I dub thee . . .

Just as I'd hoped, the personalities of Gertrude and Vera are starting to shine through, and there have been some interesting developments with Phillipa and Alberta as well.

Gertrude the Great
I've dubbed Gertrude "the Great" because she's pretty awesome at everything she tries!  She is always the first to try something new.  She is really brave with me and she doesn't struggle or panic-chirp when I'm holding her.  If I put my hand in their enclosure, she's the first to come give me a little peck.  Because of her Greatness, Gertrude was the chick we chose to introduce to Guinness (our German Pinscher).  I held Guinness back and Marcus cupped the tiny girl in his hands.  Guinness snapped at her head and my heart stopped.  I shouldn't have worried, though.  I should have known that Gertrude has stellar reflexes.  She was fine :)  (I'm still recovering, though, and I won't be trying that again for a very, very long time!) Yesterday, I got some little crickets and put them in with the girls.  Vera, Pip, and Alberta didn't really know what to make of them at first, but Gertrude went right to it and with a few quick pecks, gobbled the tasty treat up.  I put some more in, and she was the fastest and most accurate of the girls at catching them.  Once, Gertrude slowed down her awesomeness to let one of the other girls try to catch a cricket.

Vera the Vigilant
It took me a while to figure out which title to bestow upon Vera.  She is patient, intelligent, an docile.  I think "Vigilant" does a pretty good job of bringing those qualities to mind, and it goes nicely with her name.  Vera watches.  She watches the other girls and she watches me.  Vera was the second-to-last girl to catch a cricket - I think because she was studying the other girls' techniques and waiting for just the right moment to come along.

Phillipa the Proud
In my last post, I said Phillipa was the bravest.  I was wrong.  She is all talk and no game.  Of course, she compensates by being bossy.  Oh dear, we'll have to work on her social skills and agoraphobia.

Alberta the . . .
I really can't decide on Alberta's title, although I want it to start with an A.  Suggestions?

My favorite thing about Alberta so far is her voice.  When she is chirping, I know exactly what kind of mood she's in.  She's super skiddish, so when I try to pick her up, she sprints away (and this girl is fast!) and chirps frantically.  I imagine she's saying something like, "Run for your lives!  It's a monster!"  Sometimes when she poops, she lets out a little chick version of a sigh of relief - it's a little trill up.  I heard the best sound yesterday, though, when Alberta caught her first cricket.  After dolefully watching on as Gertrude beat her to the first critters, Alberta was justifiably jubilant when she snapped up her squirming trophy.  She wasn't quite sure what to do with this new treat, but by golly, it was hers!  She just ran circles around the enclosure with the hapless bug in her beak, showing off her prize.  The whole time, she chirped in ecstasy - "It's mine!  I did it!  Look at what I did!"  It was like she'd just found the last golden ticket.  She did it every time she caught a cricket after that.  (Phillipa did the same thing; Vera just did it with her first cricket and was much more modest about it.)

I made a little scale to measure the girls' size.  Here are some pics (these are 1/2" increments).  The first one is Vera.  After carefully observing and assessing the situation, she deemed it safe to stand near the new sign. The second one shows three of the girls (I think it's Gertrude, Alberta, and Vera, left to right) standing unhelpfully away from the chart.