The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1891-02-18
A BIRD CHARMER TALKS.
HOW HE MANAGES TO CATCH THE
FFlATHERED soNGSTERS.

smearing Limbs of Trees with Bird
Lime-Trapping Birds With a
Cage-Raising Mooking Birds.
'Come in" said the bird man to q
Washington Star reporter, as the latter
passed his door few days ago; 81 want
to show you a genuine bird charmer."
The reporter entered. Inside the storo
sitting on box before the stove a tall,
muscular individual was stretched out.
He was dressed in full corduroy suit
and wide brimmed white hat on the
sombrero order adorned his head. This
was the bird charmer, He looked more
like an elephant trainer.
eyes, catch birds" said the bird
charmer in reply to the reporters in
quiry, 'but my speciality is mocking
birds, although l catch anything that flies.
But mocking birds are my stand by, and
the little fellows earn me a good living.
How do catch them2 1t takes two re-
plies for me to answer that question, for
| employ as many means--liming them
and trapping them. Tho first named
method is simple and very efficacious.
"Bird lime is a sticky substance and
holds on tightly to anything that touches
it. How is it made2 Oh, can't tell
you. If did every boy in Washington
would be stuck on sparrows," and the
bird charmer laughed at his wit. Gas
| was saying this bird lime is very ad-
hesive and when bird touches it he
enters the bonds of slavery. When /
start out to use bird lime 1 generally
select a place where the birds are thick
est. Taking my lime pot in one hand
and long fiat sick in the other 1 smear
the limbs with the lime and do the same
thing to Tshaped perches which stick
in the ground. A light sprinkle of grain
about the perches completes the work.
The birds soon return and those which
are not caught in the trees fly down to
the perches to examine more critically
the food placed about them. The result
is apparent. / then gather in the birds
and move on to another spot
''To trap them is entirely different. A
cage is used with two wing attachments,
one on either side made of twine. These
wings are so arranged with the help of
spring that their normal position is close
to the cage. When ready for use the
wings are pulled away from the cage
proper ana held in that position by sec
tional perch. These perches are so SEN
sitive that the minute bird lights upon
them he falls and the wings close, shut
ting the bird in. The bird is not hurt,
but his pulse goes up to 1000 he's so
scared. forgot to mention that we use
a decoy bird-that is, tame bird. He
is in the cage proper and his song draws
The Others. That is the way we catch
birds, but the best mocking birds are
hand raised-that is, they are taken from
their nests when three weeks old and fed
by hand. They are hardy little fellows
and rather enjoy being orphans
"Great attention has to be paid to the
food of these younsters, for improper
food and regularity of meals breed
sickness. Hard-bciled egg and potato
is very good food and spiders and little
insects also do them great deal of good.
OF course when the bird grows older
prepared mocking bird food should be
given it. / great many people prefer
hand. raised nestlings to young trapped
birds. You can readily unders tand the
reason for this. Hand raised birds be-
come attached to you and soon learn
tricks. The hardest part about the sale
of mocking birds Is the shipping OF
them. Every year | ship hundreds of
them to this city, but the result is not
very satisfactory. The express companies
are not very particular abolt the care
they give the little fellows, and they neg
lect in many instances to give them
water and the poor little fellows die"
"The great fault about mocking
birds" put in the bird fancier, who was
standing near by, sis that it is difficult
to distinguish the male from the female"
Why, that's easy enough, added the
bird charmer, ''but a great many people
do not know how to distinguish the
difference and unprincipled dealers often
impose upon them. The way to tell the
sex of mocking bird is by is wing.
To examine the wing of moching bird,
the bird must be caught firmly in the
left hand and the wings extended to their
fullest extent to the right; looking at
the wing at the upper slde, the white
covering will be observed to be the
longest of the feathers nearest tip of thJ
wing, and the extent of the white color.
ing will greatly diminish on the feathers
nearest the body. If the white mark
ings are splashed with black and do
do not extend exactly across the feathers
the bird is a female. The female bird
does not sing at all, but merely utters a
harsh, sharp cry. 1t takes about three
weeks for "A mocking bird 70 attain its
full size. There is just one thing more
l want to say about the mocking bird,
and that is that l consider him the finest
feathered songster in the world. lie
commences to sing as early as eight
weeks old, and his voice increases in
volume and compass with age. He is a
perfect mimic and can initiate anything
from buzz saw to a hummng bird