JUDY AND NED
Those who have not tried mating and raising birds have lost a great deal
of pleasure. Besides being intensely interesting, one learns many things
worth knowing.
Once I heard a lady say that she thought all women ought to raise birds
before trying to bring up a family, for there was so much to be learned
from the birds.
I had a friend who was very anxious for me to try my luck at
bird-raising, so one day she brought over her handsome green and gold
canary. At that time I had a number of birds, among them three which I
thought were females, but I was only sure of one, a little girl sparrow.
Blondell—a canary—was given to me for a female, but several said they
were sure it was a male. She was an exquisite yellow of different
shades, with a topknot of yellow tipped with white, then black, with a
catching little bang.
Judy—a canary—was bought for a singer, but the person who gave her to me
said she had never sung, but she thought the reason was because she had
the asthma. I think she was a goldfinch, for she was very small, with
black wing feathers, and a pretty black topknot parted in the middle. I
had named her after one of my dearest friends, so I immediately called
the green canary Ned after her better half. Ned knew more than any of
us, for, as soon as he was let out of his cage, he flew over in front of
Judy and sat down before her, never noticing the other birds, and poured
the most entrancing song right into her ears.
It certainly was love at first sight, and for a year their devotion was
something rare to see. Then Blondell made trouble in the family. Ned and
Judy’s courtship was of short duration, and soon they began housekeeping
in good earnest. I gave them a cage, and hung it on the wall, so they
would not be bothered with the other birds. During the day they went
where they pleased, but, when night came, they always went back to their
cage and perched as close as they could to each other.
After the eggs were laid, and Judy had to sleep on the nest, Ned perched
as close to the nest as he could get.
Judy’s nest was most beautifully made, a perfect symphony of colour, and
a delight to the eye. I gave to her bits of pink, blue, yellow, green,
and white cotton, little pieces of dainty coloured baby ribbon and pink
string. She wove the ribbons all in with the cotton, then festooned the
outside with the pink string, and on the top she laid chickweed with its
tiny white blossoms. When she was making her nest, I noticed she had the
cotton very high above the basket and none in the bottom, so I thought I
would lend a helping hand and fix the bottom for her. A more angry bird
I never saw when she discovered I had been meddling with something I
knew nothing about. She stood on the top of the nest and scolded for
some time, then reached down and took out all of the cotton I had put in
and threw it on the bottom of the cage. When she was ready, she put the
cotton in to suit herself.
She laid four eggs, but none hatched out, so she and Ned took the nest
apart, and a new one was made of all new material, more beautiful than
the first.
She laid four eggs again, but the long strain of setting was telling
upon her, for Ned was not a good nurse, and did not like staying at home
and feeding her. If it had not been for me, I am afraid she would have
gone hungry many times. Finally one egg hatched out, and it was not as
large as a bumblebee. Unfortunately, the chick only lived one day. By
that time it was so warm I took the nest away, but Ned’s devotion seemed
to increase instead of diminish. Every morning they would kiss each
other, and every night before going to sleep, and they always slept side
by side. This went on for a year, and they were such a happy pair. In
the spring they went to housekeeping again, and everything was going on
in the most blissful way when Monie and Blondell thought they would like
a beau and go to housekeeping, too. So they began to flirt and coquette
in a most shocking way with Mr. Ned, a married man. I used to say: “You
naughty, wicked girls, you better stop your nonsense, for Ned will never
leave that dear little wife of his, for he loves her too dearly to waste
any time on either of you.”
But, alas, a little flattery was all that was needed to make him false
to the loving wife, who simply adored him and was his slave.
Judy and Ned had been in the habit of making love to each other on the
top of the large mirror over my dressing-table. They would promenade
back and forth and toss their pretty heads, and you could easily imagine
all the charming little tales of love Ned was confiding to Judy, and
every little while they would kiss each other.
Sweet little Monie, with her dainty, quiet dress, did not seem to have
any charm for Ned, so she took up with Mack, who was English like
herself.
One day when Judy was sitting on her nest, and Ned was getting uneasy
and very tired of staying at home and waiting upon her, Miss Blondell
sallied forth with every feather preened, until she was a mass of
shimmering gold. She went up on top of the mirror and promenaded, well
knowing admiring eyes were gazing at her, for how could any one help
looking at such grace and beauty? She soon began making eyes at Ned, and
calling to him in a sweet, cooing voice to come to her. He simply could
not resist her and was soon by her side. Judy scolded and scolded, and
called to him many times to come home, but not the slightest attention
did he pay to her, and really, I do not suppose he heard one word she
said, for he was so completely fascinated with that exquisite blonde.
Judy stood it as long as she could, but when Ned kissed Blondell before
her very eyes, that was more than any one could expect her to endure.
She flew out of her cage, over on to the mirror, and if she did not tell
the little blonde lady just what she thought of her, I am much mistaken.
She then turned to Ned, in her old affectionate, bewitching way, with
her pretty little head cocked on one side, and asked him to kiss her,
but he refused for the first time. She went back to her nest
broken-hearted, and never interfered with them again. Soon Ned and
Blondell had the face to go to housekeeping right next door, Ned going
from one house to the other, but Judy never allowed Blondell to enter
her door.
[Illustration: BLONDELL]
I feel sure that Ned really loved Judy the best, for he spent more time
with her than he did with Blondell, but there was something about
Blondell that he could not resist, for she simply hypnotized him.
I was ill at the time, so I had plenty of leisure lying in bed to watch
them. My nurse often said she was so interested in the birds she could
hardly take care of her patient.
Blondell was punished for making so much trouble for Judy, for none of
her eggs hatched out. Then Ned’s mistress took Blondell to her house and
mated her with her bird, Dick. Blondell was only too delighted to have a
new lover, and she soon forgot all about faithless Ned. She raised one
lovely green and gold bird like his father. I brought them both home,
and named her son “Mike” after one of the most wonderful boy singers the
world has ever known or ever will. Mike was always very uneasy, and
acted more like a wild bird, and it was almost impossible to keep him in
his cage. He was full of all sorts of antics and loved to torment his
mother.
I looked forward to having a fine singer, but he was not contented in
this small town, so one warm, bright morning in the fall he went abroad
to cultivate his voice, and we have never seen him since.
I still have Blondell, and some day I hope she may have another son.