Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-05-19
MAKING PETS OF RUNNING BIRDS
What May be Done In the Way of Tanning
These Dimtnutive Things

These Dimtnutive Things
While walking in the orchard one day
IN Jnne | espied a humming birds nest
la 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 ground.
As there were pigs in the orchard |
thought ! had better take the birds out of
it. carried them to the house, made q
light frame for 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 joyously.
| gave them snuffer tray for u bathing
tub. but one of them would never vclun-
tarlly take his bath, SO the other would
chase him around the room, take him by
one leg, draw him into the tray. and pull
him into toe water. He seemed to be
doing this for fun; there was never any
quarre!ing between them As there was
an open fire place in the room always
had to cover it with shawl when I let
til en out, but one day forgot to cover it
before | opened the cagedoor, and one of
them took 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 leav-
ing them for awhile, they would fly TO me,
chipping and seeming very GLAD to see
me-, lhey never showed any fear of any
one. and seemed to enjoy lighting on my
finger, and would look in my face very
intelligently. Sometimes they got ont of
the house, but always returned and usu-
ally allghted on the comb ct my mother
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. | 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
before. 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 warnl day in che 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 aud 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
nae. | 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-
nallY with lichens, and glued to the rem
nant Of broken twi r, the nest forming
one and the twig the other prong of
fork, and the lichen extending in an I'M
broken line from the nest along the twig
"a tiny twig, no larger than straw,
supports it from beneath. Burroughs
says: "It is an event in ones life to find
a humming bird s nest" | was so rluch
interested in the still greater event of
finding 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 hunming
birds.