The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1889-05-02

1 rOr years Bp6ub QdJ dlUcF uhp III Tile "llQ-
er portions oil the park, opera glass in hand,
noting their ways from under the trees.
Early in the morning l would start, taking
my lunch with me, and sometimes was
there, making notes or waiting TO see little
play ended, until the birds had tucked their
heads under their wings at sundown. The
park was my aviary until it was overrun by
boys"
"You still spend your summer studying
birds in the Woods!"
ssYes; when | can tel by birds note
whether he is in the dumps or in jocund
frame of mind then is time to observe him
in his natural home. At nesting time |
have my scouts out. Boys bring re word
where the birds are building, and can LOOK
on at courtship and love and the soberer
family affairs. went TO North Carolina at
one time to see the mocking bird through
the mating season"
Gould you give any directions for the
care of birds!'
''It would be easy to compile manual Of
'donts,' after the etiquette boob fashion.
passed a house yesterday with birdcage
covered to the very top with lace or muslin
| hanging in the window. How would you
like that if you were a bird! No chance to
see anything, no chance to breathe. The
meshes Of the fabric become clogged with
| dust or other matters and birds health
| must suffer from lack of ventilation"
Doesn't it take long time to care for
| bird room!''
| 'At least an hour and a half every morn
| ing. Every water cup and food dish must
| be washed in hot suds, the seed dishes must
be filled, the perches must be washed in
sudS, the trays in the bottoms of the cages
taken out, emptied of their gravel, washed,
wiped dry, provided with clean gravel and
put back again. | use wire cages only, and
in addition to the suds bath | scald the
perches occasionally and clean with carbolic
acid. That keeps off vermin effectually. [
never allow cage from bird store to
come into my house. Perhaps it is impossi-
BILE to keep birds clean in stores; at any
rate they are apt to be in wretched condl-
tioE. Then the dealer will put one into
pasteboard box or paper parcel, where the
poor thing used to perchlng tlnds 1t hard to
stand on the fat surface and gets fright
ened or injured. When | want TO buy
bird take my own bird basket with me.
1t is specially fitted with perche5 and little
cOnveniences for bring ng the traveller home
comfortably.
by the way do you know one of the birds
greatest pests is the mosquito: | do not
know how the bird protects itself out Of
doors living in mosquito haunted woods, or
whether under natural conditions it is not
pestered: but in the house if it is annoyed
in the night it fiutters its wings and makes
such a cOmmotiOn of protest that cannot
sleep until it is attended to. The birds are
shut into their cages before dark, or rather
they go in of their own accord just as
| chickens go home to roost at nightfalL Be-
| fore the windows are opened for fresh air
in the sleeping room every cage is covered
| with shawl or piece of flannel to keep
them warm. 1t is not bad plan to darl1en
| the windows very carefully, or in spite OF
| their hoods there will be chorus of chirps
and peep:ngs showing that the birds are up
| and would like to be doing long before
| it suits you to acknowledge that day has be-
gun.
"Of course in an aviary or any room used
for no purpose but bird keeping the birds
can spend the night on their favorite
perches and cages need not be introduced
at all''
as there no difficulty about getting
food to keep roomful of birds in
health!''
''There is very little trouble with the seed
eaters. Birds which need the soft food or
mOcking bird food sometimes makes little
fuss at first aboat taking it: but the great
est difficulty is the indiScretion of bird
owners. There are birds so delicate that
! bit of fresh biscuit will Kill them, and yet
! peonie will give their pets hot bread, cake or
| candies.''
| Mrs. Miller has had pets other than birds.
| During the early part of this winter she
| had curious marmOset domiciled on her
| sitting room manteL Some time ago she
made familiar friend of a lemur and be-
fore that of a South American kinkaiou
The bird room, as l have described it, was
| an institution of last winter and the winter
before that, and very probably of the winter
| after this. Just at present she is so busy
| keeping fewer birds than usual
Her literary habits are interesting She
| likes to be at her desk early and to write
| without interruption until lunch time. She
| may take pen and paper again in the after
noon, but the afternoon usually and the
evening always belongs to her family.
Like Helen Jackson who never penned
! line for publication until she was a mature
woman at the zenith of her powers; like
| Mary Mapes Dodge, who did not write until
/ she was looking for an absorbing occupation
after the death of her h-ssand; like
| Margaret Deland, who astonished her
| friends with the sudden success of John
| Ward Preacher" Olive Thorne did not
| send out her first volume until she had some
| experience of life and its ways. She was
| ambitious as a girl ambitious as a young
woman, but her babies filled her arms with
| other pleasant cares, and it was not until
| she reached the leisure of a mother whose
| little ones are growing fast into big ones
| that she delighted the children of thousands
| of other mothers with Little Folks in Fur
and Feathers" perfect book of its kind.
For eight or ten years now her childrens'
books have been coming out, Queer Pets
at Marcys," Little People of Asia" and
kindred charming volumes. Her later
work has been almost exclusively bird
| studies for the children's elders though she
has venture in totally different direction,
| a history of Delaware, for ID. Lothrop com
| pauy's Stories of the States series on tie
| stocks this winter
Personally Olive Thorne impresses one
| first of all as a woman of healthy mind
There Is rare and sweet sanity looking out
of her countenance Vigor is what strikes
you next. She has the mental soundness
and heartlnesS of one who looks much on
nature and whose ear listens to voices out
of doors She is tall, has bright eyes that
lead you to expect fund of kindly humor
and aquantity of hair turning slightly gray.
| She is no pessimist, her face &c" tR.E
| You could not offend her more ueepiy than
by calling her society woman, but at the
| woman's clubs and in literary gatherings no
| circle is complete without her. Thoreau
| Burroughs, Gilbert White and others of
/ that delightful line, older and younger, are
her favorite reading, and her own books are
| worthy companions to theirs on the students
| shelves.
For those to whom whatever a woman
may do is emptiness and folly unless she
| can also sew shirts, and make pies, Mrs.
| Miller is the presiding genius in a charming
home and possesses that crown of wo-
| mans accomplishments, thorough lznowl-
edge of housekeeping. Her husband, Mr.
t. Watts Miller, is a well known Wall
street husinaaS man.