18 Birds I Have Kept. 



Mysie." I never wearied of looking at all these things, and 

 ■was always sorry when summoned to go home. 



It was on the occasion of one of these periodical visits that 

 Marie or I, or both of us, I forget exactly which, discovered 

 in the furze a Linnet's nest: there were five young ones in 

 it, just fit to be removed — and removed they accordingly were, 

 without the faintest qualm of conscience, and carried in triumph 

 home, while the bereaved parents were left to mourn in the 

 furze. 



My mother was very angry, and gave us a long lecture on 

 our inhumanity: Marie defended our action, alleging that there 

 was no cruelty in taking a bird's nest, for the old ones would 

 immediately begin to build another. However, the deed was 

 done, and was irremediable; for there was no use in replacing 

 the nest as my mother wished, the parents would not go near 

 it again, Marie declared: so I set to work to bring up the 

 little orphans by hand, and, with my mother's help, succeeded, 

 on a mixture of hUnoir or buckwheat flour, moistened with 

 milk, on which they throve famously; though they can also 

 be reared on bread and milk. 



My Linnets grew up to be fine healthy strong birds, three 

 cocks and two hens, and in the foUowing summer the two 

 latter made nests in their large cage, and laid a number of 

 eggs, but the incessant quarrels of the party ended disastrously 

 for the success of the attempt to bring up a family. One of 

 the cocks was subsequently mated with a pale yellow hen 

 Canary, and became the father of a numerous progeny of 

 mules. He lived for ten years, and was a most amiable bird, 

 when separated from his brothers and sisters, and an inde- 

 fatigable songster: he had acquired the Canary note, and 

 rendered it sweetly in a lower key than his teacher, which 

 was no inconsiderable advantage. 



The Linnet, Fringilla cannalina of Linnaeus, la Linotte of 

 French authors, and der Lanning of the Germans, is a pretty 

 little bird, rather more than five inches in length, of which 



