Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-04-09
STRANGE BIRD LIFE.
Interes ding Inmates of Small AviarY in
Connecticut.
FROM tie hartford Courdnt.

From the Hartford COurdnt.
Our aviary is a source of unceasing de-
light. 1t is onlv cheap affair, composed
of three sashes with double CLASSY, four
fe in width by fve in height, built as a
bay-window, with the floor about four
inches below the sill ofth window, which
was re. owed, and which was supplanted
by wire-nettinr part of which formed i
door between the sitting Dom and aviary
fos convenience of feeding the birds, etc
the ROOF com, osed of matched pin ard
the Wnok costing less tn. SIS. This
constitutes our aviary 1t is not an "'ab-
crate affair ~ costly, but is all that is
necessary for the accommodation and
comfort of a s. all coll ton of birds, say
from twelve to eighteen of til different
kinds Of oul small birds, a, the spar
rows, the titmice COR chick cana
res, etc, ant smaller number Of larger
ones. IL is s1'Hplied with two stationary
perches extending the entire length OF the
cage, and one swinging perch. The f0or
of the aviary is always kept covered With
gravel to the depth Ofhalfan inch or more,
which needs to be frequently changed.
Among the most interesting of the wild
I'm our aviary are the gross beaks, which
though habitants of Hudson's Bay and
vicinity, and only occasional visitants
here, were seen in unusual numbers last
winter, and several of which | succeeded
in capturing. They are the most devoted
and fascinating of all our pets, and with
in twenty-four hours from the time of
their capture would hop upon the fingers
and eat seeds from the hand of any one
/
fectly conteuted with their new home aud
surroundings. They are wonderfully fond
of the berries of the red cedar, and one
had only to offer them handful of these
to make friends with them at once.
1t is interesting to observe the mater
nal friendship that has sprun2 up between
one of the grOssbeaks and a slate-colored
snOwbird (,iuncO byemdhS), which each
morning takes his position beside the
grOssDeak, and as fast as she cracks the
canary seed he takes them from her bill,
throws away the shell, and swallows the
kernel, and both seem perfectly satisfied
with this arrangement. Another snow
bird in the avarv never ventures upon
the privilege accorded to his companion.
The pet of the birds in our ayiary Is the
lesser redp0ll, a bird smaller than the
song sparrows, vita red neck, breast and
back, and, contrary to the description
gwen Of his winter dress, has yellow in
stead of red poll. Although a small
bird, and having but one sound ler, he
''knOws his rights, and, knowing, dare
maintain" He is not at III quarre!sOme,
however, but will not be "bossed' by the
best Of them. All the birds are quite con-
siderate of him, owing possibly to the
fact that he is a cripple, and make way
for and give him a place at the seed-dlsh
whenever he hops toward is.
An interesting phenomenon, and one for
which / am as yet unable to account, is
the change of plumage Of two out Of the
three female grossbeaks | have now con-
fined in my aviary. When caught one
year since their plumage was the same
and correspOnded with the description
given by OrnitbOlogists-yiz., female,
ashy-brOwnish above, tinged with green
ish yellow beneath, top of head, rump,
and upper-tail cOVents brownish ggmbDgC
yellow. When they SIZED their feathers
and renewed their plumage last autumn
two Of them appeared in an entirely new
dress-viz., the head, neck, and breast
feathers of a handsome bright orange
while the plumage of the third is the
same as it was when she was caught
They are all beauties amt not at all dis
posed TO be tyranical or Quarrelsome.
Another pet Of the aviary is the quail
OrtyG ViTginiGpHS). Although little
shy for d few weeks, il is dOmesticaled by
careful treatment and handling, and soon
becomes one of the gentlesJ ard most
pleasing of the birds. HI-~ shrill "BOh
White' is heard as soon as the daylight
begins to dawn, from the beginning TO the
end OF summer. He never quarrcls, and
allows the smaller birds to take al sorts
of liberties with him at all times,