92 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



widower from that moment became incon- 

 solable. His grief was lasting, and excessive. 

 Such unusual constancy won our best sym- 

 pathies. We procured another hen, equally 

 beautiful ; and gave her the entree. Singular 

 to relate, her ladyship intuitively seconded 

 our views. My lord " proposed," at an early 

 dav, and was u accepted ;" and the twain 

 lived with us, in uninterrupted felicity, 

 until they were devoured by the rats. The 

 " habits " of this bird will hereafter receive 

 ample notice. 



As the larger proportion of numbers will 

 always be in favor of linnets and goldfinches, 

 we need not say anything about the intro- 

 duction of other kinds of birds. In this 

 matter, everybody will of course consult his 

 own particular fancy. It will be desirable, 

 however, to confine new-comers of every sort 

 for a day or two, in a separate cage ; they 

 may then be turned in with the rest. 



It sometimes happens that a bird gets one 

 of his legs injured, and he is thereby pre- 

 vented rising on the wing, and seating him- 

 self on a perch. To accommodate him in 

 his sickness, let a perch be fixed across the 

 skirting board at every corner of the aviary. 

 On these he can hop, and on one of them he 

 will roost at night. It is highly desirable 

 for every bird to perch when at roost. They 

 do so when in a state of Nature. It prevents 

 their little feet becoming clogged with any 

 foul matter, and they awaken refreshed by 

 their night's rest. 



Sometimes, in the moulting season, when 

 a bird does not moult " kindly, 1 ' there will 

 be several " cripples " trotting about the 

 floor, quite unable to soar aloft. Under such 

 circumstances, you must place clean water 

 within their reach, and plenty of food — the 

 latter in as great a variety as possible. What 

 this variety consists of we will discuss anon. 



We must here caution our readers against 

 the sudden introduction of a lighted candle, 

 into or near an aviary, at night. It has so 

 alarming an effect upon the inmates, that 

 they will precipitate themselves headlong 

 from their perches, and fall about the room 

 in an agony of fear. We have known many 

 legs and wings to be broken in this manner, 

 and have been obliged to sacrifice the lives 

 of many of the sufferers by putting them to 

 a premature death. The birds usually roost 

 up aloft ; so that, wich only moderate care, 

 the evil complained of can be remedied. 



Another terrible annoyance and cause of 

 alarm to your birds, on moonlight nights par- 

 ticularly, will be the cats. These most 

 noxious vermin will, and do, always prowl 

 about an aviary, assembling in numbers to try 

 and procure a savory meal. Apropos to this 

 subject. On one particular occasion, coming 

 down early in the morning, we found a pane 

 of glass in the aviary broken. There was a 



circular hole through it, made as if it had 

 been " drilled." Round it was a quantity of 

 grey hair, not human ; through it, something 

 alive (also not human) had evidently passed. 

 How many of our feathered family had es- 

 caped through this aperture, we had no means 

 of ascertaining ; but we heard many ill-sup- 

 pressed whispers of some splendid mules and 

 canaries having suddenly made their appear- 

 ance in cages in the neighborhood, and of 

 the welkin ringing with their song. 



It being an invariable rule with us to live 

 " out of debt," we proceeded at once to dis- 

 charge this last outstanding obligation. We 

 were plainly indebted to one of the feline 

 tribe for the unsolicited honor of " a visit." 

 Too well-brednot to acknowledge the civility, 

 at an early moment, we that same night pre- 

 pared for the visitor a petit soiqier, dressed 

 a la Soyer, the paragon of human excellence.* 

 The cloth was laid for a dozen at least ; for 

 we thought it probable that a " friend or 

 two" might drop in. We were not " out" in 

 this our calculation. Our polite neighbors, 

 the cats, did arrive, and with good appetites; 

 nor were they dainty. Partaking arte gout 

 of all that we had provided for them, they 

 cleared the course. No " remove " was 

 needed ! Contrary to all good manners we 

 must remark, the party, before breaking up, 

 had actually licked their plates ! 



Next morning, there was a rumor that 

 " fourteen cats had been mysteriously seized 

 with sudden and alarming illness." " Is it 

 pos-si-ble !" replied we to our informant, with 

 the interesting gravity of a Janus. 



Two days subsequently — a most " remark- 

 able " circumstance — we were apprised of the 

 very same number of equally mysterious 

 " deaths." A cat is now regarded in our 

 parish as " a curiosity." Long may it con- 

 tinue such ! We hate the race. 



* The carte, or hill of fare, was too choice not 

 to he preserved. We have a " copy " of it, and 

 it shall appear in a future chapter, under the head 

 " Yerrnin." It should be, and no doubt will be, 

 highly prized ; for many a recipe, of not one-quarter 

 its value, is usually charged a guinea. 



CURIOUS FACTS IN NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE HERRING GULL, AND THE 

 HEDGEHOG. 



We hate just received the "Naturalist," 

 No. 24, whose able editor, Dr. Morris, brings 

 under our notice from month to month a 

 multitude of interesting facts. We have 

 before said so much in praise of this period- 

 ical, that anything further in that way would 

 be detrop. We rather seek to prove its merit 

 by offering from its vast stores one or two 

 extracts. The first is from the pen of George 



