“Sturdy beggars” in Tudor parlance.
Grifter Birds
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
Which is why welfare should be a short term help to get back on your feet, not a career choice for the able bodied.
While I tend to be an Old Earth Creationist, I found the following article about avian intelligence interesting.
https://www.wired.com/story/intelligence-evolved-at-least-twice-in-vertebrate-animals/?fbclid=IwY2xjawKUCr5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFkQ21hcmxzOExRRVpicjllAR6kKHZ8KprG0dmp61z5jmCl0aG7Aprih8KIdCSBgfLW7dKSJMxiGbmGT28s6A_aem_BWAk85U_43QSw33K_MAICw
My chickens know the meaning of the words “corn” and “treat”.
Prior to the arrival of man, New Zealand was a land of birds – the only mammal being a bat. about 60% of the bird species were eaten and/or became extinct on the arrival of Maori. But some of the birds have remarkable intelligence – e.g. the Kea, a mountain parrot found nowhere else in the world is claimed to have the intelligence of a chimpanzee. It is an amazingly intelligent bird, and people are amazed at how they work things out.
“…welfare should be a short term help…”
Given the intelligence of man, the only way welfare can refrain from being a career choice is… welfare ceases to exist.
Clever birds. Birds survive on grifting. Our budgerigar is constantly being swooped on by Indian Minor Myna birds which are an introduced species in Australia and well known as pests. The pigeons generally eat the scrap bird seeds at the foot of the birdcage. Then there are the cockatoos which are a personality onto themselves. Very aggressive, can pick up human talk very easily and are very bold.