KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



157 



with birds as with ourselves — air, exercise, 

 temperance, and proper diet, will " pull us 

 through " to a good old age. 



ANECDOTE OF THE SOBIN. 



The t amen ess of this lovely fellow is 

 proverbial. His love for mankind is ex- 

 cessive. Some few people appreciate this ; 

 but far more, we are sorry to say, do not. 

 In our own neighborhood, to the right and 

 to the left, is every member of his* family 

 that ventures beyond the precincts of our 

 grounds, levelled by a hollow tube. We 

 remonstrate, but are ridiculed. The same 

 fate attends the blackbird and the thrush ; 

 indeed, our neighbors are a very savage lot. 

 But not ours only. The practice is but too 

 general. 



One would think that the sight of a poor 

 little shivering bird, applying plaintively at 

 the window for the share of a crust, or the 

 shakings of a table-cloth, would appeal, at 

 this cold season, to the heart ! It does ! 

 " Wait there a minute or two, 11 says Charity, 

 " and Fll give you something. 11 The little 

 visitor sees a bustle — anticipates relief, and, 

 in a moment, either lies weltering in his 

 blood, or is blown to atoms. A hoarse laugh 

 rings in his dying ears. Man ! thou art a 

 barbarian. 



The joys WE have had, during the in- 

 clement season, whilst shielding the various 

 members of the feathered tribe from harm, 

 and feeding them at our window, none can 

 imagine. The gratitude, too, and confidence 

 of our little friends, (eating from our hand, 

 and singing the while) — are not such proofs 

 of love better than a kingdom ? Truly, yes. 

 We think so, at least. 



This little preamble reminds us, that our 

 heading refers to an anecdote in the last 

 number of the Naturalist, from whose rich 

 stores we can today make only this one 

 selection. The anecdole is given on the 

 authority of Mrs. Murchison, of Bicester. 

 We are puzzled, we confess, about the tail 

 feathers ; and surmise there must be some 

 little " mistake 11 about this. Still the " facts 11 

 are the same : — 



A few years since, the winter set in very severe 

 with deep snow. It was my custom to open my 

 chamber window every morning as soon as I rose, 

 and leave the door open into the dressing-room, 

 which communicated with it. One morning I 

 perceived, on the top of the door, a Robin, which 

 had entered through the window ; after sitting 

 there a short time twittering, he ventured to 

 descend into the dressing-room, and by my great 

 care in avoiding any sudden noise or movement 

 that might alarm him, he soon became so tame 

 as to hop fearlessly about the room. Gradually 

 he approached the fire, and I feared he would fly 

 into it. I watched him narrowly ; he first settled 



on the fender, from thenco hopped upon one of 

 the logs of wood within it, where he remained till 

 sufficiently warmed, turning himself round, as if 

 to warcn every part, and then returned to his 

 amusement of hopping about the room, picking 

 up crumbs, etc. 



It is almost incredible how soon and entirely 

 he became perfectly tame. At that time I break- 

 fasted in my dressing-room ; and as soon as the 

 breakfast appeared, he hopped on the back of the 

 sofa, from thence to the table, where he helped 

 himself, and once burnt his bill by his curiosity to 

 taste some coffee which was too hot, and appeared, 

 for a few minutes, very angry. He took crumbs 

 from my hand, but preferred helping him- 

 self out of the plate ; and that with so much 

 assurance and familiarity, that I was fearful of 

 using a knife lest I should inadvertently injure 

 him. He hopped over the children's feet when 

 they walked across the room ; invariably took his 

 station on the sofa , and sung the whole time they 

 were repeating their lessons ; but in a much lower 

 and softer tone than the natural wild note of the 

 Robin, which is very loud and powerful for so 

 small a bird. Every day, when one of them who 

 learnt music was practising, he perched upon 

 the cross-bar at the top of the desk, which was 

 higher than the music-book; and seemed to enjoy 

 the music. 



At length he became so perfectly domesticated 

 that his presence was almost forgotten by us, and 

 our only care was to avoid treading on him. He 

 frequently perched on my head or shoulders, and 

 constantly on the back of the sofa, close to my 

 elbow. He was much enraged when a looking-glass 

 was placed before him, and pecked so furiously at 

 his imaginary antagonist, that I was sometimes 

 fearful he would injure his bill — sometimes peep- 

 ing behind it like a kitten. From his first visit 

 to my dressing-room, he never missed a single 

 morning in making his appearance on the top of 

 the door, the moment that the window was 

 opened ; he was so punctual to the same hour, that 

 when once or twice this was done later than usual, 

 I have known him peck at the glass on the out- 

 side for admission, and when the window was 

 opened, he coolly waited on the outside and flew 

 in directly without being at all alarmed at the 

 noise. He never would sleep in the house, but 

 regularly every afternoon, as soon as it drew near 

 his bed -time — before which time my door and 

 window were usually shut — he flew against the 

 dressing-room window, and pecked at it till it was 

 opened for him. 



I was anxious to know where he passed the 

 nights in such inclement weather; and desiring 

 the servants to watch, I found that he always 

 retired into a large bottle-neck which stood in a 

 court adjoining the house. He had by some 

 accident entirely lost the feathers of his tail, and 

 being in good case, was nearly as round as a 

 ball. He did not leave me till the cold weather 

 was over ; and during the winter months that he 

 took shelter in my room, I never missed him a 

 single day. With the first days of spring he left 

 me, and entirely discontinued his daily visits ; but 

 I was not a little surprised to find that the 

 identical Robin, (as we ascertained both by his 

 extraordinary tameness and the loss of his tail,) 

 after having assisted in rearing a young family, 



