Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-10-03
beautiful grass paroquet to the somber cock

peantifui grass paroquet TO the somber cock
atoo. made the air blue with their noise.
This is without doubt the favorite cage
bird, said the bird man. land attribute its
popularity to its dociiiy and its talent for imi-
tating the human voice. In size. as you can
sec, parrots vary from that of sparrow TO that
African grays and next to them the Brazilian
amazons- They are very jealous birds, and
when neglected often pine away. and, refusing
all food, die Of a broken heart. That big
fellow you see with It's head turned around,
surmounted by that crest, is what we call the
great sulphur-crested Cockatoo. 1t comes
from Australia, where ii is ha ted BY the farmers
there, IN whose fields of maize he does much
damage. Nearly ali cockatoos have white
Piumage, and the feathers are covered with
nne white dust, which easily rubs of. The dis
tlnguishing feature Of cockatoos is the crest
which the birds erect at will by ontracting the
skin over the skull. They are not good talk
ers, but excellent pets, with great affection.
All OF the parrot family need considerable care.
Ihey must be kept warm and never exposed to
the cold for an instant. as they are very sensi-
tive to cold and readily catch consumption.
while not belonging to the parrot family
THIS bird somewhat resembles polly. 1t Is
called toucan and comes from South Amer
lea As you will notice it has formidable
looking beak. but there is no harm in it, for the
bird belongs to the family Of soft-bill birds.
This is one Of the most curious birds have.
Here's fellow you all know, although In Its
present garb its own mother would not recog-
nize it. Its a half-and-half bird. Half bobo-
link and half reed bird 1t is changing its
plumage now. This gray-streaked bird is
genuine starting"
Upon its introduction he commenced to sing.
although it is a SANDER on the other feathered
musicians to call the harsh screaming a song.
1t sounded for all the world like the winding
up of Waterbury watch.
What's that beautiful little fellows name
that is singing SO sweetly?" inquired the STAR
reporter.
THAT is the famous japanese robin, and I
think he will be the fashionable bird this
winter. His song is sweet and clear and he
sings throughout the year.
This cage contains my happy bird family.
In here there are over dozen varieties OF birds,
including European thrushes, skylarks. black
birds, Goldtnches, liskings sjskings, waxwings,
crossbiIl and others.
THE PIPING BUI.LFINcH.
This is the most valuable bird in nv entire
collection. 1t is piping bullfnch and valued
at $50. Naturally this bird is not ,good
songster, but as an imitator it has no peer
IL can readily be taught to pipe a tune. This
one sings Annie Rooney and Down Went
McGlnty-' Its a diffcul task to teach them
have never taught but one bird song, and it
took 30 long that l thought 1 would
never succeed, when one morning I
was delighted to hear my pupil piping
away the song had played for it hundreds Of
times and dreamed of az many more That
experience did for me. The best plan is to put the
bird In a room by itself and play the tune you
seek to teach it on a flute or other wind instru-
ment- forgot to mention that the bird must
De young, not over two months old. Well. you
play that tune over and over again. 1t is rather
a tedious undertaking, but the result is inva-
riably satisfactory"