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passing traveller. 



uTh^v of the landing of any of these our visitors. 

 Knowing the time they are « due," I daily keep a close 

 look-out ; and, as I walk abroad, I am not slow to 

 herald their approach : 



" Some well-known voice salutes my ear," 



when others are strangers to its sound. 



The last week has been productive of many interesting 

 "arrivals:' I have, already, recognised a variety oi 

 harmonious foreign voices, and seen whence they nave 

 proceeded.* Perched among the overhanging branches 

 of trees, and half- secreted amongst shrubs- there sat 

 the choristers in the full enjoyment of their native 

 liberty ; giving utterance to their feelings m gushes of 

 exuberant joy? Nor are these little fellows soon dis- 

 quieted. They seem instinctively to know that they are 

 "welcome ;" and unsuspectingly do they keep on sing- 

 in jr. as if anxious to claim an acquaintanceship with the 



Hard-hearted monster must he be, 



who "seeks to destroy such pure enjoyment, and such 

 innocent mirth ! And yet, this very instant, lieth he in 

 wait to ensnare his unsuspecting victim ! See, he is 

 lurking beyond yon hedge ! I shall have a word or two 

 to eay about him, anon. But to return. 



Even now, while I write, with my casement open, I 

 am listening to the hero of this day's article — -the 

 Nightingale. Ravenscourt Park, which impinges imme- 

 diately on my flower-garden, is ringing with his sorig ; 

 though the stars alone are shining, and the waning moon 

 is not yet visible. I can hear many responsive echoes 

 through the neighbouring trees, which tell me we shall 

 have a treat this season. 



That magic strain, now borno upon the breeze, comes 

 from the lover's mate. She has been drinking in large 

 draughts of her swain's passionate avowals of constant 

 love and affection, and is now returning him the most 

 impassioned and pathetic outpourings of a grateful and 

 fond heart. Every note she breathes is redolent of 

 sincerity, ardour, fervency, and adoration. All are un- 

 mistalaable tokens of the depth of her attachment. 

 Sweet Philomel ! How worthy art thou of being loved ; 

 and what a pattern of virtue dost thou not hold out for 

 imitation ! I could sing thy praises until doomsday. 



From this time forward our hedgerows, coppices, 

 brakes, fields, gardens, lanes, and shrubberies, will be 

 heard to echo with the choicest melody,— not the melody 

 of the new comers only, but a grand chorus from a union 

 of voices, native as well as foreign. The thrush, the black- 

 bird, the woodlark, and the robin, — all love to commingle 

 their notes with those of the " warblers." No discord 

 have we here — all is u concerted " music. 



How pleasant is it, in this festive, * merrie " month, 

 to rise with the early lark, and listen to the music of the 

 grove ! From 4 a.m., until half-past 4, the birds are at 

 lull u Matins," Have -my readers ever attended any of 

 these performances ? If not, let such of them as reside in 

 the country make a single trial. If they be lovers of 

 Nature, and also lovers of the feathered choir, how they 

 will thank me for my suggestion ! 



Then, again — how delightful to wander out at eventide 

 by the side of a rivulet or running brook, — or to saunter 

 through a mead, a meadow, or a secluded lane ! The 

 birds may then be heard chanting their choral *■ Vespers." 

 Many such happy walks have fallen to my happy lot, in 

 days gone by ; and as my love for such enjoyment seems 

 to gain strength by time, let me hope the day is far distant 

 when I shall seek pleasure in more hurtful pursuits. But 

 a truce to reflection. We will now at once plunge in 



media 8 res. 



The Nightingale is looked for about the 14th of April ; 

 and he is generally here to his time — he was this year — 

 unless violent gusts of wind prevail, and so prevent him 

 breasting the Channel. It is worthy of note, that the 

 males always arrive some 10 days before the females. 

 Hence, all that are trapped early, are sure to prove 

 * birds of song," though, of course, not all equally 

 inspired with the true poetry of song ; for with these birds, 

 as with us, — Poeta nascitm\ nonfit. 



Nightingales are, of all birds, the most easy to be 

 snared. The villainous bird-catchers, in whose callous 

 breasts pity was never yet found, know this well ; and 

 remarking, with the astute cunning of a fox, where 

 the finest birds are located, they lie in wait all night for 

 their prey. At early dawn, they set to work and turn 

 up some mould. The innocent birds at once unsuspec- 

 tingly descend to seek for a worm in the fresh earth, and 

 seeing the bait (a lively mealworm) in the trap, — they 

 greedily seize it, and find their liberty gone for ever ! In 

 this manner are the tribe caught by dozens. 



The birds, when secured, are placed in a store cage, 

 and quickly conveyed to the bird dealers in the Seven 

 Dials. These worthies then proceed at once to u meat 

 them off." This is accomplished thus : — Some fresh, 

 raw beet' is scraped ; and being divested of all fibrous 

 substance, it is mixed into a soft paste, with cold water, 

 and hard boiled yolk of egg. This is put into a large tin 

 bird pan. In the middle of this food is placed a very 

 small inverted liqueur glass, with the stem broken off. 

 Under this glass are introduced three or four lively meal- 

 worms, whose oft repeated endeavours to break out of 

 prison attract the attention of the nightingale. Not un- 

 derstanding how these worms are placed beyond his 

 reach, he continues to peck at them, until by degrees he 

 tastes the beef and egg, which is artfully rubbed over 



* Tf any of my readers happen by good chance to be located 

 witlrn a reasonable walking distance of the Duke of Devon- 

 shire'* grounds at Chiswicb, let them pay a very early visit to 

 this picturt ique neighbourhood, and let them make a complete 

 tour Of the garden walls. In t uir walk, they will hear the 

 voices of nearly everyone of the "warblers." This is a very 

 favourite ppot of mine. 



xuu =»v^o ™ — glass. This being palateable, he satiates | 

 his appetite with it, and soon feels a zest for it — parti- 

 cularly as his attempts to get at the meal-worms always 

 prove abortive. He now eats regularly — he is meated off. 



When first imprisoned, the front of the cage is covered 

 over with tissue paper, to prevent his majesty from being 

 frightened by too great a glare of light. When he be- 

 comes reconciled, or rather, resigned to his fate— in a 

 few days, perhaps— this covering is gradually removed, 

 by tearing off small sections of the paper. He must 

 then be suspended, [not at too great a height, and be 

 disturbed as little as possible. He will sing almost im- 

 mediately ; but do not imagine therefrom that he is 

 " happy " — a bit of conceit on your part ; pardonable, 

 perhaps, but far from the fact. Torn, remorselessly 

 torn, from all he holds dear in the world, dragged from 

 his shady bowers, and pent up between ^ walls of 

 mahogany— there he sits, an object of real pity ! His 

 lovely voice is indeed heard— he is lovely even in his 

 tears — but his soul is consuming away in the very bitter- 

 ness of his spirit. His faith has been plighted long 'ere 

 he reached our country, and he preceded his ladye-love 

 only for the purpose of welcoming her on her arrival. 



In the face of all these naked facts, we still persist, 

 year by year, in making fresh prisoners. This being so, 

 I shall perform the very pleasing duty of showing the 

 best way to bring some good out of much evil. What 

 the late worthy Mrs. Fry was to the prisoners in 

 Newgate— that will / try to be to Nightingales in a cage. 

 She could not indeed give them liberty ; nor can I, these. 

 All that can be accomplished, is, — an amelioration of 

 their condition. William Kidd, New-road, Hammersmith. 



rugged, knobby, "ni-sha^eTboSS^ 

 into the cavities of the capsule. " T,: "|W 



The early discoverers of this two **« ^ , ' ' ~~* 

 the height of 150 feet; but thev S^ lt * %b 

 truth, as is shown by the blocks in th?Z wi ^Z 

 one of which near the base is 5 feet 7 ?J*? Kxk »C 

 and another, cut 134 feet above the fiS^ U,di ^ 

 1 inches in diameter. We learn from &? m 2 «* 





of the Royal Society of Van Diemen'q l e P***^ 

 157) that, on the 11th of October, 1848 : (n Hj 



" A paper was read by Mr. H. Hull d<w^ 

 gigantic tree oi the Gum tribe, « occurring ;!j ^ 



describes it as a Blue Gum (Eucalyptus "rfk 1 ** 

 says * it stands close to one of th« cm.ii °? ulu5 )> 



gigantic tree ot tne lium tribe, < occurring ?? 

 on the declivity of the Mount Wei E 8 m 



uu u«5 ucciivity ui iue iviount Wellin^to 

 Tolosa, about six miles from Hobart TnL?- r *J!P 



j .«,:u^« :± „„ « t>i..~ n .r, . x o»;3. \u 



*. 

 M* 



says • k stanas cose to one of the small rfcZ? 

 issue from the mountain, and is surrounded J^T 





forest and underwood. 



lorest ana unaerwooa. - * * It was m '*""* ^* 

 a tape, and found to be 28 yards in circumf^^** 



m-mind fmnrP.flisi.Ti Q voi^o !« ^:« " C ? mfePen **fr 



I* 



pet* 



EUCALYPTUS GLOBULUS, 



TIIE " BLUE GUM TREE." 



Two huge blocks of the timber of this tree having been 

 sent from Van Diemen's Land by Sir William Denison, 

 for exhibition in the " Crystal Palace," our readers will 

 be glad L to know something of its history. Garden 

 catalogues say that it was introduced in 1810, and it is 

 by no means rare among curious collections; but the 

 rapidity of its growth soon renders it necessary to remove 

 it. There is, however, no reason why it should not 

 thrive out of doors in the south-west of England and 

 Ireland, where the climate is as mild as in Van Diemen's 

 Land. It has angular branches which, when young, droop, 

 and are of a pale dull green colour. The leaves are 

 firm, opaque, and unyielding, as if stamped out of horn, 

 ovate-lanceolate,long-stalked,and curved in the form of a 



ground (more than 9 yards in diameterrr^^ 11 * 1 

 in circumference at the height of 6 feet TV 

 appeared sound except at one part, where the hut Li 

 opened, and showed a line of decayed wood. tLu 

 height of the tree is estimated to be 330 feet'"' 



It is not improbable that the following extra* fc*. 

 the same work (p. 165) relates to the sand- 

 al though it is spoken of by another name •— 



« Mr. Milligan read the following note from tl* d 

 T. J. Ewing, of New Town, on the occurred of 

 unprecedentedly large specimens of the Swimn r_ 

 (Eucalyptus Sp.) :— ™ ,J * 



ec < New Town Parsonage, 

 19th March, 1849. 



« « My dear Sir,— I went 

 last week to see a very large 

 tree, or rather two very 

 large ones, that I had heard 

 of since 1841, but which 

 were not re-discovered until 

 Monday last. As they are 

 two of the largest — if not 

 the largest — trees ever mea- 

 sured, I have determined to 

 send you an account of 

 them, in order that a re- 

 cord may be preserved 

 in any future publication 

 of the Royal Society. ■ 





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sickle ; sometimes they are wider at the base on one side 

 than on the other, and, by a twist of the stalk, always 

 stand with their edges vertically instead of horizontally. 

 The white flowers are almost two inches across when 

 the stamens are expanded ; and are produced singly or 

 in clusters of threes ; sometimes as in our figure, when 

 the leaves fall off, the fruits seem as if in spikes. The 

 calyx is singularly knobby and rugged, with an angular 

 tube, and a cover shaped like a depressed cone, or like 

 a convexity with a rude boss in the centre. These 

 flowers are covered before expansion with a thick 

 glaucous bloom. The fruits are hard, woody, angular, 



*f a mile of «•* 

 They are within *™« carters oi ^ ^ 



other, on a 



west Bay Rn 



separates its 



They are easily 



are in a beauti 



not in an inacue»oiu*^ & — j* ^^Tvee-r^ 1 '" ,,** 



other, on - -™" "*~ Am - tributary w j^ # 



w r est B 



separate 



They ai 



are in a oeauiuui >»»<= ^ ~ r — io ^ nat 0T uu * r-^ 



west Bay River, pretty far up on ^ § ^ 

 separates its waters from those foot-pJ 



They are easily reached from the n Fer ^, 



7 beautiful vale of Sassafras ^d i ^ ^ 



.path. 



0i 



trees, 

 in sue 



luxuriance 



2 



there you are puzzled on seeing 



» a Sassaf 



ever? ^ 



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