Abstract
Edit01·'s ote: Here we have an
article that very simply expresses the
essence of man's love for natur-e, and
nature's response.
While it is illegal to confine wild
birds, aving a fledgling from almost
certain death and nurturing it to
maturity and then turning it loose in
the wild is another matter. A fledgling
fallen from the nest is rarely raised
successfully. A baby bird, perhaps three
weeks old and feathered , depends on a
diet of wild food not easy to provide.
Imprinting of such a yo ungster has
already taken place with the parent
birds. The chick is a wild creature. On
the other hand, a chick newly hatched
out of the egg has not been adjusted to
a diet nor has imprinting taken place. It
can be fed an artificial diet and
imprinting can take place with a
human pla ying the role model of
parent.
This is the sto ry of how Mr . Sam
Clark of Country Club Acres, Oakhurst,
California, successfully raised such a
featherles chick, saw it grow to maturity,
and, most remarkably, aw it live to
have a family of its own.
One spring day, Mrs. Clark's atten-
tion was arrested by the persistent
barking of one of her beagles. The dog
was under a white oak nuzzling something
with its nose. This turned out to
be an ugly blob of flesh less than two
inches long with two round bulges for
eyes. It was obviously something
newly hatched from an egg and fallen
from a nest in the tree above. This little
body, entirely featherless, looked much
like a newborn mouse. Mrs. Clark
cupped it in her hands to warm it and
took it into the house and put it in a
mall box filled with cotton wool. She
immediately called a veterinarian. She
was advised to feed the bird pureed
baby food such as Liver by picking up a
tiny morsel of the food with a toothpick
and placing the food in the bird's
throat. Likewise, water could be
supplied with an eye-dropper.