BIRDS TO BE EXCLUDED. 271 



sometimes kill each other. Dr. Letheby informed us that 

 having introduced a pair of Tomtits into his aviary over 

 night, he was surprised the next morning to find one dead ; 

 for the remaining bird he obtained a partner, which shared 

 the same fate; and while he was speculating upon the 

 cause of this mortality among his Tits, lo ! the survivor, 

 before his very eyes, pounced upon a Yellow-hammer, 

 struck it down with one blow of his sharp bill, and com- 

 menced feasting upon its brains. Of course the murderer 

 was instantly condemned to execution. We record this as 

 a warning to all who are choosing stock for an aviary. 

 Pity that so sprightly and beautiful a bird should have 

 propensities which unfit him for polite society. Whether 

 the Cole Tit, and the Long-tailed Tit, or Mufflin, which 

 builds such a curious, bottle-shaped nest, are equally 

 destructive, we are not aware, but should fear to trust 

 them. Among aviary birds we may place the Hedge 

 Sparrow, or Dunnock, and even our familiar friend, the 

 House Sparrow, may help to swell the group, if there is 

 plenty of room. But none of the Swallow tribe ; they are 

 almost constantly on the wing, and no confined space would 

 be wide enough for their range in pursuit of insect prey. 



Of course the Canary, which is a kind of Finch, is always 

 a welcome inmate of the aviary, and the Siskin, or Aber- 

 devine, another Finch, although it has a poor natural song, 

 may be admitted ; it is a bold, lively bird, and easily tamed 

 and taught to sing better. Its only fault is greediness, and 

 it sometimes dies of plethora. Linnets, too, should be 

 there, with their gentle warblings, and the sweet-voiced 

 Woodlark, although the latter is a. timid bird, and does 

 better by itself. Without the pert beau Goldie, and 

 velvet-capped Bully, and Master Shilfa, the Chaffinch, 

 sweet songsters all, no collection of feathered musicians 

 would be at all complete. Then, too, there is the Green- 

 finch, and several foreign birds of the family, which are 

 very desirable acquisitions, the latter especially, for the 

 beauty of their plumage, as well as their melodious song 

 and lively manners. 



