The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-01-25
'Rastus.

! or whatever il is that determines the
+ fortunes Of birds-had deereed otherwise
J The storm came toward evening and
! caused the human inhabitants Of the
town not a little sol cltude.
/ Indeed, at dusk the weather was so
! pleasant that a certain woman was 40 g
20 attend the midweek prayer meeting
/ of her church. On her way to the ser
vice she saw a young, haif-hedged robin
! hopping before her on the sidewalk and
/ chipping for the parents and mates from
which he had been so ruthiessly sepa-
rated SO the kind-hearted woman de-
cided that it would be an act OF mercy
: ~ in her hands. she wrapped MIN in her
handkerchief and carried MIN to the
meeting.
After the service the bird was borne
home. where he became the SPECIAL ward
and companion OF another lady of the
! house, one of the teachers Of the city
+ schools. an intelligent woman, VINO has
/ a. penchant for feathered creatures From
now on ne became a real favorite. receiv-
/ ing every attention that loving hands
could bestow Quite tame and unsus-
picious, he would sit on his mistress
hand, open his mouth and chirp and gulp
down the pellets of food that were Of
! fered him. He was not imprisoned In
/ cage but was given the keys Of the
/ house, so to speak
AS time passed he developed character
as well as flesh and bones and feathers
He was a somewhat staid and digniaed
bird, not 50 nervous and excitabI as
some individuals OF his kind Each bird
/ has idiosyncracies. No two birds, even
I of the same species. are precisely alike
/ in temperament OF course, this gives
almost infinite variety in the bird realm
and prevents avian society from grow
! ing humdrum. One thing however, net
| tied the young robin as soon as he was
old enough to notice the behavior of the
people around him-he would not stand
teasing. Even If some one scraped a
font about on the floor it would irritate
the bird almost beyond endurance
STILL in the main he was a docile pet,
and good-natured withal Perched on his
mistress shoulder he would accompany
her to the postoffice, a distance Of at
least FIVE blocks, and back, apparently
enjoying his ride, and showing no signs
Of fear. Of course, this was while he
was still too young to be suspicious Of
mankind IN general Perhaps It may
be OF some interest to know how he
came TO be christened 'Rastus. His guar
dams youthful son, who had been away
from home for several weeks and had
never seen the bird. came into the room
{
flew to the boys arm, and sat there
chirping for food. The lad promptly
called out. in the we1l-known slang
phrase, "Hi there 'Rastus!' hnd from
mat time the name 'Rastus was fasten-
ed upon the pet.
Interesting as her founding was. the
lady found him somewhat of a burden.
especially as she desired to go away
from home for time and had no one
in whose care she could leave him. SO
she telephoned to me, asking whether
I would accept him as a gift. My reply
was a decided affirmative. for so valua-
bic a prize was not to be lightly case
aside.
He was placed in a large cage with a
brown thrasher of about the same age,
and at once exhibited his irritable nature
by swapping sharply with his mandibles
at his new-made acquaintance, which
showed fear of him and became quite
nervous. It was interesting to note how
staid the robin was. sitting quietly on
his perch and looking about wisely. as
if he were trying to reason out the cause
of the change in his surroundings while,
in sharp contrast, the thrasher fitted
about IN an excited way But 'Rastus
made the thresher's life miserable with
the repeated swapping gestures. and 50
he was transferred to a cage of his own.
In large part he still had to be fed by
hand opening his yellow-lined mouth for
the dainties presented to him BY and
by, however. he refused to take his food
in this juvenile way. but picked It a
in the manner of adult birds, learning
the fine art by degrees and through his
own unfolding intelligence
Even before he had learned to dine in
the most Improved bird fash.on he began
TO twtter a sweet little tune. with his
nandibles closed, the sound coming from
his swelling throat All summer long he
was one Of my brightest pets, occupying
his cage IN the row on my front porch.
While not lavish of his melody, he some
times delighted me with 500 in a loud
cherry tone that bore some likeness to
the robins well known outdoor carol
Have you ever seen a bird taking a
sunbath2 'Rastus was very fond Of a
bath Of this kind. as were all his feath-
cred comrades Of the porch When his
cage was set in the bright sunshine of
the morning he would fluff up all the
plumes of his body, spread out his wings
and tan to their furthest limit, until
each feather and quill stood out sepa-
rateIy. and then bend his body In the
most grotesque way at the proper angle
to get the best effect from the lum nous
deluge. He and his comrades made a
laughable and pleasing picture when pos
ing in this odd posture.
Nothing pleased 'Rastus more than 10
be given the freedom Of my study. He
was especially fond OF nosing around
on my writing table and scattering my
pencils and penholders to right and left.
Another OF his favorite amusements
was to perch on the top Of my carriaga
while operated the machine.
IT was comical 70 see him try TO stand
on the smooth, rounded end Of the rocker
of one Of my chairs. The surface was
so smooth that he could not keep his
footing upon it.
But one evening he failed to return.
Several days passed. bringing no 'Ras-
tus and so we sorowfuliy concluded
that he had fallen q prey 70 an owl or
a cat. After a few weeks, however, we
learned that he was II the possession OF
one Of our neighbors living in the next
block. EIe had come TO the houseaf0r
several days. the woman tod me had
taken worms from ner hand. had perez
ed on the ba.ustrads. tho window sill
and even on her hand and lap. had
flown into the house through the open
window, and hoped about on the floor.
and had in many ways made himself -
familiar that tina wons1's heart 49, +
completely won. and SO she got a cage
and took him IN ca2rg She IS So
charmed with her pet tfat nothing Wou
induce her 10 part with Kim.
He has become quite q musician Nj
having had tutors CT his own species his
rna sical productions are nof fFeclseig li.a
the 'Eaeerily. cheer5lv. Cheer-Gu'' 81 ~
ROBINS IN their wild state lie pipes very
Loudly imitatln certain snae runs
whistled for him by his mistress Esr
husband PLAYS the ccsiinaE- and the far1-
sly are sure that Rssrus prozucss soma .
OF the strains of fhst instrument ~
times he whistles 50 Loudly tnaf VIXEN