Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1909-06-16
WHOM THE ,BIRps LOWE

WI1OM I1E BINDS LOVE.
What Little Man or Little Woman
has not thought how delightful it
would be to have wild bird, a robin,
thrush. or even one of those saucy,
half tame little fellows. the sparrows,
come and perch on ones shoulder
and eat out of ones hand. Doubtless
some Little Men have even followed
bird with a handful of salt, think
Ing that If they could get near
enough to drop a pinch on his tail
he could he caught and tanned. But.
after all, what you want is not to
catch him, but to have him come to
you of his own accord, and they
never will, the little creatures. Even
the birds in the parks, though they
will pick up the crumbs you scatter,
keep their bright eyes on you every
minute, and If you try to come very
near them they Immediately have
another engagement In distant part
of the park. They wasn't believe you
at all when you tell them that you
are not like the bad boys who catch
birds and cage them and rob nests
and all that. 1t is very hard to think
that because other people have been
cruel to birds the birds have grown
so distrustful that they won't be.
lieve any human being is their friend.
Still. there are few people, very
few, whom the birds trust. Have the
Little Men and Women ever read
about Monsieur Poi, the bird charm.
err of the Tuileries"? He was just an
old Frenchman, who used to walk in
the beautiful gardens of the Tuiler.
les. In Paris, and when he fed the
birds, as he always did, they would
come and perch on his hands, on his
head, and flutter about him without
the least fear. Probably many q
small French child watched him visit,
fully and wondered how he did it,
for though he was very quiet and
gentle in his movements, they tried
to be quiet and gentle too, and yet
the birds wouldn't come to them But
the birds liked Monsieur Poi, though
perhaps they couldn't tell themselves
why they would perch on his hand
and not go near any one else You
know how you are willing to make
friends in minute with one person,
and another person you don't care
about at all, and yet the other person
may be just as nice as the one you
make friends with. It's your feeling,
| irJ. 4
way too.
Wood pigeons, you know, are very
shy birds in their native forests. It
Isn't at all easy to get anywhere near
them in daylight. Even the wood pig
cons in Hyde Park, in London, are as
timid as possible. But every morn
Ing when certain man who walked
across the park on his way to busi-
ness neared certain side path off the
Row, he found a group of the big
birds waiting for him. In the most
dignified and solemn manner they
would mount to the top of the rail.
ings. Their friend would produce a
handful of maize and pass it to them
politely, in turn, and each bird, as
the maize was offered him, bent his
head and cooked up his square gray
tail and took grain and swallowed
1t with relish. Would they take it
from any one else?
No indeed. One wonders how they
knew that particular man from every
one else. He was dressed like many
other men who walked there, and
surely wood pigeons don't notice the
color Of peoples eyes and how tall
they are. Still, they knew this man
and trusted him, though he hadn't
done anything special to win their
trust, more than other mon who tried
to get near them and couldn't. They
aren't particularly fond Of maize
either When the children throw
maize to the tame pigeons in Hyde
Park, few wood pigeons will hover
nervously on the outskirts of the
feathered crowd, but they are moi
tame enough or fond enough of maize
to join in the scramble.
Sparrows, OF course, are pretty
tame, but how many of you ever haG
sparrow come and perch on you
hand of his own accord? Yet thai
Is just what they do with a man who
is often seen in the quiet paths be
tween the Serpentine Bridge and Rot
ten Row. Perhaps some OF the Lit
tie Men and Little Women who have
been to London and Hyde Park ma.
have seen him, with bevy of spar
rows futtering around him, alightinf
on his fingers and his sleeves. They
are always eating the food he bling!
them, little greedies; but let any 9th
er person draw too near, and whist
away they fly in twinkling.
There was once another frequente
of Hyde Park who seemed to have tn,
power of charming the sparrows. The,
would perch in a row on the railin.
before him, and obey him as soldiers
obey their captain in a drill. Witt
their beady little black eyes fixed OF
his face they sat, and he would beck
on one after another, and tho on,
he beckoned would como at his cal!
and eat from his hand. Then h,
would throw crumbs in the air, ant
the birds would fly up in turn ant