File:The Avicultural magazine (1916) (14565320230).jpg

Identifier: aviculturalmagaz08avic (find matches)
Title: The Avicultural magazine
Year: 1894 (1890s)
Authors: Avicultural Society
Subjects: Aviculture Birds Cage birds
Publisher: (Ascot, Berkshire, etc., Avicultural Society, etc.)
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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s my somewhatanxious thought. Their tameness is wonderful, and sometimes they haveperched on a window-sill of an open window, peering into the roomif tiiey discovered I was there. Every morning at 7.30 they stand outside the front door,awaiting me for their breakfast. If I look out to tell them I willfetch it, and then go indoors to a bath-room on the ground-floor,where I keep a supply of live fish, the egrets immediately run ofiand take up their position just under the window of the bath-room. If they see me on a stone bridge which spans the moat witha fishing-rod in my hand, they fly on to the parapet and sit close tome, eagerly watching for a catch of fish. When I pull out the line they both stretch out their necks.If I have missed the fish, they stand quiet; but if they see a fish onthe hook, they are immediately excited, and, rushing forward, seizeit directly I have it free. Dace of five inclies in length they canswallow whole if their appetite is keen, after which bulky mouthful
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on viy Egrets. 325 they stand with stiffened neck, the fish l)ulf^ing out the skin, imtilaftei- a few minutes it shdes into their interiors ! On a stone wall which encloses a pool of water-lilies thereare vases in which grow ancient dwarf Japanese trees (one is twohundred years old), and on these the egrets often perch. Anyonemight well take them at such moments for Japanese carved ivory.There are two things they object to. If they see me with a fish-netin my hand they fly oft, although I have never used it for catchingthem ; and if my black retriever walks near them they immediatelytake wing ; yet several Pekingese dogs can go right up to them. Up to the middle of August they never flew much, but afterthat they sometimes perched upon the ridge of the barn roofs, fromwhich elevation they would at once descend with light and silentwings when they heard my whistle. I wonder whether they weresearching for me when I was absent from home for six days in thebeginning of Septemljer, for on m

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