMI birds
that build no houses, bus lay their eggs
in other birds houses ike the COW
birds.
Then. again, there a.c .uncly birds.
ike the hawks and owls. and socIible
birds. like ~blackbird, and weaver birds.
And speaking of lonely ii.is and soc.a-
bic birds makes me think OF Il cur.ous
case Of a lonely biri and a lot Of socia-
bic birds which all lived together IN a
most comfortable and happy way.
Ii ever YOU have seen u lsh-hawh YOU
know he is as widowed and sayage-
beaked a fellow a. YOU would van To
meet. ought TO >ay she l.. for. As =
fact. Mrs. ~fish-hawk Is both larger and
ticrcer than her husband. She builds
her nest in the topmo>t branches Of 3
lonely, lofty tree - near to the sound
Ing breakers as possible, and there
brings UP a, hungry and noisy u family
- can be found. The nest is q mighty
4 . en-, -. - lAp ,x,.h t.s No a.. "a
added to each year. il in time grows to
be- simply enormous. Then il is that
the sociahlc. impudent blackbird ONE
along. and actually builds in the very
ncst Of the hawk. Not merely one
~blackhird. mind YOU, but just a. manv
a. can crowd into the huge mass IF
sticks which makes the big birds nest
And there they al! live together. with
their babies almost touching each other.
and yet never guarr"ling. They never
have anything to say Ia each other, II
j. true, but that may be because the
hawk and b!ackhird languages are So
different.
Even more odd than this Is the case
of the ow1 and the x.avcr birds. The
weaver birds are probably TIE. most
sociablc OF AL the BIRDS. They do not
merely build their nests near each 9TH
CT. but put them side by side in great
numbers, and thcn make Il thatchct
roof to cover them all. IL Is hard to
believe that such a beautiful It'll" bird
village can be the work of BIRDS which
have no other tools than their bills. but
IT i. and these little architects do not
make any fuss about it either. The
wcaycr-hiriS which build this sort If
nest are called >ociablc weayer-birds. 10
Distinguish them from other Weaver
bird, which build their nests separate
from each other.
IL there is one bird more than anoth-
or that most little bird, post vely hate.
it j. the owl. The owl sleeps all dav.
and goes abroad 1t dusk when most
other birds are making ready TO sleep.
Then the owls eyes are good. and he
can see little birds which = not see
him. and down h. pounces on them and
swallows them. The poor birds can
not even hear him coming. for his
wings are so covered with soft down
that he moves through the air without
any noise. and is clutching n poor little
bliu III III tluti Ia az ~ - Nv shAS
enough 10 know il is in trouble. This
is all very well for the owl At night. but
in the daytime il is quite another mat
ter. Then his owlship . not see well
out Of his great blinking eyes. and .
wise enough to try to keep well hidden
les, the birds he eats by night should
catch him and have their revenge. For
in some way the little fellows know the
owl can no, see any better BY daylight
than they can by night and therefore
when they catch him in the sunlight
they make him suffer for his misdeedS
done by moonlight They cry ont and
call all the small birds of the n%eighbor-
hood. Then they scold and scold and
fy at him and peck at him, and all he
can DO is ruffie up his feathers and look
wicked. or perhaps console himself with
thoughts of how he will worry his tor
mentor when the horril sunlight has
faded away.
The fact that the owl is so hated
makes il so much more cred.tablc 10
n birds that will refrain from perse-
cutting il when they have the opportuni-
tv. A traveller tells Of having e c 4
colony of weaver-birds which not only
did not prosecute An owl when the &C
ca,ion offered. bu. went So far Is To
give il = home. That surely was 4 re-
turning of good for evil Ii seems that
after the little weavers hai completed
their house they were n morning sur
prised to find . visitor asleep oE their
roof. Ii was rs il YOU were ~ come
upon = tramp lying on your doorstep.
No doub; the first thought of the n
ers was to give the intruder \ very
warm reception. There wss q noisy
consultation and 3 great deal of Nv ne
back and forth. but nothing WAS done
- annoy the owl: AMI finally the Little
birds flew Of 10 attend 20 tie business
of getting breakfast Occasionally : mt
tie weaver would perch near the
gioomy-loosing visitor and chatter 70;
. few moments. III; that vs. the wors.
that happened. and The owl VS. seem
ingly So well pleased wit toe Spo: ihs;
day after day e.~returnel 20 j. Tie
resri, was thatG. A. Sxe~ tale b:d.
zane and we4c. For ~sLr-Yin- Any
Gore sitert ouome-J owl than II b
Asd becn a b.dC-5t wood DIN L.
erye!A.rn Hart sFsI0saC Pope
y -.~
REMARKABLE PARROT.
ATl9e Account Of . Wonderfully In'siii'