THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 20, 1994 TAG: 9407200381
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARY REID BARROW, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
After a weekend vacation of sorts at the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort, Pretty Boy is safely back at his North End home with owner Alexandra DuBois.
Pretty Boy, a white parakeet with a blue headband and blue ``A'' on his back, has been 12-year-old Alexandra's pet for four years. His favorite perch is her shoulder. ``Give me a kiss,'' he likes to tell her.
But Pretty Boy, who flies freely around the house, flew the coop altogether a week ago. Alexandra and her parents, Remi and Peggy DuBois, were heartbroken.
Remi DuBois put more than 200 posters on telephone poles, passed out more than 50 fliers and advertised in the newspaper. But no sign of Pretty Boy.
Unbeknownst to the DuBoises, their bird was checking into the Holiday Inn at 39th Street and Atlantic Avenue. So were Richard and Bev Burns and their daughter, Megan, 5. The Akron, Ohio, family was out testing the ocean for the first time Friday when Bev Burns noticed the white parakeet.
She saw a group of children on the beach chasing the little bird, Burns recalled, when it suddenly landed on her husband's shoulder.
``It just stayed there,'' she said. ``I took it off and it went right back.''
Pretty Boy picked a good shoulder to lean on. The Burnses took the parakeet back to their room and gave it some water. Then the family went to a pet store for a cage, birdseed and medicine. ``He wasn't doing too well the first day,'' Burns explained.
As the weekend went on, Pretty Boy perked up and began talking. ``Give me a kiss,'' the bird told Burns.
``Well, we just fell in love with him,'' Burns said. ``But we knew then it was someone's pet, and I realized we should look in the paper.''
Alexandra and Pretty Boy were reunited Monday. ``When he saw me, he was singing and jumping around in the cage,'' Alexandra said. ``And he flew right to my shoulder.''
The Burnses left for Akron early Tuesday, satisfied they had found the right family. But their new cage was not empty. The family had gone back to the pet store and purchased a light green and yellow parakeet. ``We've got a Virginia bird going back with us,'' Burns said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
TODD SPENCER
Alexandra DuBois' bird, Pretty Boy, is back home after being lost
for several days.
by CNB