The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-09-27
OLD TINS Fs tn Erred PETS.
How the aquatic Pets in Central Park
are Cared : or.


fowl with white hood. Hes been here
seven cen or eighteen years" ''Has he no
mattel" asked the stranger whom Tim was
showing over his watary domain. There's
no more att & for him." answered Tim;
Ibis mates dead, and thew we're both males
| ANYHOW, so the; never did mate"
| Then, totally u lconscious of his bull,
| Tim turned his a tent IN TO other affairs.
Tim has had charge Of the feathered lhab-
| itants of Central park sincs he was blown
up in helping to blast the rocks out Of one
of the transverse roads, thirty years ago.
He came out of the accident with one eve
missing and the other almo sightless, but
| he was anxious to earn a living, and his
present place was fou1 for him. The
Gagged creatures are no part OF Tins care.
and all his energies are devoted to
feeding and te iding the fowls that swim the
| lakes and roam the lawns and woodlands.
He can tell you whole volumes ,out the
habits Of swans and geese Tim takes his
featnered friends seriOu ly. Them two
/ speaks the san language" said the old
man, D hitting again toward the lorn snow
goose, and embracing in an inclusive ges-
ture a pure white bird Of the same species,
but of a different variety. "They used to
| associate, but now 60 in diff3re 1t hOcksn
The Oldest of Tins charges, and probab y
the oldest fe lthered creature Ill tbs park, is
| a great fawn-colored Chinese goose, that
looks as if he might weigh forty pounds.
He is the sole survivor of seven males
placed in the PARK twenty eight We Irs ago.
Younger birds of the same species, who
speak his language" as Tim persists in
| believing, occupy tne same lawn With him,
and look like younger brothers, but are
treated by the older bird with merely dis
| tant courtesy.
Tins special pride are the swans. He
has charge of all these irds in the park
save few in the lower lake. II the old
man is to be believed the male swan is
model of marital fidelity. Tim insists that
| the one male in a flock Of 100 swans would
choose a wife and austerely leave the other
ninety-eight females to single blessedness.
| And he would have no meddling by the
maiden sisters, either, but every spinster
would be made to keep her distance from
the w added pair. If Tins observation has
been correct the same pair of swa IS occupy
| the same area of lake each season. Ger
| tainly the male swan guards his petty do
main with jealous care.
One of tue bridges over a narrow portion
| of the upper lake is the boundary between
| the domains of two swan ia lilies, and when
either male intrudes foot upo the terri
tory of the other there are pre- )arations for
battle. A swan fight is a stirri g affair.
| When male swan has trespassed 50 far
| upon the territory of a neighbor that dig IL
fed retreat is impossib e, fl yht is inevita-
BILE. for no male can homo ably retire before
| his g iemv when the wives of one or both
ara looking on. The attack, Of course,
comes from the swan whose domain has
been invaded. He sets his snow-while nj l.
ions sail-wise and propels himself toward
his enemy VITA great tnrusts of his oar-hke
| feet.
When they come together there is a short
fencing for advantage, che object of each
| being to deliver wi & blow on t others
| neck. o fair blow of this sort would
end the fl 5ht, for the victim would be slain
or disabled. II the struggle for advantage
the two birds often intertwine their long,
supple necks, each taking firm hold Oh
| the others throat. In this condition they
| fl under and struggle, oblivious of all
Surroundings. A boat may be run over the
| combatants without inuerrupting the fight
or breaking the grip of either. An oar
| thrust out to separate them is as likely as
not to be broken by single blow of the
wing. The man who should attempt to end
the fight by Interpret ig his arm would in
| all probability be subject for hospital
treat nent. Sometimes one swan is slai in
the fight, though oftener both give up from
| exhau stion, and TIE intruder is glad to use
his remaining strength in getting back to
| his own territory.
The cygnet is the prettiest, downy little
lead-colored creature Imaginable. 1t re-
|
| old, and then gradually blossoms out into
the whiteness of swauhood There are only
four cygnets in the park now. three of them
| recently Matched by black swan, whose
nest was on rock near one of the bridges
of the lower lake, and half -grown one of
the white variety the upper lake. 1t Is
part of Tins duty to feed the cygnet in the
upper lake, and the knowing bird follows
the old ma about as he rows over the
water in expectation of clover heads and
soda biscuit, the you lg swans diet during
the first six or eight wee KS of its life.
The swans nests in the park are pilfered
every season, aud the four cygnets now in
the lakes are all that are left out of six or
eight atched during the summer. How
| many eggs were stolen mob )dy knows.
Reckless visitors to the park freque lily Of
fer boatmen or PREDATORY small boys IS per
a single swans egg. Old Tim ni .lself has
time and again been approached with such
| bribss.
Many years ago a Kentucxian, who bore
a famous Virginia name, offered Tim $50
for half dozen swans eggs, and when Tim
refused the bride, begged at least to see a
nest with eggs. Tim had in mind such a
nest deserted by the swan after three weeks
sitting and this no showed the stranger
At sight If The eggs the Kentuckian thrust
a roll of bills in Tins pocket aud picked
up one of the eggs, saying: "Fhese are
| mine" i'm pro npCIH DroKe announcer egg
with his stick, and lowed the stranger how
worth ess was his prize. As Tim handed
back the roll of bills the Kentuckian ex-
claimed: You're an honester man THAI l,
and you make me ashamed of myself"
The oldest of all Tins pets are the peli-
cans. Half dozen of them occupy the
pond just north Of what is kn@wn as &c }.
Grants bridge, on the west side of the
park They catch live fish in the pond, and
are, besides, fed with small dead fish from
the market The moment fish is thrown
over t wire netting that incloses the pold,
six great bills are opened wide, and six
hammock-like cavi les cape for the coming
morse
The pond where the pelicaus live is used
for the winter quarters of all the aquatic
fowl. Just now il is also occupied by a
pair of swans and an old male swan, none
of which can be kept in the lakes, because
the other swan families Q not willing to
share territory with the newcomers. An
effort will be made next spring to provide
better quarters for the three ostracized
| birds.
The water fowl have a quite cozy time in
their win -er quarters. aud are little dis
tuJ ed by the jealousies that lead to so
much trouble in summer. They are fed
daily with several busaes of corn and many
heads of cabbage. They g tier their winter
quarters about Thanksgiving day, aid do
not return TO the large lakes until spring