60 Birds I Have Kept. 



If dieted on indigestible food, the Wryneck will not long 

 survive; but if fed on suitable, that is to say natural food, 

 it will live for several years, endearing itself to every one 

 that comes in contact with it, by its numerous good qualities. 



It requires to be warmly housed during the winter months, 

 which it passes, when wild, in a far more genial climate than 

 ours. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



THE BLACKCAP. 



FLORIAjS", in one of the most charming of his delightful 

 fables, narrates how the birds once met in conclave to 

 decide upon the relative merits of the Blackcap and ]S"ightin- 

 gale, and their respective right to be considered queen, or 

 rather king of song. "Tlie judges," he proceeds to tells us, 

 "were the Linnet, the Canary, the Robin Redbreast, and the 

 Greenfinch: two old Goldfinches and two young Chaffinches 

 were appointed to keep order in the lists; and the Blackbird 

 with his sonorous notes was herald: he gave the signal for 

 the contest to begin, and straightway the Blackcap began her 

 sweetest strains : with consummate art she modulated the varied 

 inflections of her soul-entrancing harmony, and ravished all 

 hearts by the beauty of her song. The assembly applauded, 

 and silence having been again obtained, the ^Nightingale com- 

 menced though her music filled the hearers with wonder 



and delight, the judges found themselves unable to decide: 

 the Linnet and the Greenfinch, friends of the Blackcap, refused 

 to give their opinion, nor could the others any more agree: 

 but all at once an unhu ky Jay d( cided the matter by calling 

 out, 'Well done, Blackcap!' when the whole feathered Areopagus 

 with one voice immediately pronounced for the Kightingale. 

 Thus the commendation ( f a Icol decs frequently more harm 

 than hi s rebuke." 



