The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1895-03-26

sell up from the percn WIN OutatIetCHNu
legs, and slept all night in that strained
position, A few days later he learned
to bend his legs and rest a part OF MS
weight on his belly, as most perchlng
birds do while roostlng.
He soon became so docile that he
would fly to me whenever l came to the
cage door with food, and would stand
on my finger while he hurrledly gulped
down his luncheon Before long he
learned to ''go UP steps"-that Is, to
step from finger to finger when placed
alternately one above the other
He soon proved himself lowered by
nature with large amount of curiosity,
for he had to examine everything In the
cage like a veritable Paul Pry. kept
part of the cage covered with grass,
and here he found ample room for in
vestigation. He would thrust his bill
among the spears and stalks, pry them
apart with his mandibles, to see If there
We're any tidbits concealed beneath, and
sometimes would root about almost like
pig. He did not learn, however, to
picked up food for several weeks but
would open his mouth at any object he
fancied might be billsome.
AS he grew older his inquiring and
meddlesome traits of character became
more and more developed. Whenever l
opened the door of the cage he would
scuttle quickly to me. alighting on my
hand or arm or head. and call and
wheedle in very familiar manner. His
bill was so strong that he could cause
sharp pain by pecking the hand Or
head. One day, while a member of my
family was bending into the large cage
door to attend to the demands of sever
al other young birds, Judge flew upon
her head, and began to pick and pull
with might and main, and when she
lifted him down, he held several hairs
in his bill. On another day he discoy-
cred the gold ring on her finger, and
tried his best to secure 1t for his own
prize by thrusting the point of his bill
between the finger and the ring and
then prying his mandibles apart with
all his strength; but at last he pinched
and picked so sharply she was obliged
to put a stop to his rough sport.
His first attempt at swallowing fly,
which he had picked up from the floor,
was truly mirth provoking. Try as he
would, he could not work it back into his
throat from the the end of his bill, not
yet having learned the use of his tongue,
but would fling 1t aside by Ticking his
head, pick it up again, try once more
to swallow it, but all in vain; and so,
out of pity for his helplessness, 1 came
to his aid. In a few days, however, he
mastered the fine art of swallowing
fly, even If 1t did require more time to
learn to dispose of other kinds of food.
1t was not long before his instinct
taught him that he ought to take a
bath. His instinct must have been his
tutor, for he had received no sugges-
lions of the kind from his elders, either
human or avian. He learned to take
his ablutions, however, in the most APP
proved bird fashion. His first attempt
was awkward enough. He stepped up
to the side of a shallow bath dish, thrust
his head over the rim into the water
squatted down on the sand outside, and
began to- twinkle his wings and tail af-
ter the manner Of his adult relatives of 4
the great outdoors. But presently he
seemed to realize that the feathers of
his body were not being rinsed at all,
spite Of his well-meant efforts. What |
should he do to remedy the effect? He
reflected a moment and then solved his
problem by leaping boldly into the dish
and giving himself a most thorough |
drenchng
AS he grew larger his bath-dish be- |
came to short Cor him, so one day,
having thoroughly moistened his head,
breast, and wings, he leaped upon the |
rim of the vessel, lowered his tail into |
the water. and swished 1t back and |
forth until 1t was we'll rinsed. This trick |
came twice under my eye, and could |
not have been a mere accident.
About this time Judge displayed a |
trait of character that, for young |
bird, was little short of remarkable. |
One day he took piece of scraped raw |
beef in his bill, and leaped with it to
perch on which sat young COW bunt-
ing, which 1 had also captured and
Gagged and which always appeared half 1
famished. The bunting opened it's
mouth towards it's comrade, twinkling
its wings, and twitterlng coaXlngly for |
the tidbit. Judge looked puzzled for
as If trying to decide a diff
cult question, then ambled along the
perch towards his fellow prisoner and |
thrust the morsel into its gaping mouth
| could not be satisfied that this was
not an accident until I saw Judge feed
the young meadow larks and catbrds
which also shared his quarters. Again
and again he ministered to the other |
birds of the cage, until they began to
annoy him by their persistent coaXing,
when he became Disguised, fatty re-
fused to give them another mouthful,
and even grew angry and rushed saw