Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1903-09-10
Some Bird Babies.

the orIole nestllngs; Mrs. MlIIer cans
them the cry babies of the bird world,
and any one who has known much of
these young irrepressibles will agree
with her.
Bishop Vincent once said thatit was
complained nowadays that family gov
ernment was thing Of the past. mot
at all, said he. There is Just as
much family government now as there
ever vast has changed hands, that
is all" One frequently thinks Of this
in watching the ways Ct an oriole fam
lily. A June morning summer or
two ago, I was awakened by a voice
saying, "Here i. SQUAD for you; the
children heard it crying and brought
it in lest some cat should get it. >"
The "squab" proved to be a baby
oriole, and l hurrisdly dressed and
went for him, intending to restore him
to his family. 1 was met with exPla-
nations. "You see, when l got back
here, he really seemed to have tainted
away and placed him on the window
sill for minute to revive. He must
have been shamming, for the instant
I put him there he scrambled out, and
before any one could catch him had
fallen off the piazza roof You'll find
him with broken neck down among
the flowers" The search was long
but no broken-necked oriole could be
found. At last l gave it up and went
to watch the peculiar behavior Of a
female oriole some little way off. She
was calling and then from the foot
futtering up the trunk of a walnut
tree.
At the base of the the tree found
the "squab," his neck in working or
der, and watching with an air Of bored
indifference his mothers uncalled-for
performance. He seemed to find the
ground quite good enough for him
tumbling off roofe and climbing trees
were entirely different matters-and
a. for exerting himself just because his
mother told him to, that crazed no.
ton never entered his fluffy head. So
l went to the assistance of the lady
and put her disobedient offspring in
the low branches of a tree. She told
him to come higher, where be would
be safer, but he was very well satisfied
where he was and would not bulge.
She flew away to attend to some
better behaved children, l thought, but
in moment was back with a particu-
larly appetizing worm, which she held
out to the delinquent, who opened his
mouth wide, and she flew up branch
higher. 1t was a bit of family dis
cipline delightful to behold. Plainly
that unruly youngster had to mind
his mother before he had anything to
eat. He could climb fast enough when
he happened to think it worth while,
and soon was in place of safety.
At another time l saw the battle
pair of orioles had with an exception
ally naughty boy of theirs. He was
in mulberry tree just outside the
window. A cuckoo was clearing out
tent caterpillar's nest near the top Of
the tree and the oriole baby went up
two or three branches, one above the
other, like stairs, and begged as pret-
tily as he knew how, with futtering
wings and open bill, for just taste.
The cuckoo fed him. At first | sup
posed the young one was rather
small cuckoo nesting, but the appear
ance and frenzied remarks Of pair Of
orioles explained the parentage of the
little beggar.
They got him down few branches
and fed him, scolding the cuckoo and
the baby roundly all the time. They
distinctly gave the cuckoo to under
that he simply must not feed their
child again, and just as distinctly they
told the child to stay right where be
was, and not dare to beg for any more
of those frightfully lndigestible cater
pillars. They were hardly out Of
sight before he had returned to the
cuckoo and was being fed by it.
Returning, the parents called him
back and thrust their contributions
down his little throat, overwhelming
him and the cuckoo with threats
Then they hurried off to get some
more; their plan seemed to be to keep
the baby so busy eating what they
brought that he would have no time
to 50 begging to the cuckoo. The
cuckoo was too big to whip, and so
they discreetly left him alone.