ON THE SMALL BIRDS OF FLIGHT. 
in which state they continue, being perhaps ex- 
amined but once a week to have fresh water. 
As for food, the air is so putrid, that they eat 
little during the whole state of confinement, 
which lasts about a month. The birds fre- 
quently die under the operation ;* and hence 
the value of a stopped bird rises greatly. 
_ When the bird hath thus prematurely moult- 
ed, he is in song, whilst the wild birds are out. 
of song, and his note is louder and more _piere~ 
ing than that of a wild one; but it is not only 
in his note he receives an alteration, the plum- 
age is equally improved. The black and yel- 
low in the wings of the goldfinch, for example, 
become deeper and more vivid, together with a 
most beautiful gloss, which is not to be seen in 
the wild bird. ‘The bill, which in the latter is 
likewise black at the end, in the stopped bird 
becomes white and more taper, as do its legs: 
in short, there is as much difference between a 
wild anda stopped bird, as there is between a 
horse which is kept in body cloaths, or at 
grass. : 
When the bird-catcher hath laid his nets, he 
. * We have been lately informed by an experienced bird- 
catcher, that he pursues a cooler regimen in stopping his birds, 
and that he therefore seldom loses one. 
319’ 
