Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1892-05-21
MAKING PETS OF HUMMING BIRDS
What May be Done in the Way of Tanning
These Dimiuutive Things.

While walking in the orchard one day
In Jnne | espied humming birds nest
Ia fitting casket for the gem) on a hori-
Zontal limb about five feet from tie
ground. When looked into it two feath.
cred mites flew out and fell to the grouud
As there were pigs in the orchard |
thought had better take the birds out of
1t. carried them to the house, made
light frame for a cage, and covered it with
lace. In 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 boquet they Immediately
flew to it, buzzing joyousy.
! gave them a snutfer tray for bathing
tub, but one of them would never volun-
| tarily take his bath, so the other would
chase him around the room. take him by
| one leg, draw MIN into the tray. and pull
him into the water. He seemed to be
doing this for fun; there was never any
quarreling between them. As there was
an open fire place in the room always
had to cover it with a shawl when | let
tn 9m out, but one day forgot to cover it
before | opened the cagedoor and one of
as though frightened at the dark chasm,
he flew quickly back TO me- alighted on
my baud, and sat there trembling for
some moments
When ! came into the room, after leav-
ing them for awhile, they would fy 70 me,
chlrplng and seeming very glad to see
me. They never showed any fear of any
one, and seemed to enjoy lighting on my
finger, and would look In my face very
intellgenty. Sometimes they got out of
the house, but always returned and usu-
ally allghted on the comb eff my mothers
hair.
In the fall after the flowers were gone
they did not seem we'll During the last
weeks of their life there were no blossoms
but those Of a few clover heads under the
apple trees. | was making a sllkweed
cape, and as the feathery stuff was flying
about the house one OF them got soms Of
1t into his throat and died the next day
He bad appeared stupid for some days
before. The other, who had seemed a
little better than THU one, grew worse
att,r the death Of his companion and lived
only two weeks longer.
Oae WARM day in the mid lie Of October
as | was going into tie orchard to get the
few remaining clover blossoms, 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 aud died | called him by
the pet names which he knew, and if he
had been living ne would have answered
me. | searched long and carefully for
him, nut never found him. | think they
died for lack of their food, the honey of
flowers. If could have taken them to
the southern states early in September |
presume they could have lived through the
winter. | had become very much attached
TO my beautiful tiny pets, and felt their
loss keenly.
But have the nest yet, lovely wonder
of softest buff brown felt, covered exter-
nailY with ltchens, and glued to the rem
nant of broken twi the nest forming
one and the twig the other prong Of a
fork, and the lichen extending in an I'M
oroksn line from the nest alozg the twig
"a tiny twlg no larger than straw,
supports 1t from beneath Burroughs
says: 1T Is an event in ones life to ind
a humming- bird s nest was so much
interested In the still greater event Of
binding and caring for the Young birds
that | did not think much about the
nest until it was all that remained to me
except the memory OF my tanned humming
birds.