The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1896-10-26
A BIRD HOSPITAL.
The Feathered Patients OF a Queer
Boston Inst. tuition.
Parrots Predominate and Keep the Place
in an Uproar with Their prat-is-
Smart Sayings of tho
Saucy Creatures.

J
fool" shouted the parrot.
The lady bent over the cage, and the
quarter of Il century old bird in its sub
dued green dress imprinted a kiss on the
lips that chided the feathered member
of the family with You're naughty
birdl'
The sharp eyes of the parrot for n min
ute were downcast. He studied the
sand in the bottom of the cage, but.
perlling his head erect, summoned cour-
age and said in doubtful way: well,
l don't know"
Few persons know that there is bird
hospital in Boston in Mount Vernon
street, and few, know how interesting
birds are until they visit the GONZALES
cent ONES in their boarding house.
In the ward of the hospital there was
n colony of aristocratic birds from the
Back Bay and Brookline housed for the
summer. Their mistresses had gone off
TO the seashore or mountains. and some
had crossed to the old world, but their
feathered pets were supmering in the
West end. lest by changeof atmosphere
the tiny things contract asthma or
bronchitis. for birds-haye lungs. and
very delicate ones. too. ard while in days
gone by, like the babies OF he s;lums. 1t
was the survival of the fittcst to-Clas.
they are sent to Il bird physician. who.
by treatment. restores vitality to hi
featheriess flesh and sends the warbler
hack to its bonfc as fat as butter. with
its plumage as yellow as gold. And, by
the way. the healthy canary is notable
for the yellowishncss of it's plumage.
and may rightly be set dcwn as an adj
vocate of the gold standard.
The bird hospital on Mount Vernon
street has existed for five years. and
some of the birds there have been uilled
to the keeper of the birds boarding
house with fund sufficient 10 maintain
them during their mortal sojourn," as
the aged preacher would say. There
are 60 of them housed in comfort. ant!
by spending an hour among them one
learns many of their curious ways.
| Some of the canares have bells hang
ing in their cages, and one of them has
| the habit of telling everyone about that
he is cross by pulling the bell. The.
more ferocious he feels to his fellow
birds and his mistress the harder he
tugs away at the bell.
But there is arother kind OF ''bell. "
and this time ii is spelled belle" They
call her Juliet for she is such an un-
considerable flirt: indeed, some of the
i more prudent birds whisper more aw-
| full names than that about her charac-
ter, ,forwherever Juliet goes lialf-dozen
or more of her male admire RS follow her
and she has caused considerable ieul-
Gus feeling in at least one bird colony.
and she's quite Il young one. too. Her
| imprutence has been the cause of sev-
eral -changcs in her domain lately. She
has even been confined to n solitary cell
as means of discipline.
'Doody," another parrot, sings Gu
rious' ditty. conspicuous for its want of
rhythm, but he enjoys it and laughs
heartily over his production of ''Doody.
Doody, pudGin' and pie; when the girls
come out to play, Doody, Doody runs
away
The letter ''r'' in girls bothers his-vo-
cal organs. and while he is trying 10
sing it he twirIs it out as if ii were the
smoke from n cigar, until his falsetto
tones are piped so high that he loses
himself and bursts forth in a peal of
laughter intensely suggestive, and then
goes on with his story.
There are canarics by the dozen, and
ted at all prices: paroquets and paro-
| Ile ttes, mule birds. which indicate their
n;ialc to perfection by their stubborness.
and beautiful Virginia nightingale,
which every traveller in the south would
| recognize as the little fellow that sings
| after dark in the rice fields of his native
state but is still as n mouse by day.
''Tippie." one of the merriest and
most active of the paroquets, is con-
stantIy singing: I'm quiet little Tip
pie even though the people about him
declare he is not.
The parrots, of course, claim all atten-
ton, because of their ability to express
language, and one of them actually re-
cites Twinkle, twinkle, little star, in
very audible tones. The habits of the
birds are SO much like those of human
beings that it is their delight to sit al
the window and look out at the passers-
by as if they really understood what
they saw, and they are SO jealous that
if one is more petted than another they
show their disp!easure by Tapping their
wings against the sides of their cages.
u in the matter of bathing there is I.
great difference with birds. Some just
frisk about in their bathtubs, and chirp
and sing with delight. and others are
too indolent to battle at all. In the lat
ter case they have to be batlled like ba-
bies every day.
All save couple that had come il
during the day for treatment were in
splendid condition when the Herald re-
porter saw them.
4 The effects of theAr country home have