BOBBY.
Bobby's babyhood--Insatiable appetite--Variety of noises made by
Bobby--His tameness--Narrow escape from drowning--A warlike
head-gear--Bobby the worse for drink--His love of mischief--He disarms
his master--Meerkat persecuted by Bobby--Bobby takes to dishonest
ways--He becomes a prisoner--His clever tricks--Death of Bobby.
"Out of question thou wert born in a merry hour."
Bobby was our tame crow. We brought him up from earliest infancy;
indeed our acquaintance with him commenced when he was nothing but a
speckled, reddish-brown egg, in a nest--or, rather, a flat, untidy
bundle of sticks--in one of the few and stunted trees on the Klipplaat
road. We were anxious to have one of these crows; knowing what
intelligent and amusing birds they are, and having struck up a
friendship with one on a neighbouring farm, a comical old one-legged
fellow, with an inexhaustible fund of high spirits and solemn
impudence, which made him a general favourite.
So we kept an eye on this egg; riding up to the tree occasionally, and
watching the progress of the young bird through various stages of
ugliness and bareness; until at last we took Bobby home with us, an
ungainly, half-fledged creature, very unsteady on his legs and ragged
as to his clothing, which latter indeed consisted more of stiff black
quills than anything else. His immense bill was perpetually open;
displaying the depths of his wide red throat as he shouted defiantly
for porridge, of which he never seemed to have enough. He would take it
with a loud, greedy noise, swallowing as much of your finger with it as
possible, and apparently very much disappointed at having to let the
latter go again. He seemed to live in hope that, if he only held on
long enough, it would surely come off at last and slip quite down his
throat. If we passed anywhere near his basket--even though he had just
had an ample feed--he would shoot up, like a black Jack-in-the-box with
a large red mouth, demanding more porridge. The vegetarian diet suited
him, and he grew into a very large, handsome bird, with the glossiest
and softest of blue-black plumage.
He soon refused to stop in his basket; tumbling out head first, and
hobbling about the room; then, as his strength increased, he walked and
flew about outside the house; always coming at night to sleep on our
window. In the morning, as soon as it was light, he would fly in, and
wake us up by settling on us and pecking us gently. Then, having given
us his morning greeting, he would depart on his rounds outside; and
presently we would hear him on the top of the house, or on the wire
fence, practising some of his endless variety of noises; imitating the
fowls, the donkeys, the dogs, or holding long conversations with
himself, the greater part of which sounded like very bad language. One
day we heard the cackling of a hen, which had apparently laid an egg on
the top of the American windmill; and, on looking up, found that Bobby
had selected this airy height as his practising-ground. It was one of
his favourite places; and often, when there, he would catch sight of us
the moment we came out of the house, and would come flying straight
down to us, settling, sometimes quite unexpectedly, on a head or
shoulder. He knew his name, and would come to us when we called him;
unless indeed we had detected him in some mischief, when he would walk
off, and keep carefully out of reach until he thought his offence was
forgotten.
He was our constant companion out of doors; and when I went round to
the store, gave out the men's rations, fed the ostriches and fowls, or
superintended the washing, he was sure to be either following close at
my heels like a dog, or perched on my shoulder, whispering
confidentially in my ear in a most affectionate manner, while his
bright little jewel of an eye watched all I did with great interest.
His devotion to his master often led him to fly down the well after
him, when work had to be done or superintended there. On one occasion
he overshot the mark and got into the water, where he very narrowly
escaped being drowned. He was pulled out with some difficulty, very wet
and miserable, too frightened to know friends from foes, and biting his
rescuer with all his might.
He would accompany us on our walks; and often took long rides with
T----, whose white sun-helmet became a most imposing headgear, as Bobby
surmounted it, spreading his great black wings; reminding us of the
raven-crest of some ancient Scandinavian warrior. Then, while in full
gallop, he would dart after one of the great gaudy locusts--four inches
long, and looking like painted toys daubed with red, yellow, and
green--and, catching it on the wing with unerring aim, would fly back
with it to his place on the sun-helmet, where he would regale with many
noises expressive of satisfaction.
Bobby was not a "temperance" bird; indeed, his tastes lay in quite an
opposite direction. We first discovered his propensity by accident, and
in this manner. One day, when doctoring a sick fowl, which needed
"picking up," I had mixed some porridge with wine, making it very
strong. Just as I was about to administer it, Bobby came hurrying up,
with his inquiring mind, as usual, all on the _qui vive_ to see what
was going on. He plunged his bill into the porridge, and helped himself
to a large mouthful; then, finding it to his taste, he went on eating
noisily and greedily, till he had "taken on board" a considerable
amount, and walked off satisfied. Then, having attended to my patient,
I went indoors, thinking no more of Bobby till, some time after, Nancy,
our Hottentot "help," came running to us, calling out, "Missis! Missis!
Bobby drunk!" We went outside; and there, sure enough, was Bobby, on
his back, his little black feet helplessly kicking the air, his bill
wide open, and a variety of the most astonishing sounds proceeding
therefrom, compared with which his usual, every-day profanity was mild.
He soon recovered, and was on his legs again, none the worse for the
adventure; but it left him with a decided taste for stimulants, which
he strove to indulge on all possible occasions. From that day he
followed me to the store more pertinaciously than ever; sitting on the
tap of the cask while I drew the wine for meals, bending down and
twisting his neck to reach the stream as it flowed into the jug. He
gradually learned to turn the tap himself, and was delighted if he
could catch a few drops. At last he became clever enough to set the
wine running altogether; and, as he never learned to turn the tap back
again, great caution was necessary to see that he did not remain behind
in the store, which he was always trying to do. He would often give a
good deal of trouble by flying to the very topmost shelf, from whence
it was difficult to dislodge him; and where a chase after him involved
climbing over numerous sacks on my part, and much knocking over of
bottles and tins on that of Bobby.
Bobby loved mischief; he revelled in it, not for the sake of any good
which it brought him, but simply out of what the Americans call
"cussedness." He was never so happy as when busily engaged in some work
of destruction. When discovered, he would retreat to a safe distance,
and, if pursued, would always manage to keep just out of reach; though
not too far for you to see the twinkle of enjoyment in his wicked old
eye, and hear his defiant croak; and as he strutted before you, looking
back triumphantly over his shoulder, you felt that he was laughing at
you.
The garden was his favourite field of operations; and, considering the
time and trouble spent in producing that little oasis, and in
persuading plants to grow in it, it was no small trial to be
disappointed of one crop of vegetables after another, simply owing to
his careful destruction of the young plants almost as soon as they
showed their heads above ground. It was provoking, on going down to the
garden, to find that the few rows of peas or French beans, which we had
so carefully sown and watered, and which only the day before were
coming up so promisingly, had been butchered to make Bobby's holiday,
and were now all rooted up, dried and shrivelled in the hot sun, and
lying, neatly arranged in order, each one in the place where it had
grown. The culprit himself would probably be out of sight, for his
gardening operations were usually carried on in the early morning, thus
securing a quiet uninterrupted time among the plants before we were
about; but once we caught him. We were out earlier than usual, and
found Bobby so deeply engrossed in putting the finishing touches to a
row of beans which he had pulled up and laid in their places with even
more than his usual neatness, that he only looked up in time to see his
offended master a few yards off, and just preparing to throw a
good-sized stone. In an instant Bobby's mind was made up. Instead of
attempting flight, and getting hit by the stone, he impulsively threw
himself on T----'s generosity, and flew straight to his hand; looking
up confidingly in his face, and at once winning the pardon he sought.
His loving ways made us forgive many of his iniquities.
He liked to be "around" during meals; experimenting on the different
articles of food, and occasionally dipping his bill into a cup of tea,
or what pleased him still more, a glass of wine. But, unfortunately, he
did not confine his attentions to the provisions, and was constantly
attempting to carry off the spoons and forks: we narrowly escaped
losing several of them, and he succeeded in getting away with one
knife, which we never saw again. He also flew off with one of T----'s
razors, and, when just above the middle of the dam, dropped it into the
water.
At last his thieving propensities obliged us to forbid him the house,
and Toto learned to chase him out the instant he appeared inside the
door; the noisy hunt often ending in Bobby's being caught, and gently
but firmly held down under the paws of Toto, who would lie wagging his
tail contentedly, while Bobby, hurt nowhere but in his pride, vented
his rage in discordant croaks. He became very jealous of Toto and the
other pets which, less mischievous than himself, were allowed indoors;
and he delighted especially in teasing the little meerkat, no less
constant an attendant than himself among the small train of animal
friends which followed us outside. Bobby would come up noiselessly
behind, and, catching the tip of the meerkat's tail in his bill, would
lift the little fellow off his legs, take him up a few feet into the
air, and drop him suddenly. Then, after waiting a few moments till his
victim had recovered his composure, and was off his guard, he would
repeat the performance. The meerkat, a plucky, independent little
character, resented the insult, and scolded and chattered vehemently,
showing all his small teeth as he hung helplessly by the tail: but he
was powerless against Bobby, and had to submit to being whisked up
unexpectedly as often as his tormentor, by right of superior strength,
chose to indulge his practical joke.
As Bobby grew older he lost his simple vegetarian tastes, despised
porridge, and began to pick up a dishonest living about the fowl-house.
He would fly to meet us in the morning, and perch on our shoulders with
an impudent assumption of innocence; quite unconscious that the yellow
stickiness of his bill told us he had just been breakfasting off
several eggs. Then he took to eating the little chickens; and here his
talent for mimicking the fowls stood him in good stead, and no doubt
gained him many a dinner; his exact imitation of the hen's call to her
young ones attracting victims within his reach. Many battles were
fought by the maternal hens in defence of their progeny; in which Bobby
always got the best of it, going off triumphantly with his prize, to
regale in safety on the roof, or at the top of the windmill. Our poor
little broods of chickens, which had enemies enough before in the shape
of hawks, wild cats, snakes, etc., diminished rapidly with this traitor
in the camp, whose capacious appetite was equal to consuming as many as
four a day, with eggs _ad libitum_.
For this, and for his offences in the garden, Bobby was at last
sentenced to be tied up: a little bangle of twisted wire was fastened
round one leg, and attached to a long piece of stout wire outside our
window; and there, so long as there were little chickens about the
house, or tender young vegetables in the garden, he had to remain. We
felt much compunction at treating our old friend thus, and feared that
with his keen appreciation of freedom, and love of independence, he
would pine in captivity; but Bobby did nothing of the kind. He was a
far greater philosopher than we thought, and resigned himself at once
to circumstances; making the best of things in a manner which some of
the human race might well imitate. He harboured no resentment against
us for depriving him of freedom; but, with his sweet temper quite
unimpaired by his reverse of fortune, would give us just as warm and
joyful a welcome, and caress us as lovingly, as in brighter days. He
did not sit idle on the perch to which we had condemned him; but, his
love of mischief breaking out in quite a new direction, he immediately
consoled himself by commencing destructive operations on the window in
which he sat, and on as much of the outside of the house as came within
reach of his tether. He broke away the plaster from the wall, knocked
out the mortar from between the bricks, and carefully picked all the
putty out of the window, the panes of which he loosened so that they
were always threatening to fall out; and in a very short time our room,
which was in reality the newest part of the house, looked like an old
ruin, with crumbling wall and dilapidated window.
He had a variety of resources at his command; and when not engaged in
the destruction of the house, he would often be found busy on another
work he had in hand, that of trying to free himself from his bonds. No
human prisoner, filing through the iron bars of his dungeon, ever
worked more perseveringly for his freedom than did Bobby,--biting
through strand after strand of his cord of steel wires, or slowly, but
surely, unfastening the twisted bangle on his leg; until at last some
day he would be missing from his place--devastation in the garden,
empty eggshells in the hens' nests, and sad gaps among the rising
generation of fowls showing the good use he had made of his
opportunities. No small amount of stratagem was required to recapture
him when loose; and much time and trouble had to be expended, and
tempting dainties displayed, to entice him within reach--a fat mouse,
if there happened to be one in the trap, being the most effective bait.
Bobby would have been invaluable to an exhibitor of performing animals;
his intelligence in learning the few tricks we had the leisure to teach
him showed that he would have been capable of distinguishing himself if
he had been educated as a member of a "happy family." We often brought
him in to show his tricks before visitors; and his solemn way of
performing them added much to the amusement he caused. He was a true
humourist, and knew that his joke was more telling when made with
serious face and grave deportment.
He would lie "dead," flat on his back, with his blue eyelids drawn up
over his eyes; remaining motionless for any length of time we chose,
and waiting for the word of command, when he would scramble to his feet
in a great hurry, with a self-satisfied croak at his own cleverness. He
would hang by his bill from one of our fingers, which he had swallowed
to its point of junction with the hand; and, with his wings drooping,
and his legs hanging straight down in a limp and helpless manner,
looking altogether a most strange and grotesque object, would allow us
to carry him about wherever we liked. A little string of dark red
beads, brought from Jerusalem, would always throw him into a perfect
frenzy of real or pretended fright--probably the latter; and if they
were put anywhere near him, or, worse still, flung across his back, he
at once commenced a series of startling antics, jumping and hopping
about as if possessed, and uttering very uncanny sounds.
As the time for our return to England drew near, we made up our minds
that we could not leave Bobby behind--he must be one of the little
party of friendly animals which were to accompany us home; and we were
already discussing in what kind of cage or box he should travel,
wondering how he would like being enclosed in so small a space, and how
he would behave at sea: friends in England had promised him a welcome,
and were looking forward to seeing him--when, after all, we had to part
with him. Just three weeks before we sailed poor old Bobby was suddenly
paralyzed, and died in a few hours. We never knew what caused his
death: whether his unconquerable curiosity had led him to eat something
poisonous; whether the enforced sedentary life he had led for so many
weeks together had undermined his constitution; or whether occasional
dead snakes, and the contents of the mouse-traps, which during his
detention were always contributed in hope of partially satisfying his
large appetite, were perhaps unwholesome diet, and shortened his days,
we cannot tell. But Bobby was sadly missed; and we still regret that
brightest and most comical of all our pets.
Some will perhaps say, "What foolish people these must have been, to
tolerate a black imp of mischief who destroyed their vegetables, ate
their eggs, killed their chickens, did his best to pull down their
house, and whose neck ought to have been wrung!" But, just as among the
human race those characters we love best are not always the most
faultless, so poor Bobby, full of imperfections as he was--far from
honest, not always sober, and with that terrible bent for mischief
making him so often a nuisance--yet possessed so many lovable qualities
that his failings were redeemed; and he lives in our recollection as
one of the kindest and most faithful of all our South African friends.
We could have better spared a better bird.