The Coalville times. [volume] (Coalville, Utah) 1894-1923, 1896-05-01

able oxtont the wonderful sagacity aud
memory Of blackbirdH. says the Indian
apolls Sentinel
AT my home over In Crawfordsyllle"
said the general. "wc have a large num-
bor Of tail tr1c8 on the lawn and In
course OF time those trees became tho
rooating place at certain times OF the
year FOR hundreds Of Thousands OF
blackblrds. They came In great black
clouds and IN spite Of all I could do.
they refused to leave. or course. they
wore n great nuisance and / was I'm de-
spair az to some means Of getting clear
Of them. stood for days with my gun
firing into them Of an evening and Nm.
ing hundreds NJ them. but the rest dli
not reem 10 be sufficiently struck by
fear or grief 10 want 70 part company
With me and my hospitality. I then
devlslng new scheme. Procuring a
number OF Roman candles one evening.
lighted them one by one after dark.
when the boughs Of the trees were bent
low with the weight Of tho croakng
birds. and poured the candica into tho
tops Of the trees ut a great rate. The
sudden innovation startled the birds az
nothing had ever done before and they
became pinlc-strlcken. That might
was free Of them Tho next evening.
however. 'he habit Of returning there
20 roost was stronger than fear. and
they began coming In by Thousands Of
the evening approached. After dark
began with another yollcy OF candles.
md the birds began to realize that
there was determined bombardment
IN progress They fed precipitately
aud the third evening only a few re-.
turned. 4 few last shots put them 20
flight and was troubled no more. But
what do you think those birds did, Ny
dividing fence runs between the trees
on my property and the trees on the
property Of my nclghbor. which are
equally high ana equally suitable for a
home Tor the blackblrds. when the
birds we're driven from my lot they flew
over across the dividing fence 10 the
trees Of my nclghbor and settled There
was no bombardment over there aud
they have stayed there ever since. This
was q long time ago. but never since
the last Roman candle was fred into
them has one Of those birds settled on
one Of my trcca They are 'tabooed'
10 oneciually as though they were on
IRE The great clouds OF birds each
morning and evening ny directly over
my trees going and coming. but not a
bird settles upon a tree that In on my
side Of the dividing fence. Another
strange thing II that II any one Of an
evening stands In my lawn and makes
a slight noise as clapplng his hands.
there will be the widest commotion
among the birds In the neighboring
trees. They become restless and al
most panlc-stricken. II, however. the
same person crosses the fence and
stands directly under them and makes
twice as much noise. they pay no at
tontlop whatever to him. lie can even
shoot mp into them without driving
them from their porches. have won
dered several times Just what impress
sion those birds have pf me and my
property that they have 80 decidedly
given me the cold shoulder. They know
every tree that Is on my lawn and
viii settle by thousands on the other
side Of the fence within q few feet OF
the dividing line. or course have not
bothered them over there, as they were
not my guests"