58 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



Where on the mingling boughs they sit em- 

 bower' d, 

 All the hot noon, till cooler hours arise. 

 Faint, underneath, the household fowls convene, 

 And in a corner of the buzzing shade, 

 The house-dog, with the vacant greyhound lies, 

 Outstretch'd and sleepy. In his slumbers, one 

 Attacks the nightly thief; and one exults 

 O'er hill and dale, till, wakened by the wasp, 

 They starting snap. 



We have left ourselves no room to say 

 aught about flowers. However, there are 

 plenty of these left to refresh us with their 

 aromatic incense, particularly the white lily, 

 {lilium candidum), the sweet pea, and 

 others ; also roses and honeysuckles in 

 abundant variety. Those who love wild 

 flowers, must away to the heaths and the 

 woods. The dry elastic turf is now richly 

 glowing, not only with crimson heath-bells, 

 but with flowers of the wild thyme, the 

 clear blue milkwort, the yellow asphodel, 

 and that curious plant the sundew, with its 

 drops of inexhaustible liquor sparkling in 

 the fiercest sun like diamonds. 



Let us enjoy all these Summer dainties 

 while we may ; for such pleasures, like our 

 lives, are evanescent. Some creatures are 

 born and die the same day ! 



Poor insect ! what a little day 



Of insect bliss is thine ! 

 And yet thou spread's;; thy light wings gay, 



And bid'st them, spreading, shine. 



Thou humm'st thy short and busy tune, 



Unmindful of the blast ; 

 Not caring, while 'tis burning noon, 



How quick that noon be past ! 



A shower would lay thy beauty low, 



A dew of twilight be 

 The torrent of thy overthrow, 



Thy storm of destiny ! 



Then spread thy little shining wing; 



Hum on thy busy lay ! 

 For Man, like thee, has but his " Spring," 



Like thine, it fades away! 



ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE. 



Avidavats in Aviaries. — Dear Mr. Editor, I 

 beg to apologise through you, to your fair Cor- 

 respondent " M. R.", who at page 313, Vol. I., 

 inquires so anxiously about the nests of Avi- 

 davats. The truth is, I have been so constantly 

 occupied in preparing my pupils for their exa- 

 mination, that until now I have not been able to 

 find a moment of leisure. I have had two nests 

 built by these beautiful and interesting little 

 birds; the materials used in both cases being 

 hay, with a few feathers to line the inside. The 

 last nest was built in a furze bush, which I had 

 placed in one corner of my Conservatory; 

 having removed my avidavats (seven in number) 

 from the aviary, in consequence of the destruc- 

 tion by the larger birds of the first nest. The 

 nest in the conservatory is admirably con- 

 structed. It is almost like a globe, with a small 



aperture for an entrance; the approach being 

 laid with hay, three inches wide by seven inches 

 long. The hay is no doubt intended for the 

 protection of their children's feet from the sharp 

 points of the furze. Unfortunately, the two male 

 birds became unfriendly and quarrelled. The 

 consequence was, that the female, after laying her 

 eggs, was so much injured, during one of the con- 

 tests, that she died. I have since separated 

 the combatants in the hope of their forming new 

 alliances; for I am really anxious to be suc- 

 cessful in my experiments with them, and long 

 to see some young ones hatched and reared. By 

 the by, I should tell you that both nests were 

 built by the male birds. This is curious, for in 

 the general way, the nest is constructed by the 

 division of labor. — H. B. Bingham, College of 

 the Deaf and Dumb, Rugby, 



Ants and Fairy Rings.— I am much obliged 

 to your Correspondent " Francis Myles " for 

 the information he has given me about Fairy 

 Rings. Will he, or any other of your observant 

 readers, further oblige me, by saying why it is 

 that these rings are so densely populated with 

 ants? Last year, our garden was visited by 

 numbers of people, curious to witness the 

 myriads of these little creatures which were 

 traversing the rings; and this year, even the 

 smallest of the rings is so swarming with the 

 same visitors, that if any one were to be seated 

 near them he would soon be obliged to beat a 

 retreat. Our lawn is literally " alive." — F. Gr. 



Roses, a Freak of Nature. — A Journal like 

 yours (may I not say Ours?), Mr. Editor, no 

 doubt numbers among its many readers some few 

 who can assist me in a curious case of difficulty. 

 I want to know, why it is that two or more buds 

 from one single branch of a rose tree, when 

 placed in the stock of a common wild briar, 

 occasionally produce, on the same stock, two 

 roses differing in color, growth, foliage, and wood? 

 Just such a tree have I before me now. The buds 

 were gathered by myself, and no other person 

 has in any way interfered with the tree. The 

 stock, let me remark, had never been budded 

 into before. One rose is a deep, vivid red ; the 

 other a very pale pink. This has been the case 

 for five years. — W. Markham. 



Tricks of Canaries when Breeding. — I am in 

 sad trouble, Mr. Editor, about my canaries. The 

 other day I had four young ones hatched. They 

 lived a few days , and then died; I imagine, from 

 suffocation by the mother. [Where was the 

 male? Did he assist in feeding, or had you re-* 

 moved him? If you took him away, you did 

 wrong. The accident might arise from the mother 

 being too young and inexperienced, or from the 

 heat being too great.] A few days previously, 

 one egg out of five was hatched. I examined 

 the other four. Three were good, but the young 

 were dead — the fourth was addled. The young 

 one has since died. It was just ten days old. 

 How is this?— C. G. 



[We imagine that your birds are either badly 

 matched, or that you pry too closely into their 

 movements. In the ordinary way of nature, 

 these things seldom occur, if the birds are left to 



