3S4 APPENDIX. Vt 



have mentioned to consist of only a single 

 note. 



To be certain, therefore, that a nestling will 

 not have even the call of its species, it should 

 be taken from the nest when only a day or two 

 old; because, though nestlings cannot see till 

 the seventh day, yet they can hear from the 

 instant they are hatched, and probably, from 

 that circumstance, attend to sounds, more than 

 they do afterwards, especially as the call of the 

 parents announces the arrival of their food. 



I must own, that I am not equal myself, nor 

 can I procure any person to take the trouble of 

 breeding up a bird of this age, as the odds 

 against its being reared are almost infinite. 

 The warmth indeed of incubation may be, in 

 some measure, supplied by cotton and fires; 

 but these delicate animals require, in this state, 

 being fed almost perpetually, whilst the nou- 

 rishment they receive should not only be pre- 

 pared with great attention, but given in very 

 small portions at a time. 



Though I must admit, therefore, that I have 

 never reared myself a bird of so tender an age^, 

 yet 1 have happened to see both a linnet and a 

 goldfinch which were taken from their nests 

 when only two or three days old. 



The first of these belonged to Mr. Matthews, 



