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KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



TRUE FRIENDSHIP. 



BY ELIZA COOK. 



How many lovely things we find 

 In earth, and air, and sea, — 



The distant bells upon the wind, 

 The blossom on the tree ! 



But lovelier far than chime or flower 



A valued friend in sorrow's hour. 



Sweet is the carol of a bird 

 When warbling on the spray, 



And beautiful the moon's pale beam 

 That lights us on our way ; 



Yet lovelier Friendship's look and word 



Than moonlight, or than warbling bird. 



How prized the coral and the shell, 



And valued too the pearl ; 

 Who can the hidden treasures tell 



O'er which the soft waves curl ? 

 Yet dearer still a friend to me 

 Than all in earth, or air, or sea. 



THE JAY AND THE MAGPIE. 



It is remarkable how exactly similar 

 are the habits and propensities of birds of 

 the same tribe or family, though of a different 

 species. Thus the Jays of North America 

 are of various sorts, entirely differing from 

 our English Jays in parts, or the whole of 

 their plumage ; and yet in their manners 

 scarcely a difference is observable. It is a 

 curious fact, that these and some other birds 

 will just keep out of the range of gun-shot, 

 as if they had learned, either from experience, 

 or by some unknown mode of communication 

 from their older companions, that, provided 

 they never allowed a shooter to come within 

 a given distance, they were quite safe. But 

 the American Jays we are speaking of, have no 

 such knowledge, founded upon experience ; 

 as is fully proved by the account of an 

 English officer, who was travelling in a 

 very wild, unfrequented part of North 

 America, where no gunners had ever gone 

 before him, and no Jay could therefore have 

 ever learned the proper distance to keep, in 

 order to ensure its safety. Yet there they 

 were, exactly like our common English Jays ; 

 shy and cautious, as if they had been hunted 

 by sportsmen every day of their lives ; 

 keeping at a certain distance, with that occa- 

 sional clatter and chattering so well known 

 to those who have patiently and perseveringly 

 pursued from copse to copse, or tree to tree, 

 a disturbed party of these cunning birds. 



At the same time, certain birds of similar 

 habits will naturally, under peculiar circum- 

 stances, act very differently ; we have an 

 instance of this, in the singular departure 

 of the Magpie from its usual custom of build- 

 ing its nest. Everybody knows that where 

 trees abound, that which is loftiest, or most 

 difficult of access, is chosen ; but in parts 



where there are no trees, instead of retiring 

 to high rocks, and choosing places not essily 

 approached, tin y will take possession of 

 bushes close to ine very doors of houses, — 

 particularly in those countries where, instead 

 of being persecuted, they are preserved, from 

 an opinion that it is unlucky to kill them. 

 Accordingly, in Sweden and Norway, travel 

 lers are struck by their surprising numbers 

 and tameness ; their nests being built in some 

 low bushy tree close to the cottage doors, 

 where they are never disturbed. 



The following instance, which fell under 

 the observation of a gentleman when making 

 an excursion in a remote and barren part of 

 the north of Scotland, not only corroborates 

 the statement from Norway and Sweden, but 

 is attended wi h many other interesting 

 particulars of the sagacity shown by a pair 

 of Magpies. Observing them hopping round 

 a gooseberry-bush, and flying in and out of 

 it in an extraordinary manner, he noticed the 

 circumstance to the owners of the house in 

 which he was, who informed him that as there 

 were no trees in the neighborhood, they had 

 for several years budt their nest, and brought 

 up their young in that bush. And that 

 foxes, cats, hawks, &c, might not interrupt 

 them, they had barricaded not only the 

 nest, but the bush itself all round, with briars 

 and thorns, in a formidable manner. The 

 materials in the inside of the nest were soft, 

 warm, and comfortable to the touch ; but all 

 round on the outside, so rough, strong, and 

 firmly entwined with the bush, that, without 

 a hedge-knife, or something of the kind, even 

 a man could not, without much pain and 

 trouble, get at their young ; the barrier from 

 the outer to the inner edge being above a 

 foot in bieadth. Frogs, mice, worms, or 

 anything living, were plentifully brought to 

 their young. 



One day, one of the parent-birds attacked 

 a rat ; but not being able to kill it, one of the 

 young ones came out of the nest and assisted 

 in its destruction, which was not finally 

 accomplished till the other old one. arriving 

 with a dead mouse, also lent its aid. The 

 female was observed to be the most active 

 and thievish, and withal very ungrateful ; 

 for although the children about the house 

 had often frightened cats and hawks from 

 the spot, yet she one day seized a chicken 

 and carried it to the top of the house to eat 

 it, where the hen immediately followed, and 

 having rescued the chicken, brought it safely 

 down in her beak ; and it was remarked that 

 the poor little bird, though it made a great 

 neise while the Magpie was carrying it up, was 

 quite quiet, and seemed to feel no pain, while 

 its mother was c irrying it down. These 

 Magpies were supposed to nave been the 

 very same pair -which had built there for 

 several years: never suffering either the 



