122 Birds I Have Kept. 



he is very fond of serenading his mate, around whom he dances 

 in the most grotesque fashion, with crest erect, and wings 

 and tail outspread. He commences to sing with the dawn, 

 and prolongs his music until darkness warns him that it is 

 time to rest. He does not seem to care whether the day- 

 is warm or cold, for I have heard my birds singing as merrily 

 when hopping about in the snow, as when the weather was 

 warm, and the sun shining brightly overhead. 



To resume : no bird, in my opinion, is more worthy of the 

 notice of connoisseurs, and providing the following points are 

 attended to, he will afford his owner the liveliest satisfaction, 

 for he breeds freely, and, as a rule, is a most exemplary 

 husband and father, although instances are on record in which, 

 I am sorry to say, he proved himself to be neither. Give 

 him plenty of room, and no aviary companion but his wife; 

 nice dry hay and bass, or aloe fibre, to make the foundation 

 of the nest, a wire basket hung up in a quiet corner, and a 

 free supply of horse-hair to line the nest: attract moths into 

 the enclosure by "sugaring", and flies by the bait of a piece 

 of liver or lights, and he and his family will flourish to 

 admiration. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



VIEGINIAK' NIGHTINGALE, OE CAEDINAL GKOSBEAK. 



THIS bird is a native of the Southern States of North 

 America, where it is found in great numbers. As a 

 songster I conceive it to have been vastly overrated; but it 

 is a fine handsome bird that deserves a place in every col- 

 lection. Although it is not as hardy a bird as the Grey 

 Cardinal, it will nevertheless live for a number of years in 

 the house: one that belonged to a friend of mine survived 



