WEEKLY CALENDARIAL REGISTER. 121 



berries through the meshes. To effect this latter 

 object, procure some sticks or bits of lath, about a 

 foot in length, and making the ends smooth, cut a 

 notch or two at one end of each of them. Put the 

 smooth ends against the wall, and the notched ones 

 against the netting, which must be stretched out suffi- 

 ciently far from the wall, to admit of the sticks being 

 perpendicular to the surface of it. Place the cords 

 of the netting in the notches, and the sticks will 

 then keep their position. The netting will thus be in 

 a strain, and at a sufficient distance from the fruit to 

 keep it out of the reach of the birds. These precau- 

 tions will be found necessary, as the delicious flavor 

 of the grapes now makes them an object of intense 

 desire to a numerous class of birds that frequent the 

 garden. 



These little feathered creatures having been indus- 

 triously engaged, during the preceding part of the 

 year, in rendering the most important services to 

 man. by destroying the larvse of a host of insects that 

 prove destructive to vegetation, now come to enjoy 

 their share of the bounties of Providence; and it 

 would, perhaps, be difficult to prove that their claim 

 is not as well founded as that of the lords of the 

 creation. They waste, however, and spoil so much, 

 in comparison with what they really eat, that no 

 other course can be pursued than that of rejecting 

 their claim altogether. Amongst these claimants, the 

 blue titmouse (torn tit), Parus ccendeus^ will, in gen- 

 eral, be found to be the most persevering. This 

 elegant little bird visits the grapes about the middle 

 of October, and selects the ripest for examination. If 

 the flavor be agreeable, the work of destruction com- 

 mences, but if not, an interval of a week or ten days 

 elapses, when a second examination takes place, and 

 the fruit being then ripe, the banquet begins, by his 

 attacking invariably the finest grapes on the vine, and 

 consuming about a sixth part of each berry, leaving 

 the other five sixths to rot and waste. After this, he 

 never ceases to pay his daily visits, as long as a single 



