Abstract
My dear readers, as you all know I am a very conservative gentle soul not given to fits of outrage and display. Moderate is the word/or Dingle, modest, servile, humble and harmless. But on rare occasions of severe provocation a sardonic demon rises in me and I become a towering inferno spewing erudite epithets. I also become totally P. 0. 'd. The following letter rousted the demon and I am not responsible for the response.
Dear Sir,
Having been a subscriber of your mag. for a year I find it very uninteresting. I raise parakeets and cockatiels and I haven't seen or read one article concerning either. Personally, I think I should have my money back. As a member of two bird clubs here in Phoenix whose members raise cockatiels and budgies mostly, can't understand why your magazine don't contain articles on them.
Yours truly,
L.).H. Phoenix, Arizona
First off, my unhappy, uninterested friend you are not a subscriber to our mag.. You are a member of the American Federation of Aviculture, the most worthwhile, active, prestigious, protective, progressive organization in the entire known world for the benefit of bird breeders. If, dear sir, you are a bird breeder your scanty membership fee got you a tremendous bargain even if you never saw a magazine.
For you the A.F.A. battled the U.S.D.A. and won. For you the A.FA. squeezed officials in Washington and helped save the little Tahitian lories from destruction. For you the A.FA. assembles world class experts each year to speak and teach about birds. For you the A.F.A. has funded avian research toward the development of a vaccine against Budgerigar Fledgling Disease. For you the A.FA. granted funds for research on solid food requirements and water tolerances of
cockatiel chicks from hatching to five weeks of age (getting right next to you now, eh what, old buddy?) For you ... Oh, Rats! Why go on? If you don't understand now you never will.
Back to the magazine and your lack of interest. In a panic I did a quick survey of the 1983 articles on birds and found articles on the following: honey creeper, canaries (three articles), crows (two species), pionus parrots, hornbills, budgies (two articles), lovebirds (two articles), conures (two articles), Buff on 's macaw, oscellated turkey, shaft tailed finches, black parrots, toucans, goldbreasted uiaxbills, kakarikis, scarlet macaws, African finches, raptors, dwarf macaws, little black crake, banana quit, slender billed cockatoo, Indian ringnecks, and cockatiel mutations.
If that wide and varied body of avian information combined with 131 beautiful color photographs, if, I say, sir, all that couldn't get $15.00 worth of interest out of you then your avian enthusiasm is at its nadir. You are either encumbered by a general dimness or all of your intellect is focused on minutiae. You do not like birds.
But my aim is to make you happy, sir. You think you should have your money back and you shall have it. Send to me your last six Watchbirds (I'm confident they are in mint condition) and out of my own pocket I'll return your $15.00.
Ed.
Dear Mr. Dingle:
Although I ordinarily enjoy Richard Tkachuck's fine Question and Answer column I was appalled and disappointed by his answer in the Dec 83t}an 84 issue to the person who wanted to know if love birds could survive in an unheated shelter - "if you want to experiment, use birds you don't mind losing too much.''