48 Birds I Have Kept. 



On flies we reared him, or rather old Marguerite did, to 

 maturity, when he also condescended, now and then, to eat 

 a little scraped raw meat. He was never kept in a cage, 

 but usually took up his stand on the top of the kitchen 

 dresser, darting down, every now and then, to pick up with 

 his long tongue the flies that, for his especial benefit, were 

 enticed to settle on the table by a well-sugared bait. 



He was perfectly tame, never attempting to escape when 

 the window was open, and taking flies and scraps of raw 

 beef from our fingers. He frequently sat upon his old nurse's 

 shoulders, singing his little song, and twisting his head about 

 in all manner of queer attitudes, while she went about her 

 work. Poor, poor fellow! never bird, I think, had a sadder 

 fate than his. Careering round the kitchen one day, in pursuit 

 of flies, he unhappily dashed himself into the dripping pan 

 that was full of scalding fat, and was so terribly injured, 

 that in a few seconds he expired. I am not ashamed to say 

 that I cried heartily over the disfigured remains of the poor 

 bird; while good old Marguerite was so inconsolable that I 

 had to bring her home a nest of young Blackcaps I had not 

 intended disturbing, thinking that to give her some fresh object 

 upon which to bestow her affections and care, would be the 

 best way to console her for the loss of our favourite. 



I have never had an opportunity of keeping a second bird 

 of this species, but if they are all, as I gather they are 

 from the accounts given of them by various writers, like 

 the individual whose brief history I have just related, few 

 birds can be more desirable as pets. 



The "Wryneck is a bird of passage, and not very common 

 in England, where the country people in some places call it 

 the Cuckoo's Mate. It arrives among us in April, and leaves 

 us again in September. In its wild state it subsists entirely 

 on insect food, particularly ants and flies, to which it is 

 very partial: its long cylindrical tongue, covered with adhesive 

 saliva, standing it in good stead for capturing these pests. 



