THE BLACK-CAP. 241 



together in large flocks, when they fall victims to those 

 who mfcke bird-catching their trade, for the purpose of 

 supplying the tables of the luxurious and the great. 



The black-cap and the wren, though diminutive in 

 size, astonish by the shrillness and loudness of their 

 note*; the latter is termed the mock-nightingale, 

 from the sweetness of the sounds that issue from its 

 throat. 



All soft-billed birds, that are prized for singing, may 

 be brought up in the same way ; they ought not to be 

 taken until almost full feathered, and the nest should 

 be placed in a basket, and covered up warm ; every 

 two hours they ought to be fed with sheeps' hearts 

 chopped fine, and mixed with hard eggs ; or raw meat 

 minced carefully, and every particle of fat taken away. 

 As- they grow older they should be put in a nightin- 

 gale's cage, lined at the bottom with straw or dry moss, 

 and the utmost cleanliness constantly preserved. In 

 autumn, for a fortnight, they will often abstain from 

 food, unless they have two or three meal-worms twice 

 or thrice a week ; saffron should likewise be added to 

 their water, and a spider or two given them in the 

 course of every day : when their legs are cramped, 

 they should be anointed with fresh butter ; and when 

 they grow melancholy, and refuse to sing, white sugar- 

 candy must be put in their water, and their food be a 

 mixture of sheep's hearts and eggs, with the addition 

 of meal-worms and ant's eggs. 



* The lungs of all birds extend throughout their body, which accounts 

 for their being able to produce such powerful strains ; but in quadruped* 

 they are confined to the breast. 



