It is not alone gold and silver fish that admit of being tamed. A correspondent writing from Franklin, Indiana, says of the fishes in a pond on his grounds that they will approach on hearing his whistle, eat from his hands, and allow him to take them from the water. A little girl in one of the New England states rendered some trout, which inhabited a brook near her father’s house, so exceedingly tame, that, when feeding them, she was obliged to check the impetuosity of the more voracious ones by a little stick armed at the point with a needle.
Mr. C. L. Vallandigham, of Ohio, is our authority for the following story: “While upon the Island of Bermuda, in traveling from one portion of the island to the other, I passed by a stone enclosure, perhaps a hundred feet in diameter. The islands are coral in their formation. There was a pool of water full of fish inside the enclosure. I paid an English shilling for admission inside, where I saw perhaps a hundred fish, thoroughly tamed, each one having a name, and each one answering to the name by which he was called. One of them, I recollect, was called Dick. I spoke to him as I would to a dog, and he came and lifted up his head and allowed me to rub his back, just as you would a cat. Now, as I told you, if any body else had told me that I wouldn’t have believed it. But it is nevertheless true. There is just such a pool there, and they are so intelligent that they recognize their names.”
THE HIPPOCAMPUS.
Possibly some of our readers remember the queer little fishes Barnum exhibited some years ago, and which he called “seahorses” on account of the great resemblance of the heads to those of miniature horses. These were labeled as coming from the Gulf of Mexico, though in reality caught in New York Bay. They were what are known to naturalists as the short-nosed hippocampus, and being peculiar we give an illustration which will convey a better idea of their appearance than any mere description. They are commonly about five inches in length, and are to be found on many parts of our coast. When swimming about they maintain a vertical position, but the tail is ready to grasp whatever it meets in the water, and this is the means by which the creature appears to obtain rest. The tail will quickly entwine in any direction around weeds, or other supports; and when fixed the animal watches the surrounding objects intently and darts at his prey with great dexterity. They raise themselves to higher positions on their supports by the aid of the hinder part of their cheeks, or chins, when the tail entwines itself afresh. We do not think those at the museum performed in public but their keeper to while away leisure time made them very tame and taught them several little tricks, among others to perch in a row on his finger. The four little fellows, each only about four inches in length, presented a most comical appearance. The system of training in this case was very similar to that which we have described as having been practiced in the case of the “learned seal.”
We cannot say that we ever had any personal experience with oysters in the capacity of pupils, but in at least one case has a bivalve been made subject to the tamer’s art. In an English paper of 1840 we find a curious account of a gentleman at Christ Church, Salisbury, England, who kept a pet oyster of the largest and finest breed then known. It was fed on oat meal, for which it regularly opened its shell, and was occasionally treated to a dip in its native element; but the most extraordinary trait in the history of this amphibious was that it proved itself an excellent mouser, having killed at least five mice, by crushing the heads of such as, tempted by the luscious meal, had the temerity to intrude their noses within its bivalvular clutches. On one occasion two of these little intruders suffered together.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE ART OF TAMING BIRDS.
Although birds are naturally of a timid disposition, very easily alarmed, and from their delicate structure unable to endure any but the most gentle handling, they may be made very tame and become quite attached to their trainer. We propose to tell our readers how to tame their birds, but to make these instructions successful they must be carried out with the greatest gentleness and patience. The utmost pains should be observed not to frighten the bird, as a single fright may render him so shy as to defeat all your efforts to gain his confidence. The following plan is the simplest and most uniformly successful that we have seen tried: The trainer opens the door of the cage and teases the bird gently with a soft feather. This he does till the bird pecks at the feather, then at his finger, and at last comes out of the cage and perches upon his hand. He then smooths his feathers down, caresses it, and offers it some favorite article of food, which it soon learns to take from his hand. He then begins to accustom the bird to a particular call or whistle; carries it upon his hand or shoulder from room to room, in which all the windows are carefully closed, lets it fly and calls it back. As soon as the bird becomes obedient to the call in the presence of other persons and animals, the same experiment is cautiously repeated in the open air, till at last it is rewarded with complete success. This process is well suited for nearly all young cage birds, especially linnets, bullfinches, and canaries, but it is dangerous to take these tame birds into the open air during pairing time, as they are liable to be enticed by the cries of wild birds.
Birds that are caught in winter often take to the cage more kindly than would be expected, but after their capture some days should be allowed them to become accustomed to their new situation, before expecting them to respond to your kindness. Newly caught birds should be put into a quiet place, shaded with a green woolen cover, so that the innate may not see persons moving about the room, and it should be supplied with abundance of whatever is supposed to be its favorite food. Hemp seed generally fulfills this requirement. It is an immense advantage to have a large cage made like the “trap” or store cages in which canaries are generally sold. The wooden bars are less liable to hurt new comers than those made of wire.