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192 THE CONDOR Vol. XVIII so demoralized and abbreviated that he was naturally nicknamed "Bobby". Feeding time was the opportune occasion for displaying the foolishness of his temper. As long as he was sole guest at the festal dish, and was shoveling into his stomach mouthfuls of food with a voracity suggestive that one min- ute was the limit of his life tenure, all was well; but the instant his companion, the Western Meadowlark, attempted to partake of the boiled bread and milk and scraped beef, Bobby was instantly transformed into a veritable fury, and would fly upon the lark, peck, scratch and kick it, using his legs just the same as a rooster, until the poor, timid creature would creep away into the farthest corner of the cage and wait until Bobby had stuffed himself into a -- condition of stupid indiffer- ence. Bobby was one of the most forceful of all of my ? "golden texts": I call the recovered leathered patients, which I display to the chil- dren, giving the life history of each bird, "golden texts". Bobby's horrid ta- ble manners and exhibition of temper furnished endless ' suggestions for my sermon- ettes. He finally died from the effect of a prolonged bath which he insisted on taking one cold evening in early May. From a scientific point of view an American Bittern which I had under treatment for several months yielded the greatest satisfaction and ?, interest. While passing across the State to his breed- ing grounds, he was at- tracted by the inviting scen- ._. ery and restful appearance ?, of the land lying at the foot of Pikes Peak, and conclud- Fig. 51. A Cmrrg, rv AMra?ca? B?x'rra?; STYliP OF ed to stop over for a few vrrea MANDIBLE HEALING AFTER SHOT WOUND days recreation. Scarcely had he commenced to investigate the chances .for a dinner along the shores of one of our numerous reservoirs, before "a boy and gun" appeared upon the scene, and the next instant the poor creature was tumbling about with a dis- abled wing, while the upper mandible was shot in two about midway, held from separation merely by the soft tissues. As a matter of experiment the fractured mandible was adjusted and properly held in place by splints, but within a week's time nature had amputated the dead point. Then curiosity to discover what effort nature would make to repair the broken member in- duced me to continue to care for the bird (see fig. 51).