Wild Bird "Wizard-Man"

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 51, 16 March 1937, Page 13

Wild Bird "Wizard-Man"

Sanctuary with an Amazing Cripple

QREETED by % tremendoua and varied symphony oi bird song, crles, warblingg, thistles, I stepped through a screened doorway Into the very heart of the most remarkable bird achievement of its kind. Instantly I was covered from head fco foot by ecores of friendly wild birds of a dozen difterenfc kinds, while in the evergreen® about me hundreds more sang, called, twittered in voices from many lands (writes Francis Dickie), ' To me, who for years had spent hundreds of sfcrenuous hours in the woods, and on the prairie with highpower field glasses seeking acquaintance with- wild birds, and to know each one's partieular song, this remarkable sanctuary, situated on the outckirts of Vancouver, Canada, was both an amazing revelation and a apeed-up in quick bird education. For in a few hours, by having wild birds here, so wonderfully gathered, but which would perch upon my fingers and shoulders for close inspection as long aa I wished, I learned more than by previous months of toiling early and late with field glasses and chance approach. * • . • T EADING me into this unique birdland, a paradise, fascinating not only to the ornithologist but to everyone, was the founder, Oharles E. Jones, a small, alerfc figure. He has carried on bravely though crippled terribly since childhood. Just a few minutes before receiving me he had been with the doctor. Briefly he told me his lif e story, a little impatiently, I sensed, in his eagerness to begin explaining about his work with the birds. All his life he had longed to be outdoors. Yet a fall at the age of three had brought on crippling tuberculosis of the hip and spine, forcing him to an indoor occupaation. Born in Oswestry, Shropshire, England, he entered an office at 13; in. spare time he mastered shorthand and book-keeping. He came to Canada at 20. For 20 yeara he occupied a Government staff position at Vancouver. Increasihg iilness forced him to bed some 'ten years ago. After three years in bed he won to his feet again. Unable to continue his old vocation, he turned at last, when nearing the age of fifty, fco make a long-held dream reality: the creation oi a wild bird sanctuary. • • • A g a little crlppled boy, denied the woOds, and sports of others, he turned p books and animals. He raiaed together a dog, cat, a Beigian hara, fcwo pigeons, a magpie and a jackdaw. But birds were nearest of all to his heart. At ihe age of eight he first secured nests of blackbirds and thrushes with young birds just after they were hatched. He began experimenting in hand-rearing. Not until nearly forty years later was he able to carry the work' to completion. He has had astonishing results. His success quite ; changes many previously held theories," particularly among canary raisers. Among them handfrearing was believed improfltable, seldom worfch the effort. But this m*" Jones on the Facific Coast has been nearly 100 per. cent successful in hand-rearing, not only canaries, but

31 specles of wild birds, 15 eommon to Norfch America, and also 20 foreign species, exofcic birds in so different, temperate a climate. Among foreign birds he has regularly matured the bulbul of India, spice birds of Ceylon, Java sparrows, Chinese nlghtingales, English blackbirds, etc. Of North American wild birds, to mention some found in this place, where "new bird ways for old" might very well be the slogan, are robins, finches, grosbeaks, thrushes, meadlarks, half-a-dozen different kinds oi aparrow, siskin, blackbirds, cedar waxwings, towhees and juncos. • * * rpHIS bird wizard, without adequate means, without adequate space to make fully complete a perfect sanctuary, has sfcill despite recurring iilness holding him in bed for weeks, succeeded in creating something very fine in the limited surroundings. He hopes to see come true a larger dream. For in Vancouver, adjoining the very heart of the city, lie a few square miles of prlmeval forest, the largest natural park saved by any city in North America. It is in this area, perfect for bird conservation work, he wants to erect the ideal bird sanctuary. Amid natural tree surroundinge he hopes to see instalied four large aviaries 50 x 30 and 12 feet high, with connecting r earing houses; from the aviaries wire screened pergolas, winding away among the woods, with running walks between for visifcors to observe wild birds at close range, to hear their songs, aa never before. Here wild birds would be reared most of the year, many released when mature. While he continues his efforts against' various obstacles, he carries on in the present surroundings, grown inadequate through ever-increasing bird population. Yet he has accomplished greatly even here. , - • • • • rpHIS invalid's extraordinary success In hand-rearing both wild and domestlcated birds, is due partly to immense and patient labour of individually feeding every bird, beginning when It leaves the shell. To this incredibly time-taking task, and to the perfecting of a balanced ration for fledgings, arrived at after many years of experimenting, this bird venture owes its present remarkable progress. Here hand-rearing is carried on for the flrst time in the world on a large scale. Not only has this ailing man raised more than a thousand wild birds, but he has developed a new species by crossing wild finches with roller canaries, with a resulting songsfcer to gladden/fche heart even of one not over f ond of birds. • • • A sanctuary such as Jones has. evolved Aas a means of re-stocking, or where bird life has thlnned, would be a valuable aid. ' The young birds, equally fed, protected from all natural enemies, from unusual seasons, thua hand-reared by this man, present a spectacle deeply interesting, •'entertaining and educational. Nearly half a century of one man's living lies behind it: a great work, well done, and in spite of enormous physical handicaps.