When she had a bad finger he would not leave her, and groaned as he
sat beside her bed, as if he were himself in pain; and when she recovered
he became quite cheerful again. But I think the account which Dr. Franklin
gives of the kindness of a parrot to its mate is more interesting still.
He says he knew two parrots who had lived together four years, when the
female became so ill from gout that she could not get down from her perch
to reach her food. For four months the male bird went on carrying the
food to her in his beak; and when at last she fell from her perch through
weakness, he kept constantly near her, trying to raise her, and showing the
greatest care for her.
When she could no longer eat, he tried in vain to open her beak, so as to
give her food, uttering sad cries; or stood with his eyes fixed on her,
mournful and silent. From the time of her death he pined away, and died a
few weeks afterwards.
Such stories are very beautiful, because they show, as a lover of animals
once said, "what kindness God has put into the heart of His creatures."
Of the Scratching birds, there is none which you know so well as the hen;
indeed this group is often called by a Latin name, which means that all
belonging to it are of the hen tribe.
Our fowls come from India, but they have been at home in this country for
a long time, and are very common in Palestine. If you have ever seen a
mother-hen taking care of her chicks, calling them to her when she fears
any danger for them, and hiding them beneath her soft warm wings, you will
better understand the words which the Lord Jesus spoke when He beheld
Jerusalem, the beloved city, and wept over it.
Pages:
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281