Remember the old saying "Bird Brain".
It was a derogative word for someone's intelligence.
In the 1960's I owned an Old English Game bantam bird. The Old
English Game fowl represents among the oldest strains of the world's
purpose-bred fighting birds and fighting cocks were used to incite
Roman soldiers as they went in to battle.
These birds were very aggressive to other roosters and they weren't
afraid to fight with their spurs. But our Old English Game bird
was a family pet that we affectionately called "Charley".
We had a lot of fun with Charley and he chased many a neighborhood
kid out of our backyard.
A bird has a brain that is very sensitive to temperature. The
body temperature of birds I believe is almost 10 degrees higher
than a human's (I’m sure everyone is interested now). In handling
a lot of birds I discovered that if you covered their head with
both hands it could be mesmerized. Why? I came to the conclusion
that it was caused by the elevation of it brain temperature. So
much for that!
My children, when they lived in Newark, enjoyed and learned from
their exposure to our many and strange pets. Even their playmates,
that not unlike my daughters are now in their 40's, still remember
them with humor if not affection.
Above are two pictures of our beloved Charley from Newark.
In the first picture he is walking around our backyard with Ruby
(his hen friend). In the second picture I mesmerized him and he
is laying on his back with his feet in the air. This condition lasted
for around 20 seconds and he would get up and run around like nothing
happened.
These animals and are our relationship with them in Newark provided
a lifetime of memories for many.
Now when you hear the name" Bird Brain' you may think of
Charley (my namesake).
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