The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-03-05
THE BIRD ON HER BONNET.
DIVERSION OF 4 WOAEAN WHO WENT
TO A BARGAIN SALE.

81" an ones Hnts-Replies to Such Arsu-
m.nts-Goese, Hens, PeRcooks and Imita-
~ ,Iops-Ouestion Decided by n BlncRbird.
-srsnkIng OF birds" said tho lady with
A.. main ribbon bow In her bonnet. Il had an
%,.vit,tion to Join the Society for Abolishing
a.. wearing Of Birds on Bonnets the other
Az Not only that, but l was asked to act on
A.. committee that was to rush around and
20 other people to join. l hadn't made up my
lind whether to Join IL or not when that old
hl,ctbird on my hat decided me. IN tell you
shout II. You know. l always thought II was
.ostly tomtooler y.' this talk OF not wearing
,,uTed birds on your bonnet: that II wasn't
.rv more harm to kill a bird and wear 1t than
I. vas 10 kill It and eat II. and look;how we kill
rr.Irie hens and chickens and turkeys and eat
,b.ml Sue says tho same thing. ISue Ia
Mar sister, She Says II she wants a bird on
hsr hat she's going.to have 1t on her hat, and
mats all there is to It. They a~re.becoming
things on hats. birds are, and all this stuff and
ronsense about It's being sinfulswon't wash.
and IT'S time wasted. she says. to go trapeslng
around over the country Joining societies and
,ctlne on committees. talking It over and try
Ing to get women to quit wearing them. Wo-
man will wear birds.on their hats. she:says. as
long as they have hats to wear. and they will
have hats to:wearsas long as they.have heads
10 wear themson. excepting them what has to
wear sunbonnets.
But about that old blackbird OF mine. You
know | amt much on birds. never had very
many to wear on my hats. To tell the truth,
Icouldn't afford them. and:that's the.rock bot
tom reason. II you want to know It: so that
being the case. the subject didn't interest me
much until / happened to be invited to act on
that committee what sets on them birds and
things. Well. they sent me n nice little card
with a birds nest painted on IL. 1t was about
the o~rneriest looking nest you ever set eyes
on.and full OF the orneriest looking birds,
youhk birds without any feathers ON them.
piping and screeching for the old mother bird.
It didn't seem to make'much difference how
they .piped. and screeched. them young birds.
the old mother bird wasn't coming to them.
and she had a mighty good:reason for not COM
ing to them. In the other corner.of the card
there she sat. killed and sutherland perched
10 on the side Ola hail And between the two
we're these words in large letters. Starving
that the parent bird:may ornament q hatr
That was a pretty cad picture. Then when
you went on and read about how the old
mother bird was killed while she was nesting
because her pIumaGe was brightest then, the
tears came pretty near dropping dow out Of
your eyes. Still. when you come to think OF it.
you amt RICH certain about that either. at
least LIANT. Two seen many an old hen
a-settinR:on her nest. and her feathers were
drab and sadlooking as they could be. They
didn't seem to have no life in them at all.
Maybe birds are different. but 1 know it's when
q hon ie ready'to scatter her brood and nirt
around again. like some friskv fat pullet that
her feathers begin to brighten up. sam as q
Widows eyes when she quits crying and begins
10 take notice.
Anyway. it's a mighty sad picture to look
at. 1t don't make no difference what reason
they've got for killiaE them old birds while the
young birds Is teething. they've got no bust
ness doing 1t. They might Just as we'll wait
until the little things Is out Of the nest and
gone. After o bird has finished raising her
young ones. sheis like q mother with grown
up children. she might as we'll peg out and be
done with it-or 80 think some children-apd
II somebody wants to kill her and stuff her and
set her on q hat she ought to be glad enough
that she can do a little more good in the world
and die a-chirping. That's the way I look at
II. or rather was. I've changed my notions
since the accident to that old blackbird.
Since then I've been trying to convince Sue
and myself ut the same time that there amt
no real good reason whyIbirds:s should be worn
on hats. There are plenty Of otner.things to
wear on them .:and pretty things 1 said. but
there's no convincing Sue. She's gone and
ordered about a dozen birds for her spring hat
lust out OF pure contrariness. It's a shame.
too. when'she might Just as well have had
flowers. Flowers are going.to be more stylish
than.ever this spring. they tell me. flowers and
peacock feathers. AND there it is again. pea
cock.feathers. But. then. peacock feathers are
different from stuffed birds. mighty different.
yOu-1nr't his va 70 Fill tha paanool.c 20 0at tbnn,
They fall of on the ground the same as o.
trlch feathers. and when all you've got to do is
to 20 around and pick them UP aud put them
on your hat. where's the harm in that2 There
amt none, that | can see. but. OF course. some
when they are brightest and prettiest.' they
sad. you have to pluck;them out Of the bird
pose you do said T. Z does that hurt the bird to
amount to anything2' Only as much as it
would hurt you to pull all your hair out by ne
like that. In the first place 1t would hurt. and
In the second place I haven't got much more
my hat and / couldn't spare one strand Of it,
IL might be the same way with the peacock by
the time, two OF, three people who wanted
said they. and then l quit talking and begun to
mink about that beautiful, bunch OF peacock
feathers burnt up last spring and to wish the
them so bad: Do you know the reason l burnt
them up? Because somebody told me It was
ouh IuCh " mayo Iutm dIOulu. NOW, IL AMI
bad lucksat all. Here's all there is to 1t. i
found 1t out after 1t was too late and the feath-
ee were burnt to a crisp. They've got eyes,
you know that, every single feather OF them.
and them ewes are forever watching you,
watching every blessed thing you do. But do
you suppose / would care for that? Do you
pink that l ever do anything that wouldn't
bear watching? II you do. you think wrong.
There, might be peacock feathers strung oil
over this room, on the walls and doors and cell
ing, spying on;;me every single hour Of the day.
and they wouldn't see anything that they
couldn't tell TO the whole world 4 they wanted
70 I'm a married woman, with grown chill
dren. and II do sayit myself / am always on
my good behavior. II I'd known that was all
there was TO that talk about peacock feathers.
! would have kept them Just for spite. 10 let
their eyes see for themselves that l wasn't do
Ing no harm.
But when you come TO talking about feath-
srs., amt II lust rs much harm to pluck
feathers out OF live geese as IL is to pluck them
out Of peacocks2 When you go TO buy feath-
err for a pillow or a feather bed. don't you al
ways ask for live goose feathers. and II they
Amt got nothing but feathers that's been
pIncEed after the goose is dead you won't
take any, OF course. And you amt so much
70 he blamed. because live goose feathers is
llght as air. they beat. up like whipped cream
on a Gun OF coffee or foam on top Of a glass of
beer, while dead goose feathers are dead as
ooor nails. Still. looking at 1t from the stand
POINT OF the goose. how do you suppose he feels
whlle they are plucking out every blessed