- 4 months ago
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00It is quite common in the spring of the year for boys to go out on expeditions for young birds.
00:05The brown larks that make their nests low in the grass and the magpies that build theirs in clumps
00:11of scrub oak are the commonest victims. Many of you have never seen a magpie's nest,
00:17so you will be surprised to learn that it is very large, sometimes three feet across,
00:22and has enough wood in it to make a bonfire. These nests look quite coarse and uncomfortable.
00:28But who? Ever heard the birds complain? It may seem a beautiful idea to have a young bird to raise,
00:36but there is more sorrow than beauty in it. I have seen so many of these poor things brought
00:42away from their parents that it seemed likely to clean out the tribe. But the saddest feature
00:48is the cruelty practiced by slitting their tongues to enable them to talk. As I have known many birds
00:55to die from this mutilation, not being able to talk, I have often wished that it could be prevented.
01:02There was one case nearby where the poor parent bird hovered outside, pitifully answering the
01:07plaintive cries of her wounded and prisoned young one, which was worried by a pet dog,
01:13watched by a hungry cat, and sadly neglected by its captors, until death released it.
01:18At another time I was walking on a hot, dusty day in Salt Lake City, when, coming to a second-hand store,
01:27I saw, in a small cage, a poor magpie panting with the heat and hopping two and four, vainly seeking
01:35to make its escape. If I had had money with me, I would have bought it away and loosed it among the wild
01:42trees. Poor bird. The sight made me sad at heart. I would not have that bird suffering to answer for,
01:49for any price.
01:51Morning doves. When I was quite young, I heard a good neighbor chiding his boys for robbing nests,
01:57said he. My brother and I robbed a morning dove's nest of her two young ones. She followed us home,
02:04but we did not mind her sad cries. By and by we began to wish she would stop,
02:09and one of us tried to frighten her away, but she would come back. We were so tired with our ramble
02:16that our mother let us go to bed very early, and as we fell asleep, we heard her mournful voice.
02:22Next morning it was the first sound we heard, and all day it continued. We stuck to the birds,
02:29but by night began to feel badly, still would not give them up. In the morning, there it was again,
02:36and we could stand it no longer. We said we would take them back to her nest, but when we uncovered
02:42them, they were dead. Oh, how sad and frightened we were. My brother thought that if we put them
02:49where the mother could see them, she would understand and go away. So we laid them on the
02:55roof of the porch and came away. She had been watching us and settled beside them, continuing her
03:01sad notes. This seemed worse than ever, so we climbed up again and carried them away to some
03:07tall grass, hoping she would follow and stay there. But no, that mother bird flew back and forth,
03:14cooing her broken-hearted story of accusation until she died. We never robbed another bird's nest,
03:21and I never hear a mourning dove now, that I do not feel sorry for that deed.
03:25Mr. Garner wiped his eyes as he concluded, and you may be sure we all felt pretty solemn.
03:33The robin and the carpet rag. I will tell you something not so sad. Do you think birds
03:39understand anything we say? Well, you answer, some birds, tame ones, may, if they've been taught.
03:48That is true, but a lady once told me some thing so curious that I could not say anything against it.
03:56And yet it was very strange. She had been sewing carpet rags out on her porch,
04:01and it was about the time of spring for birds, especially robins, to be building their nests.
04:07As she sat all alone at her quiet work, she noticed the lively movements of a robin which
04:13seemed to be also watching her. This interested the lady, and she kept very still as she continued
04:19her sewing. By and by, the bird came near enough to seize a long, soft rag that had fallen just
04:25over the edge of the porch. Mrs. Robin tugged very hard, pulling it along backwards for some distance,
04:33when she stopped for a rest, still eyeing the lady.
04:35Oh, you little thief, said she softly, stealing my carpet rags. The bird looked at her, then at the
04:44rag, and to her surprise flew a little distance away, and sat for a while on the fence as though
04:51not knowing what to do. The lady said she began to feel as though the bird had understood her,
04:57and said she. There that bird sat and sat, and I watched her. And she watched me, till at last I
05:06felt so mean I was ashamed of myself, although I only said it in fun. But at last I spoke.
05:14Come and get it, you pretty bird. You can have all the carpet rags you want. And what do you think?
05:20As true as I live, that robin flew back and got that carpet rag and came for some more I threw over
05:26while she was gone, and I tell you, I felt relieved. Now, whether the bird understood words or not,
05:34this circumstance really occurred. At our home in the country, we watched the birds with great
05:40interest, although there are not so many or such pretty ones as in California, my early home. When
05:47we see large flocks of blackbirds flying low, we look for high winds. Sometimes they seem to hold
05:54conference in a large locust tree nearby. And then we have some fine choir exercises between the
06:01remarks of the leaders. I am sorry to have to state that these meetings are sometimes broken up by a
06:07mob-like attack of boys with guns. We have the mischievous little English sparrows, the little brown
06:14snowbirds, and, oh, when the first flock of bluebirds comes in the spring, how glad we are and throw out
06:22wheat in the front yard. It is a lovely sight to see one snow-covered yard adorned with a flock of
06:28lovely bluebirds with topknotts. We have read that they are very fond of the berries of the Virginia
06:33Creeper. And as we have a fine one, that was a slip taken from the beautiful vine at the Wells House.
06:40On the corner opposite the Deseret News Office, we have expectations of annual visits from this regiment
06:47in blue uniform. We value our vine very highly, first, because of where it came from, second,
06:55on account of its own beauty, and third, on account of the bluebirds. Is it not a vine of more than
07:02ordinary interest? The next birds we welcome are the robins. They are regarded as a sure sign of spring,
07:09but they will insist on moving so close to the cherry trees. But, after all, perhaps the Lord
07:16intended cherries for birds, as well as for persons, and we must not be selfish. Then, there are the
07:24larks. I know a boy who wants to spend a day in the country just to hear the larks sing, and I don't
07:30wonder. Very soon there is a rush of others, all building in the orchard and lucerne fields.
07:36If you want a treat, slip down into a field where larks, blackbirds, and bobolinks have colonized
07:43for the summer. Just lie down with the tall blades and green plumes of wheat, rye or barley around you,
07:50and listen for an hour or two. If new happiness does not slip into your soul, then I think the
07:57gates of it must be fastened, the lock rusted and the key lost. If you live in a city where such a
08:03delight as this cannot be had, tame birds are better than none. But I would rather walk down
08:10the green aisles of a cornfield whose blades are like swords, whose tassels are like silk floss,
08:17and whose very rustle betokens the industrious, bustling farmer hurrying up his crop for the mill.
08:24Perhaps when you get down to the farther end, a whole army of sunflowers with their splendid golden
08:29heads will surprise you, and some common weeds may be all interlaced with the daughter, as though a
08:36skein of yellow silk thread had got tangled in them. But if you must live in the city, which of those
08:42birds that live in cages do you like best? I have had parrots, cockatoos, and canaries, but my favorites
08:51were the hummingbirds, and I will tell you about them. One day while walking in the orchard, I observed a
08:57large knot on a branch. As I gazed, a hummingbird flew out, and stepping up, I found a nest not near
09:05so large as half a common egg, and in it were two eggs like peas. What a wonderful sight for me,
09:12and a good long look I enjoyed every day. One morning when I went there, I saw two black ugly
09:19things and exclaimed, Oh, those horrible bugs have eaten those pretty eggs, and was just going to
09:26send them whirling when they opened their mouths, and I saw that they were young birds, but such ugly
09:33things. I watched them daily, and they grew very fast, their bodies soon catching up in proportion
09:40to their mouths, and in due time the pretty feathers appeared. Then I took a hoop skirt, covered it with
09:47mosquito bar netting, gathered together at the top and underneath, and hanging it in a deep window,
09:54had a large and pretty cage. I cut off the apricot branch and fastened it like a perch inside.
10:01Then with fresh bunches of sweet flowers in the swinging vase, it was a pretty home. I wondered if
10:07the old birds would have me for a landlady, and left the front open. It was not long before they flew to
10:14their young ones, and then the opening was fastened. I afterward hung a division inside, and other
10:21hummingbirds also came in. In a short time all were so tame that they would perch on one hand and eat
10:28from a spoon held in the other, and when they were done eating the dissolved sugar or honey, they would
10:35wipe their long bills on my hand. They also became very affectionate, and when a hand was thrust inside,
10:42they would one fly to it, and, perching, rub their heads against it just as a kitten does.
10:50Visitors were often surprised at these lovely pets and their humming. One was a voracious and noisy
10:56fellow, and I let him go, for his incessant darting and loud humming sometimes made our heads ache.
11:03Once, after a thunderstorm, I found some dead hummingbirds and happened to throw them near an ant hill.
11:09A few days later, I discovered them entirely stripped of feathers and skin. Once, when I was holding a live
11:17one by the feet and its wings were extended, its feathers seemed to stand out, and I could see all
11:23most through the body, which appeared like a bubble. So I thought they have hardly any flesh upon them.
11:30Well, the ants had left the skeletons entire, from bill tips to claw tips, and they were the tiniest and
11:38prettiest anatomies that could be imagined. I kept them a long time as curiosities, in a pretty,
11:45saucer-shaped shell. California has one hundred varieties of these tiny birds. I have seen them
11:53perched upon clotheslines, and so tame that the gardener could strike the line with his hoe-handle,
11:59when they would drop, stunned by the shock. They are also very wise and wary. One cold morning I found
12:07one that was like dead. I held it by the tip of its bill, pitying the limp little creature,
12:13shoulder, then laid it in my hand, admiring the pretty feathers, when away it flies.
12:19Oh, the little deceiver! cried my sister. But perhaps it just then, in the warmth of my hands,
12:26recovered consciousness. On cool mornings I often wore a soft woolen scarf around my shoulders,
12:33crossed in front and tied behind, especially in my early rambles before breakfast.
12:38More than once I found, after a rain, chilled, humming birds unable to fly. It was easy to catch
12:47these, for they were just newly fledged, and I would place them inside my warm scarf. Before long
12:53they would begin to flutter. Then when I reached home, it was easy to add them to my collection.
12:59I fear that many of those fairy-like creatures die annually if a cool wave occurs before they are grown.
13:05A parrot. Now let me tell you of a parrot I once knew. He was owned by the mayor of San Francisco,
13:14who lived so near to the ships in the harbor at one time that the sailors could be seen on the ships,
13:20and their rough language heard by Polly, who seemed to be always listening to everything,
13:26and to have no objection to repeating it. I found this out by following the housekeeper into the kitchen
13:32when I was at the house with my mother. Polly had become so boisterous that his society was not
13:39considered suitable for the parlor. They called Polly, him, and her, also. Polly often annoyed the
13:48cook by moving the spice boxes and other small articles he was using, if he turned his back,
13:54blowing out the wax candles in the dining room with his wings, disarranging the newly set table,
13:59etc. Polly would call back the master's hound from following him, or cry,
14:06Stop thief! after any gentle man passing. When Polly at last caught a gentleman's gold-bowed
14:13spectacles from beside his book while he was opening their case to put them away,
14:18and then drop them from the balcony into the harbor, patience was exhausted,
14:22and Polly banished from the luxurious home. After this, I never saw Polly again.
14:29When about eight years old, I had, on my way to school, to pass three things that I dreaded.
14:36One was a lone pelican that would follow me for a portion of my school lunch.
14:40I judged that it could easily have swallowed it all and wished for more.
14:44The next was a lame old white horse that would walk when I walked and run when I ran.
14:50He was a constant alarm to me, although he might once have been a pet, and his intentions may have
14:56been friendly. Perhaps some little girl just my size may have been good to him, and he remembered it,
15:03but I didn't know. Further along lived a gentleman who had as pets four monkeys,
15:08and they used to climb the poles to which they were chained, and then jump down and make
15:13disagreeable faces and noises, beside throwing anything they could get hold of at passers.
15:19I have never liked monkeys since.
Be the first to comment