26 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



prisoner immured in a dungeon, we shall also, 

 malheureusment, have to write " down" to 

 him. It is, however, a self-imposed task, 

 and we shall not shrink from it. We shall, 

 assuredly, plead hard for him ; and entreat 

 that his life may be made as happy as it can 

 be under existing circumstances. 



Ere yet another fortnight shall have gone 

 over our heads, we shall behold a wondrous 

 change in the voices of the blackbird and 

 the thrush. They rally wonderfully as the 

 season for breeding approaches ; and, while 

 his cava sposa is sitting sedulously on her 

 nest — fondly anticipating the result of her 

 onerous task, loud and melodious falls the 

 note upon our ear of her " only love !" 

 Seated aloft, he seems to look down upon 

 all that are beneath him with a feeling of 

 pity, giving utterance to songs of melody 

 that liberty could alone inspire : — 



Oh ! blackbird, sing me something well ; 

 While all my neighbors shoot thee round, 

 /keep smooth plots of fruitful ground, 

 Where thou may'st warble, eat, and dwell. 



So sings Tennyson ; and we echo his 

 chant. 



THE AVIARY AND ITS OCCUPANTS. 

 No. VI. 



[Continued from Vol. II, page 404.) 



Building a house is tedious work. Day 

 after day the operations go on, but with little 

 or no present visible progress. Still, every- 

 thing must have a beginning ; and no house 

 can be properly erected without first laying 

 a foundation. Thus have we acted in the 

 treatment of our subject — bearing in lively re- 

 membrance the notable remark of Mrs. Glass, 

 of immortal memory, than whom we wish no 

 brighter nor better example to imitate. 



If we have, perchance, been dry, prolix, 

 and precise in our matter-of-fact directions, 

 it has been with the single view of paving 

 the way for the better enjoyment, hereafter, 

 of the work of our hands. The benefit deri- 

 vable from an attentive perusal of apparently 

 minor matters of detail, will soon become 

 evident, nor is the "marrow" of our subject 

 even now far distant. 



We come now, paripassu, to the discussion 

 of " How to store an aviary." This is a 

 matter which requires no little judgment ; 

 for if birds, by nature quarrelsome, were ad- 

 mitted indiscriminately to congregate under 

 one roof, the result would be anarchy, con- 

 fusion, —bloodshed. The names of the prin- 

 cipal intended " settlers, " may be given as 

 follows: — Aberdevines, bullfinches, chaffin- 

 ches, canaries, goldfinches, linnets, redpoles, 

 twites, yellow-hammers. The foregoing are 

 hard billed, granivorous, or seed birds. 



The soft-billed, or insectivorous birds, are 

 — thrushes, blackcaps, arbour-birds, cole-tits, 

 blue ( or Tom ) tits, marsh- tits, garden-war- 

 blers, hedge-sparrows, nightingales, redstarts, 

 reed-sparrows, stonechats, whinchats, titlarks 

 woodlarks (no sky larks must be admitted), 

 whitethroats, wagtails. 



From the above list, it will be seen that 

 blackbirds, the ox-eye, robin, and wren, are 

 excluded. The three first are quite inadmis- 

 sible, — blackbirds being spiteful and mali- 

 cious ; ox-eyes, or joe-bents, murderous assas- 

 sins. * The latter often feel an inclination 

 to look too closely into the phrenological 

 development of their neighbor's head. 

 There could be no reasonable objection to 

 this, if it were done from a laudable curiosity, 

 and " in a regular way. " But their invari- 

 able modus operandi is, — first to split the 

 skull of their " subject" ( a-Z«-woodpecker 

 " tapping"); then to examine its contents ; and 

 finally, to devour it greedily. This remark- 

 able operation, frequently repeated, would, 

 we hardly need say, soon depopulate the 

 aviary. 



The robin, or redbreast, must be regarded 

 altogether as an alien — such is the ferocity 

 of his natural disposition. Who would credit 

 this, when viewing him seated aloft, on the 

 highest twig of yonder tall tree ; every nerve 

 visibly agitated, and his little throat widely 

 distended; while, in the joyousness ofhis nature 

 he is pouring forth the "most eloquent music ?" 

 Does he not look a perfect paragon of harm- 

 lessness, virtue, and innocence ? 



Such is he not. In him may be traced 

 the unerring principle of Nature. Every spe- 

 cimen of his tribe — in this " rule " there are 

 NO " exceptions" — is invariably alike in dis- 

 position ; tyrannical, despotic, jealous, sangui- 

 narily cruel. When noticing the "habits" 

 of this bird, under its proper head, we shall 

 have much that is interesting to dwell upon 

 — much to record that we have never heard 

 of, nor seen noticed by naturalists. AVe 

 dearly love the rogue, aye, dearly ; but, as a 

 faithful historian, we dare not give him " a 

 false character." 



The wren is excluded, because he is a very 

 tender, delicate bird, in confinement ; impa- 

 tient, also, of the constant bustle and excite- 

 ment inseparable from an aviary. If any of 

 this tribe be admitted, let it be two or three 

 willow wrens. They are an exquisitely-formed 

 bird ; minutely small, and the most lively of 

 their race. The excess of numbers should be 

 in favor of goldfinches, linnets, canaries, red- 

 poles, and bullfinches. These birds are 



* There is only one phrenological organ in the 

 head of an ox-eye. It is the organ of " murder. " 

 Thus is he predestinated to fulfil his deadly mission, 

 and thus is the truth of the " science " triumph- 

 antly confirmed. 



