Near the gate of our garden stands a small apricot tree which is only
about six feet in height. Last year a long twine string became entangled
in this tree. One day when I went to the garden I noticed a blackbird
hanging in this string, about two feet from the ground. On examination I
found that the string was closely wrapped about his neck several times,
and that he had been choked to death by it. He had evidently tried to
secure the string for his nest, and probably had several times started
to fly away with it, only to find that the other end of it was fast.
There are usually high winds in Kansas during the Spring months, and
these may have helped to entangle the unfortunate bird. It is certain
that in some manner he had snared himself, and in attempting to fly had
jerked the cord tight about his neck. There he hung, a martyr to his own
energy and ambition; and somewhere his mate mourned for the partner who
had gone from her never to return.
Mary McCrae Culter.