The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-08-29
Aug. Is 1895.
BIRD THAT PUz9LEs MS KEEPER
A Voice That AppaIIs and "A Strange
Effect of Feathers.

From the ST. Louis Globe-Democrat
Among the rare and beautiful birds that
recently arrived at the Philadelphia Zoo
logical Garden is one that is puzzling the
keepers very much. 1t is small bird,
whose plumage looked like a town that
had been artistically daubed by large
crowd of sports. 1t has a peculiar beak,
which. instead of being firm and bony,
is flexible, like the reed Of church organ.
When the bird first came no one could
exactly classify it, 1t is supposed to be
the Carolatrix beatihcus, or the ghost
voiced thrush" one of the rarest of birds,
found only in a few small inland towns
III the heart of Africa. 1tapparently had
no voice at all, and ii had a number OF
pecuiarities that would seem to place
it out of the pale of the thrush family.
The pretty red creature had not been
in its new quarters long before it began
to show signs of uneasiness. 1t refused
all food, and apparently felt bad One
morning last week the keeper was startled
by seeing the bird featherless. He looked
around the cage, but there were no signs
of the brilliant feathers that had been the
pride and glory of the new bird. Nobody
could solde the mystery. The simple
fact was that the bird was feathereless.
After guessing for some time, the con-
cluSiOn was redCnleQ IItI the DlTu AdQ pun
ed it's feathers out, one by one, and had
eaten them. OF course, there was no proof
of this, but it seemed plausible. The next
day, when the keeper again looked at the
bird, he started back as thought shot. The
bird which the day before had been feath-
erless was now once more clothed In bril-
liant plumage.
what kind of bird is that anyhow"
said the keeper. He was destined to more
surprises. At about o'clock in the morn
ing of the day following the double trans
formation he heard sounds coming from
the bird house that sounded like some
body talking in foreign language. First
there were whispers, then sudden Shrek
that was enough to curdle the blood of
strong and brave men. This was follow
ed by rapid and vociferous shouts in an
utterly unknown tongue. The keeper was
rather afraid 10 open the door, fearing
some undesirable person had entered the
bird house Finally he summoned up cour-
age and opened the door. There was a
dead silence. While the keeper gazed
about there came in CHASTITY whispers
words that seemed to chill his very bones.
They were wild, weird, unintelligible. The
subdued tone in which they were uttered
added to their terror.
The keeper looked around, but saw no
one. The birds were as silent as the
keeper himself and seemed to be awed by
the voice. Every nook in the
bird house was searched, but
nothing came of the hunt.
Finally the keeper spied the mysterious
bird The day before it had been a brill
liant red. Now 1t was blue. and it stood
shivering on its perch as though 1t were
cold. The keeper wiped the perspiration
off his brow and glanced at the thermome-
ter 1t was ninety degrees. Then he lis
tened, and he heard hushed tones coming
from the birds throat. The longer he lis
tened the more excited he became, and
the more ghostly was the voice of the
thrush. Finally the bird emitted series
of shrieks and other vocal atrocities, that
chased the keeper out headlong. How
many other changes the bird has gone
through since then nobody knows. for no.
body will go within reach of its voice ear
ly in the morning.