LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume VII, Issue 795, 9 January 1877, Page 3

LITERATURE.

MY STARLING. I feel very lonely now since my starling is gone. I could not bear to look upon his empty cage, his bath and playthings, so 1 have had them all stowed away: but the bird will dwell in my memory for many a day. The way in which that starling managed to insinuate itself into my heart and entwine its affections with mine, I can never rightly tell: and it is only now when it is gone that I really know how much it is possible for a human being to love a little bird. The creature was nearly always with me, talking to me, whistling to me, or even doing mischief in a small way, to amuse me ; and it was often the very best relaxation I could have had, to throw down my pen, straighten my back, and have a romp with Dick. The rearing of a nest of starlings is always a very difficult task, and I found it peculiarly so. In fact one young starling would require half a dozen servants at least to attend it. I was not master of those starlings, not a bit of it; they were masters of me. I had to get out of bed and stuff them with grub at three o’clock every morning. They lived in a band-box in a closet off my bedroom. I had to get up again at four o’clock to feed them, again at five, and again at six; in fact I saw more sunrises during the infancy of that nest of starlings than ever I did before or since. By day, and all day long, I stuffed them, and at intervals the servant relieved me of that duty. In fact it was pretty nearly all stuffing : but even then they were not satisfied, and made several ineffectual attempts to swallow my finger as well. At length—and how happy I felt!—they could both feed themselves and fly. This last accomplishment was anything but agreeable to me, for no sooner did I open their door than out they would all fly, one after the other, and seat themselves on my head and shoulders, each one trying to make more noise than all the rest and outdo his brothers.

I got so tired of this sort of thing at last, that one day I determined to set them all at liberty. I accordingly hung their cage outside the window and opened their door, and they all flow, but back they came into the room again, and Settled on me as usual. 1 Then,’ said I, ‘ I'm going gardening,’ By the way they clung to me it was evident their answer was : ‘ And so are we.’ And so they did. And as soon as 1 commenced operations with the spade, they commenced operations too, by searching for and eating every worm I turned up, evidently thinking I was merely working for thoir benefit and pleasure. I got tired of this. ‘ O bother you all! ’ I cried ; ‘ I’m sick of you 1 ’ I threw down my spade in disgust; and before they could divine my intention, I had leaped the fence and disappeared in the plantation beyond. ‘Now,’ said I to myself as I entered the garden that evening after my return, and could see no signs of starlings, ‘ I’m rid of you plagues at last; ’ and I smiled with satisfaction. It was short lived, for just at at that moment, 4 Skraigh, skraigh, skraigh ’ sounded from the trees adjoining; and before I could turn foot, my tormentors, seemingly mad with joy, were ail sitting on

me as usual. Two of them died about a week after this, and the others, being cock and hen, I resolved to keep. Both Dick and his wife soon grew to be very fine birds. I procured them a large roomy cage, with plenty of sand and a layer of straw in the bottom of it, a dish or two, a bath, a drinking fountain, and always a supply of fresh green weeds on the roof of their domicile. Besides their usual food of s. akecl bread, &c, they had slugs occasionally, and flies and earthworms. Once a day the cage door was thrown open, and out they both would fly with joyful skraigh, to enjoy the luxury of a bath on the kitchen floor. One would have imagined that being only two, they would not have stood on the order of their going ; but they did, at least Dick did, for he insisted upon using the bath first, and his wife had to wait patiently until his lordship had finished. This was part of Dick’s domestic discipline. When they were both thoroughly wet and draggled, and everything within a radius of two yards was in the same condition, their next move was to hop on to the fender, and flutter and gaze pensively into the fire ; and two more melancholy looking, ragged wretches you never saw. When they began to dry, then they began to dress ; and in a few minutes Richard was himself again, and so was his wife.

Starlings have their own natural song, and a strange noise.they make too. Their great faculty, however, is the gift of imitation, which they have in a wonderful degree of perfection. The first thing that Dick learned to imitate was the rumbling of carts and carriages on the street, and very proud he was of the accomplishment. Then he learned to pronounce his own name, which the prefix * Pretty, ’ which he never omitted, and to which he was justly entitled. Except when sitting on their perch singing or pining, these two little pets were never tired engineering about their cage, and everything was minutely examined. They were perfect adepts at boring holes; by inserting tbe bill closed, and opening it like a pair of scissors, lo! the thing was done, Dick’s rule of conduct was that he himself should have the first of everything, and be allowed to examine first into everything, to have the highest perch and all the tit-bits ; in a word to rule, king and priest, in his own cage. I don’t suppose he hated his wife, but he kept her in a state of inglorious subjection to bis royal will and pleasure. ‘ Hezekiah’ was the name he gave his wife; I don’t know why, but I am sure no one taught him this, for he first used the name himself, and then it was only to correct his pronunciation. Sometimes Dick would sit himself down to sing a song ; and presently his wife would join in with a few simple notes of melody ; upon which Dick would stop singing instantly, and look round at her with indignation. ‘ Hezekiah ! Hezekiah ! 1’ he would say ; which being interpreted, clearly meant : ‘ Hezekiah, my dear,' how can you so far forget yourself as to presume to interrupt your lord and master with that cracked and quavering voice of yours 1’ Then he would commence anew; and Hezekiah being so good-natured, would soon forget her scolding and again join in. This was too much for Dick’s temper; and Hezekiah was accordingly chased round and round the cage and soundly thrashed. His conduct altogether as a husband, I am sorry to say, was very far from satisfactory. I have said he always retained the highest perch for himself, but sometimes he would turn one eye downwards, and seeing Hezekiah sitting so cosily and contentedly on her humble perch, would at once conclude that her seat was more comfortable than his ; so down he would hop and send her off at once. It was Dick’s orders that Hezekiah should only eat at meal times; that meant at all times when he chose to feed, after he was done. But I suspose his poor wife was often a little hungry in the interim, for she would watch till she got Dick fairly into the middle of a song, and quite oblivious of surrounding circumstances, then she would hop down and snatch a meal on the sly. But dire was the punishment for the deceit if Dick found her out. Sometimes I think she used to long for a little love and affection, and at such times she would jump up on the perch beside her husband, and with a fond cry sidle close to him. ‘Hezekiah ! Hezekiah!’ he would exclaim; and if she didn’t take that hint, she was soon knocked to the bottom of the cage. In fact Dick was a domestic tyrant, but in all other respects a dear affectionate little pet. One morning Dick got out of his cage by undoing tbe fastening, and flew through the open window, determined to see what the world was like, leaving Hezekiah to mourn. It was before five on a summer’s morning that he escaped ; and I saw no more of him until, coming out of church that day, the people were greatly astonished to see a bird fly down from the steeple and alight upon my shoulder. He retained his perch all the way home. He got so well up to opening the fastening of his cage door that I had to get a smell spring padlock, which defied him, although he studied it for months, and finally gave it up, as being one of those things which no fellow could understand, Dick soon began to talk, and before long had quite a large vocabulary of words, which he was never tired using. As he grew very tame, he was allowed to live either out of his cage or in it all day long as he pleased. Often he would be out in the garden all alone for hours together, running about catching flies, or sitting up in a tree repeating his lessons to himself, both verbal and musical. The cat and her kittens were his especial favourites, although he used to play with the dogs as well, and often go to sleep on their backs. He took his lessons with great regularity, was an arduous student, and soon learned to pipe ‘ Duncan Gray’ and ‘ The Sprig of Shillelah’ without a single wrong note. I used to whistle these tunes over to him, and it was quite amusing to mark his air of rapt attention as he crouched down to listen. When I had finished, he did not at once begin to try the tune himself, but sat quiet and still for some time, evidently thinking it over in his own mind. In piping it, if he forgot a part of the air, he would cry : * Doctor, doctor! ’ and repeat the last note once or twice, as much as to say ; ‘ What comes after that ? ’ and I would finish the tune for him. ‘ Tae I tse ! tse 1 ’ was a favourite exclamation of his, indicative of surprise. When I played a tune ou the fiddle to him, he would go at once and peck at Hezekiah. I don’t know why he did so, unless to secure her keeping quiet. As soon as I had finished he would say ‘ Bravo! ’ with three distinct intonations of the word, thus: * Bravo 1 doctor; br-r-ravo ! bravo ! * Dick was extremely inquisitive and must see into everything. He used toannoyjthe

— 1.11. 11. .1. . 1 cat very much by opening out her toes, or even her nostrils, to examine ; and at times pussy used to lose patience, and pat him on the back. ‘Eh?’ he would say. ‘ What is it 7 You rascal!’ If two people were talking together underneath his cage, he would cock his head, lengthen his neck, and looking quizzingly, say : ‘Eh ? What is it 7 What do you say ? He frequently began a sentence with the verb ‘ Is,’ putting great emphases on it. ‘ Is V he would say musingly. ‘ Is what, Dick V I would ask. 4 Is’ he would repeat— * la the darling starling a pretty pet ?’ * No question about it,’ I would answer. He certainly made the best of his vocabulary, for he trotted out all his nouns and all his adjectives time about in pairs, and formed a hundred curious combinations. * Is,’ he asked one day, ‘ the darling doctor a rascal ?’ ‘Just as you think,’l replied. ‘ Tse ! tse ! tse ! Whew ! whew 1 whew ?■’ said Dick ; and finished off with * Duncan Gray’ and the first half of the 4 Spring of Shillelah.’ ‘ Love is the soul of a nate Irish-man,’ he had been taught to say ; but it was as frequently, * Love is the soul of a nate Irish starling ;’ or, *ls love the soul of a darling pretty Dick ?’ and so on. One curious thing is worth noting; lie never pronounced my dog’s name—Theodore iS’ero— once while awake; but he often startled us at night by calling the dog in clear ringing tones—talking in his sleep. He used to be chattering and singing without intermission all day long ; and if ever he was silent then I knew he was doing mischief ; and if ever I went quietly into the kitchen, I was sure to find him [either tracing patterns on a bar of soap, or examining and tearing to pieces a parcel of newly arrived groceries. He was very fond of. wine and spirits, but knew when he had enough. He was not permitted to come into the parlor without his cage ; but sometimes at dinner, if the door was left ajar, he would silently enter like a little thief; when once fairly in, he would fly on to the table, scream, and defy me. He was very fond of a pretty child that used to come to see me. If Matty was lying on the sofa reading, Dick would come and sing on her head ; then he would go through all the motions of washing and bathing on Matty’s bonnie hair; which was, I thought, paying her a very pretty compliment. When the sun shone in at my study window, I used to hang Dick’s cage there, as a treat to him. Dick would remain quiet for perhaps twenty minutes, then the stillness would feel irksome to him, and presently he would stretch his head down towards me in a confidential sort of way, and begin to pester me with his silly questions. ‘ Doctor,’ he would commence, ‘is it, as it a nate Irish pet ?’ ‘Silence, and go asleep,’ I would make answer. ‘I want to write.’ *Eh?’ he would say, * What is it 7 What d’ye say ?’ Then, if I didn’t answer : ‘ls it sugar—snails—sugar, snails, and brandy ?’ Then : ‘ Doctor, doctor 1’ ‘Well, Dickie, what is it now?’ I would answer. ‘ Doctor—whew.’ That meant I wSft ito whistle to him. ‘ Shan’t, I would say sulkily. , / r ‘Tse! tse ! tse I’ Dickie would say, and continue : ‘ Doctor, will you go a-clinking ?’ I never could resist that. Going a-clinking meant going fiy-hawking. Dick always called a fly a clink ; and this invitation I would receive a dozen times a day, and seldom refused. I would open the cagedoor, and Dick would perch himself on my finger, and I would carry him round the room, holding him up to the flies on the picture frames. And he never missed one. Once Dick fell into a bucket of water, and called lustily for the * doctor ;’ and I was only just in time to save him from a watery grave. When I got him out, he did not speak a word until he had gone to the fire and opened his wings and feathers out to dry, then he said: 4 Bravo!’ B-r-ravo !’ several times, and went forthwith and attacked Hezekiah. Dick had a little travelling cage, for he often had to go with me by train; and no sooner did the train start than Dick used to commence to talk and whistle, very much to the astonishment of the passengers, for the bird was up in the umbrella rack. Everybody was at once made aware of both my profession and character, for the jolting of the carriage not pleasing him, he used always to prelude his peformanee with : ‘ Doctor, doctor, you r-r-rascal. What is it, eh V As Dick got older, I am sorry, as his biographer, to be compelled to say he grew more and more unkind to his Avife—attacked her regularly every morning, and the last thing at night, and half-starved her besides. Poor Hezekiah ! She could do nothing in the world to please him. Sometimes, now, she used to peck him back again ; she Avas driven to it. I Avas sorry for Hezekiah, and determined to play pretty Dick a little trick. So one day, Avheu he had been bullying her worse than ever, I took Hezekiah out of the cage, and fastened a small pin to her bill, so as to protrude just a very little way, and returned her. Dick walked up to her at once. ‘ What,’ he wanted to know, ‘ did she mean by going on shore without leave ? ’ Hezekiah didn’t ans Aver, and accordingly received a dig in the back, then another, then a third ; and then Hezekiah turned and let him have one sharp attack. It was very amusing to see hoAV Dick jumped, and his look of astonishment as he said : ‘Eh ? What d’ye say ? Hezekiah ! Hezekiah ! ’ Hezekiah folloived up her advantage. It Avas quite a ucav sensation for her to have the upper hand, and so she courageously chased him round and round the cage, until I opened the door and let Dick out. But Hezekiah could not live always with a pin tied to her bill; so, for peace-sake, I gave her away to a friend, and Dick was left alone in his glory. Poor Dickie! One day he was shelling Eeas to himself in the garden, whenbsomo oys startled him, and he flew away. I suppose he lost himself, and couldn’t find hia way buck. At all events I only saw him once again. I was going doivn through an avenue of trees about a mile from the house, when a voice above in a tree hailed me . 4 Doctor! doctor ! What is it ? * That was Dick ; but a crow flew past and scared him again, and away he flew—for over. Dear little fellow! he may have well asked 4 What is it ? ’ for all things must have appeared very new and strange to him. Is it any wonder I misa my dear little bird?