APPENDIX. 



ON THE TREATMENT OF SONG BIRDS IN 

 CONFINEMENT. 



The little captive trembling with affright, 

 Safely and warm to house it day and night, 

 Without undue restraint, secure to keep 

 From savage foes that prowl in hours of sleep ; 

 To give it glimpses of green waving trees, 

 And let it feel the soft refreshing breeze; 

 Bask in the golden sunshine, and draw near 

 To reservoirs of water cool and clear ; 

 To nestle in dim corners, and leave room 

 To preen and exercise each downy plume, 

 Free from dejection, and from suffering free, 

 As joyous as a captive bird can be. 



A BOOK which treats principally of the sweet songsters 

 of Britain must be considered incomplete without some 

 practical hints as to their treatment in a state of captivity, 

 in which state we most frequently see and hear some of the 

 more favourite species. Especially is this the case with 



Those who are in populous cities pent ; 



and who have few opportunities of listening to the melody of 

 birds in the green fields and leafy woodlands. To such the 

 possession of a feathered pet becomes almost a necessity of 

 existence. How far they are justified in depriving the little 

 musicians, whose strains afford them such pleasure, of liberty, 

 it is not for us to question All creatures are given for man's 

 use and enjoyment, and, provided they are properly cared 

 for, and tenderly treated, we see not why the Song Birds, 

 as well as those of a more strictly utilitarian kind, and the 

 animals, which minister so largely to man's wants and 

 necessities, should not be brought into a state of domesti- 

 cation. For ourselves, we would rather hear the lyric Lark 

 pouring out its ecstatic strains high up in the blue sky, or 

 the Nightingale its rich warble from the roadside copse 



