Learning About Birds Through Stories

6. GEESE SAVE A TOWN FROM DESTRUCTION
7. A KNOW-IT-ALL CHICKEN
8. WHITE HOUSE CROWS IN A FIGHT
9. TEACHING A CROW TO TALK
10. HOW PARROTS ARE TAUGHT TO TALK

IT is not uncommon for cats and dogs to give warning of the presence of fire; but birds are not noted for being fire alarmists.

However, a town in Romania, it seems, was saved from being destroyed by fire one night in December, 1926, by the persistent warning given by a flock of tame geese. The account is thus recorded:

At night the owner of some geese was awakened by their frantic cackling. He hurried to the poultry-yard to see what could be the matter. The birds refused to be quiet. Looking in the direction in which the geese were craning their necks, the man discovered a bright glow over a distant farmhouse. Soon flames burst forth. He then understood what had occasioned the disturbance among the geese. They had detected a fire in its early stages, and had given warning.

The alarm was sounded, and the building was saved. The peasants are certain that because of the prevailing gale all Crajova, a town of fifty thousand inhabitants in southwestern Romania, might have been destroyed but for the warning of the geese.

There was once a pretty chicken,

But his friends were very few,

For he thought that there was nothing

In the world but what he knew.

So he always in the farmyard

Had a very forward way,

Telling all the hens and turkeys

What they ought to do and say.

"Mrs. Goose," he said, "I wonder

That your goslings you should let

Go out paddling in the water;

It will kill them to get wet.

"And I wish, my old Aunt Dorking,"

He began to her one day,

"That you wouldn't sit all summer

In your nest upon the hay;

Won't you come out to the meadow,

Where the grass with seeds is filled? "

"If I should," said Mrs. Dorking,

"These my eggs would get all chilled."

" No, they won't," replied the chicken;

" And no matter if they do.

Eggs are really good for nothing.

What's an egg to me or you? "

"What�s an egg?" said Mrs. Dorking,

"Can it be you do not know?

You yourself were in an eggshell

Just a little month ago,

And if kind wings had not warmed you,

You would not be out today,

Telling hens, and geese, and turkeys

What they ought to do or say."

To be very wise and show it,

Is a pleasant thing, no doubt;

But when young folks talk to old folks,

They should know what they're about.

-Author Unknown.

A vicious fight between two crows in the White House grounds early one July morning attracted such a large crowd that a policeman had to interfere and almost club the two birds before he could induce them to cease their fighting and break away. One had the other by the neck, and was trying to pull his head off, when the policeman stood over the two and flourished his arms and club in such a threatening way that the grip was finally released, and the two birds flew off to trees close by, making a terrible clatter about the affair.

Several families of crows had for years flourished in the White House grounds, but they seemed to have formed a combination to keep other birds out of the good things they found and enjoyed there.

According to the policeman, a big male crow from some other reservation had ventured into the White House grounds on this particular morning, and was promptly tackled. He was game too, and the fight started. The ringside was close to the gate and iron fence at the northwest corner of the White House grounds, within fifteen feet of the sidewalk on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Persons passing along began to stop to watch the battle, and the crowd grew to large proportions. Teamsters and automobile drivers stopped their vehicles and joined the throng. The policeman was some distance away and did not notice what was going on until the crowd had grown to such large numbers. Then he hustled down to the scene, viewed what was going on with surprise, and then went for the birds, which paid no attention to him until he actually stood over them and flourished his arms and club in the menacing manner described.

The oldest employees of the White House grounds, where birds of all kinds make their home, never saw or heard of such a fierce scrap among the feathered fighters there before. Crows are generally credited with being the most cowardly and cautious of all birds, and are easily frightened and driven off by a small bee-martin, from which they will flee for miles if pursued. But this, it appears, does not prevent them from fighting among themselves when a question of land or territorial rights is involved.

ONE writer in the Western Story Magazine, Mr. C. L. Wilson, of Mansfield, Ohio, who seems to have had some experience with crows, tells us that the crow is one of the smartest birds in the United States when properly trained.

When desired for pets, they are captured when they are about ready to leave the nest. Their wings should be clipped until they are a year old, which prevents them from flying away before they become fully tamed.

In teaching a crow to talk, this writer says that the same process should be used as in teaching a parrot, saying the same word over and over again in the same way and in the same tone of voice until the bird catches it. A crow, he says, seldom puts more than two words together. Such words as "Hello" or "Hello, boy," are the easiest for any bird to learn.

Regarding their food and care, he says they will eat almost anything, and that they should have plenty of water to drink, and a place to take a bath. They will even break thin ice in their pans in winter to take a bath.

A crow will be smart and healthy if not put into a cage. They soon become domesticated, and then you cannot drive them away. When trained in the manner indicated, a crow nearly always becomes a good talker and a good imitator of other bird sounds.

Some years ago a family living on a farm near Newington, Virginia, not far from Mt. Vernon, George Washington's old home, had a pet crow that not only learned to talk and to call their dog "Shag," but would follow the boys when they went swimming, and go into the water and take his bath with them.

As soon as he had finished bathing he would fly to a fence-post near-by and wait for them. Tiring of waiting, he would plunge in and take another bath, and again fly to the fence-post.

Becoming impatient at their long stay in the water, he would say, "Come on home, come on home."

If he did not get his breakfast as soon as he thought he should, he would peck at the boys' shins, and untie their shoelaces.

Crows are naturally mischievous. They like to hide things. They will sometimes hide a thimble under a rug, or carry other articles up onto the roofs of houses.

NOT all parrots can be taught to talk. Some species, like the cockatoos, can be taught to perform, but make very poor talkers, while others never become more than chatterers and noisy screechers.

The best talking parrots are the gray parrots of Africa, the green parrots of Panama, the various colored parrots of Brazil, and the double yellow-head parrots of Mexico. A few of the smaller parrots known as parakeets are capable of learning to talk a little, but to no great extent.

As with children, to teach a parrot to talk its education should begin when it is young. It is difficult to teach old birds a new language.

Writing of this subject, Mr. Edward S. Schmid, a well-known bird-store man of Washington, D. C., says : " Teaching a parrot to talk requires patience. It is essential first that you get the confidence of your bird by giving it careful attention. Handle it gently, pet it, and occasionally feed it tidbits from your hand.

"Do not try to teach the parrot too much at one time. The easiest way of teaching it is to repeat continually only one or two words. The bird will soon master these, and after it has learned to say a few words, progress is very rapid.

"Do not be discouraged if the bird does not learn immediately. Some parrots are more apt than others, but that does not mean that more apt birds always make the best talkers in the end."

The same method as that described in teaching a crow to talk should be employed--repeating the same word or expression over slowly and distinctly, in the same tone and in the same way, again and again.

To get the best results, some make use of a cloth or canvas cover, with a small flap or opening on top, thrown over the cage to prevent the bird from being disturbed or distracted by surrounding rounding noises and objects, while the lessons are being given. This, however, is not necessary where the instructor can be alone in a room with the parrot.

Some bird-trainers and dealers have made use of talking machines, run by electricity, with specially prepared records or discs, in teaching parrots to talk. They place these in a room with the bird at night, when all is quiet, and let the machine keep repeating the same expression over and over again in the hearing of the bird.

Mr. Schmid once taught a parrot, named "Loretta," to say, "I am worth five hundred dollars," and other like smart expressions, in this way. The bird, which proved to be a very apt and intelligent one, was finally sold to a prominent Washingtonian for $350.

In pricing a parrot, some dealers ask so much for each word in a parrot's vocabulary.

In leaving the city for his vacations, the purchaser of the parrot just referred to, made a practise of leaving it as a "roomer " at the birdstore with Mr. Schmid, its original owner and trainer. Upon hearing of the famous bird, some ladies called one day to hear it talk. But, as luck would have it, this seemed to be one of its "off days," and it failed to perform as they had hoped. But just as they were leaving the store the parrot stuck its head out of its cage and said in a singing tone, "All coons look alike to me."

This parrot got away from its owner one day, and flew up in a tree. While there it heard some one say, "Get a longer stick." Soon it was saying, "Get a longer stick."

It sings "Yankee Doodle" fairly well, and has no difficulty in saying, "Come on, let's put the kettle on and have tea."

Another parrot purchased at this same store has a vocabulary of more than three hundred words. It carries on an intelligent conversation, and calls many dogs by their proper names. When greeted with "Hello," it responds, "How are you?" and when asked how the turkeys in Cuba go, says, "Gobble, gobble, gobble."

Unfortunately, while returning from a trip to Cuba, it fell in with some profane trainmen, and picked up one or two near swear words, which proves the old saying true, that "evil communications corrupt good manners."

Another parrot which the author knows, has a small sleigh-bell tied inside its cage, which it rings when it wishes something to eat.

Parrots are the great mimics of man' speech as monkeys are of his actions.