ON THE SINGING OF BIRDS. ^55 



an apothecary at Kensington, which, from a 

 want of other sounds to imitate, almost articu- 

 lated the words pretty boy, as well as some other 

 short sentences : I heard the bird myself re- 

 peat the words pretty boy ; and Mr. Matthews 

 assured me, that he had neither the note or call 

 of any bird whatsoever. 



This talking linnet died last year, before 

 which, many people went from London to hear 

 him speak. 



The goldfinch I have before mentioned, was 

 reared in the town of Knighton in Radnorshire, 

 which I happened to hear, as I was walking by 

 the house where it was kept. - - - 



I thought indeed that a wren was singing; 

 and I went into the house to inquire after it, 

 as that little bird seldom lives long in a cage. 



The people of the house, however, told me, 

 that they had no bird but a goldfinch, which 

 they conceived to sing its own natural note, as 

 they called it ; upon which I staid a consider- 

 able time in the room, whilst its notes were 

 merely those of a wren, without the least mix- 

 ture of goldfinch. 



On further inquiries, I found that the bird 

 had been taken from the nest when only a day 

 or two old, that it was hung in a window ^vhich 

 was opposite to a small garden, whence the- 



