-
Title
-
The Omaha Bird Room
-
Date
-
1903
-
Creator
-
Frank Shoemaker
-
Description
-
Frank Shoemaker - Omaha, Lincoln, and Nebraska Narratives
-
Identifier
-
321301
-
Transcription
-
[Page 23] to see what we are hiding. No doubt this characteristic plays an important part in their nest-building, and makes it possible for them to weave such strong, compact structures, prying the matted materials apart in order to pass more strings and fibers through. The catbird is the clown and sensationalist of the lot. Anything which she does not understand she proceeds to investigate, with her hair standing on end in anticipation of how horrifying the outcome must certainly be. A piece of string, a crumpled paper, a dish placed in an unaccustomed position: these are examples of the foul plots by which she is harried and ridden. The net with which we catch insects for the birds is of ordinary white mosquito-bar, placed upon a wire hoop 15 inches in diameter and attached to a thoroughly commonplace pine stick an inch square. The net is over two feet deep, and until the birds become accustomed to it the large white bag when brought into the room caused great excitement. Not so with the catbird, however; she never saw anything fearsome about the large white bag, but almost went into spasms over the other end -the plain pine stick. She found something so attractively sinister about that stick that she seldom took time out to eat any of the escaping insects. When the net was placed upon the floor she hopped about the stick with bristling feathers; if it were suddenly moved an inch by a touch at the net end she jumped straight upward in a panic. And she kept up this foolish-
-
Rights
-
To inquire about usage, please contact Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries. These images are for educational use only. Not all images are available for publication.
-
Is Version Of
-
image-307.jpg
The Omaha Bird Room