The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1892-08-25
MAKING PETS OF HUMMINC BIRDS.
What May ise Done in the Way IF Tam
ing Thesc Diminutiye Things.

While walking in the orchard one
day in June | espied IA humming birds
nest Ga fitting casket for the gem) on
horizontal limb about five feet from
the ground. When | looked into it two
feathered mites flew out and fell to the
ground As there were pigs in the
orchard ] thought | had better take
the birds out of it. ! carried them TO
'he house, made a light frame for a
cage, and coyercd it with lace. Z. this
| kept them four months, letting them
out every day. | fed them upon
cracker soaked in Malaga wine and
sugar. and brought to them all the
honey-holding flowers that / could
find. When | brought in bouquet
they Immediately flew to it, buzzing
joyously.
! gave them a snuffer tray for
bathing tub, but one of them would
never voluntarily take his bath, so the
other would chase him around the
room, take him by one leg, drag him
to the tray, and pull him into the
water. He seemed to be doing this
for fun; there was never any quarrel
ing between them. AS there was an
open fireplace in the room | always
had to cover it with shawl when |
let them out, but one day | forget to
cover it before opened the cage door
and one of them took a bee line for the
fireplace, but, as though frightened at
the dark chasm, he flew quickly back
to me, alighted on my hand, and sat
there trembling for some moments.
When | came into the room, after
leaving them for awhile, they would
fly to me, chirping and seeming very
glad to see me. They never showed
any fear of anyone, and seemed to en-
JOY lighting on my finger, and would
look in my face very intelligently.
Sometimes they got out of the ~aaaase,
but always returned and usually
alighted on the comb in my mothers
hair.
In the fall after the flowers were
gone they did not seem well. During
the last weeks of their life there were
no blossoms but those of few clover
heads under the apple trees. l was
making silkweed cape, and as the
feathery stuff was flying about the
house one of them got some of it into
his throat and died the next day. He
had appeared stupid for some days be-
fore. The other, who had seemed a
little better than this one, grew worse
after the death of his companion and
lived only two weeks longer.
One warm day in the middle of
October as was going into the orchard
to get the few remaining clover bios
sons took the bird in the cage with
me, thinking the air might do him
good. held the cage in one hand and
was picking clover with the other, but
when | was going to put the clover in
the cage | found the door open and no
bird there. / suppose that the wind
had blown the door open and he had
fallen out and died. | called him by
the pet names which he knew, and if
he had been living he would have
answered me. | searched long and
carefully for him, but never found him.
| think they died for lack of their food,
the honey of flowers. If | could have
taken them to the southern states ear
ly in September presume they could
have lived through the winter. l had
become very much attached to my
beautiful tiny pets, and felt their loss
keenly.
But have the nest yet, a lovely
wonder, of softest buff-brown felt,
covered externally with lichens, and
glued to the remnant of broken twig,
the nest forming one and the twig the
other prong of fork. and the lichen
extending in an unbroken line from
the nest along the twig-a tiny twig,
no larger than a straw, supports it from
beneath. Burroughs says: at is an
event in ones life to find humming-
birds nest" Twas so much interest
ed in the still greater event of finding
and caring for the young birds that |
did not think much about the nest un-
til it was all that remained to me ex-
cept the memory of my tanned hum
minG birds.