28 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



food ! Master Tom has an infinite variety of 

 these tricks ; and as we " owe him one," for 

 many hours of by-gone entertainment, we 

 now'discharge our obligation. 



The next question is,— how, when, and 

 where, to procure your birds for the aviary. 

 The best seasons for the hard-billed birds, 

 are April and September. They are then in 

 what is termed " Flight." During these 

 months, they congregate in vast numbers; 

 and are trapped by the bird-catchers, 

 and sold at very low prices by the London 

 dealers. Great St. Andrew- street, Holborn, 

 and the neighborhood of the Seven Dials, 

 are the grand depositories for the feathered 

 choir. 



The soft-billed birds of passage arrive 

 about the 10th of April, and may be pur- 

 chased in the same localities. They should 

 be procured a week or so after they are 

 trapped, or as soon as they are what is 

 termed " fed off,"— that is, able to feed them- 

 selves in confinement on the change of food 

 provided for them. Many are sulky when 

 caught, refuse every temptation to eat, and 

 die before they can be " fed off." 



How to select your birds, and discriminate 

 the males from the females, we will explain 

 under their classified heads. We will also 

 give early consideration to the proper food 

 to be placed in the aviary ; and show how 

 to adapt it to the peculiar appetites of each 

 of the inmates. 



With us, latterly, a death in the family was 

 the exception, not the rule: our birds all 

 li ve d_till the rats deprived us of them — to 

 a " green old age." We loved them while 

 they lived— oh, how fondly! Now, nil nisi 

 flere et meminisse relictum est. — We can but 

 think of them, and bewail their irreparable 

 loss. 



CURIOUS FACTS IN NATURAL HISTORY. 



MARINE POLYPES— THE FROG— 

 THE HOUSE FLY. 



The "Naturalist" for the new year, again 

 comes before U6 with fresh claims on our 

 regard, and brings under our observation 

 some very interesting facts. 



Many of them, from their length, are not 

 suitable for us to extract. We therefore 

 subjoin three of the shorter communications, 

 by way of confirming our remarks. The 

 first, by Thomas Nichol, Esq., of Dunbar, 

 refers to Marine Polypes. Mr. N. says : — 



Great numbers of Marine Polypes are to be 

 found in Dunbar; their habitat being chiefly 

 on rocky ground between high and low-water- 

 mark. I kept one of them for nearly two years, 

 and several others for shorter periods, in basins of 

 salt water ; of course renewing it at intervals of 

 two or three days. Believing that they must 



have some more substantial nourishment than the 

 anirualculre contained in the water, I tried if 

 they would use various kinds of food which I 

 thought might be suitable for them. Whelks, 

 Mussels, and Limpets were what I chiefly offered 

 them. If the object was dropped near the Polype, 

 it was invariably seized with its tentacula, and 

 conveyed to its mouth. I have seen a shell 

 nearly as largo as the animal itself thus swal- 

 lowed, distending the body all round. 



The Polype has the power of locomotion ; for, 

 although I never saw any of them in the act of 

 moving, I have frequently found them at a dif- 

 ferent side of the basin from that at which I left 

 them. But perhaps the most interesting circum- 

 stance connected with them was, that some of 

 them propagated while in my possession. I had 

 at one time from twenty to twenty-five young ones 

 alive, and probably twice as many gemmules were 

 thrown off in the course of one summer from three 

 individuals. I never saw the gemmules separate 

 themselves from the parent, though I frequently 

 watched for it. Some of the young lived for 

 several weeks, if not months, under my care, and 

 grew considerably in that time ; bxit most of them 

 died early, which led me to suppose that the side 

 of a basin was not a suitable place for their 

 development. 



It is stated in books on Natural History, that 

 these animals may be cut into a great many parts, 

 and that each part will immediately become a 

 complete animal, and live and act as if nothing 

 had happened to it. To test the correctness of 

 this statement, I cut some of mine into several 

 pieces ; they seemed to be little affected by the 

 operation, and each part continued to live as a 

 distinct individual. Some of these I kept for a 

 considerable time ; but I felt satisfied they did 

 not thrive so well or look so healthy as the Polypes 

 that had not been so divided. 



I find I have still in my possession a few notes 

 of observations I made on three varieties of these 

 creatures, the substance of which I shall tran- 

 scribe. 



1847, March 6th. — Received three large 

 Polypes this morning, and placed them in basins 

 of salt water. 



No. 1, the largest, is covered by a sac or 

 mantle, finely streaked with red stripes ; the pre- 

 vailing color of the sac is dull grey, and it is 

 covered with small transparent pimples about the 

 size of pins', heads ; probably they contain water. 

 When placed in clean salt water, the sac is 

 gradually withdrawn, and the animal ajipears a 

 flattish circular body, of considerable diameter, 

 having the entire circumference guarded by the 

 outstretched tentacula, as by a forest of tiny 

 spears. Inside of this is a considerable space 

 perfectly smooth, the color beautifully variegated 

 with different shadings of red, and in the centre 

 is the orifice, or mouth. This opening assumes a 

 great variety of forms and appearances, the 

 beauty and delicacy of which can only be pro- 

 perly appreciated when seen in the living animal. 

 Sometimes the lips rise a little above the surface, 

 and curve elegantly over into the cavity. Their 

 inner surface is generally of a white or cream 

 color, and capable of great distension, as indeed 

 the whole Polype is. The body is soft, yields 

 easily to the touch, and exhibits a good deal oi 



