Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 74, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 May 1899 — The Quezzel, a Bird of Liberty. [ARTICLE]

The Quezzel, a Bird of Liberty.

On all the postage stamps of Gustofnala is engraved a somewhat distorted representation of the quezzel, which is rightly called the bird of liberty, .as it dies almost immediately when captured. So extreme is its love of freedom that if captured and In a few seconds restored to liberty it would seem as If the contamination of the hand could not be removed, and it will drop lifeless after flying but a few yards. If it is caught in a trap it is always found dead, and when’the young are taken from the nest they die at once. It is found only in a small portion of the country, and Is seldom seen live, since it cannot be kept long in captivity. It is a bird of beautiful plumage, having two extremely long tall feathers and a superbly crested head. It is said that its pride in its tail feathers is greater than its love of life, for if one of them accidentally becomes broken the bird goes to its nest and dies from grief and mortification. It builds a round-roofed nest, having two holes on opposite sides, so that the quezzel literally "goes in at one door and out at the other,” and thus avoids any necessity for tail-breaking, and consequent heartbreaking, by never turning around in order to make its exit from the nest.