78 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



up by the earliest hues of morning. The horizon 

 on the north-east was at that hour tinted with a 

 beautiful reddish orange, which color, as it rose 

 upwards a few degrees, gradually resolved itself 

 into a delicate yellowish green; this last again 

 into a deep sapphire blue, as it neared the zenith. 

 Every tree, hedge, and building stood darkly out; 

 and the distant hills of Hampstead and High- 

 gate, topped by the spires of their churches, were 

 apparently in the near distance, in strong relief 

 to the clear warm sky. The opposite side of the 

 landscape presented a quite different appearance. 

 Though beautifully clear, excepting in two spots 

 which added to the interest and beauty of the 

 scene, the whole lay under a cold, grey sky, 

 untouched by the warm sun of the opposite side 

 of the heavens. The places alluded to were two 

 meadows, separated from each other by thickset 

 hedges. From one, where the hay had been 

 newly gathered, arose a vapor so slightly above 

 the surface of the ground, as to give the 

 semblance of a covering of hoar frost. From 

 the other arose a mist, which as it curled up- 

 wards, presented the appearance of a vast lake, 

 hemmed in by trees and hedges. In the ad- 

 joining fields, where no apparent evaporation was 

 passing off, my eye fell on cows and oxen 

 grazing, or ruminating under the cool, grey light 

 of morning. I will only add, that the pretty 

 village of Acton, and the distant spire of Ealing 

 new church, with the plantations around the 

 mansions of Baron Rothschild and Lieutenant 

 Heald, invested the morning's dawn with a 

 beauty of surpassing grandeur. Let me hope I 

 shall be the means of inducing some of your 

 readers, if not all, to rise early and view for them- 

 selves that which I have endeavored so faintly 

 to describe. — William Spooner, New Road, 

 Hammersmith. 



Wood Pigeons. — I have some young wood 

 pigeons. They were taken from the nest before 

 they were fledged. Their food has been bread 

 and milk, and soaked split peas. For a season 

 they thrived well ; but now cannot stand at all. 

 One side is paralysed, and they can only move 

 by the aid of their wings. — J. Gr., Dorchester. 



[They have been seized with cramp. Place 

 them on dry sand, and let them bask in the sun. 

 Feed now with tares, soaked, and sprinkled 

 with salt.] 



Distemper in Dogs. — I have seen, Mr. Editor, 

 what you say in reply to my complaint. It so 

 - happens that I do read your Journal. If you 

 had not been able to give me any reply to my 

 question, you ought to have destroyed my letter, 

 or at least you should have appended to it some 

 reference to a place where the information I 

 sought might be found, — Cocoa, Acton. 



[Your inquiry, Mademoiselle, was a peculiar 

 one. Not being able to answer it ourselves, we 

 gave you the benefit of our large circulation, in 

 the hope that some of our readers might afford 

 you the information which we could not. We 

 printed your note, and all replies having reference 

 thereto. We did not receive either your name 

 or your address; consequently we could not 

 write to you privately. Had we destroyed your 

 letter, we imagine we should have been wanting 



in courtesy. We observe that you are very 

 wroth with us. It is a solitary case. We are 

 sorry you have turned your back upon us; but 

 we really cannot plead guilty to any intentional 

 offence. We have another fair correspondent at 

 Acton, who has treated us in a manner widely 

 different. She wrote to us with real name and 

 address. We inserted her letter ; and we received 

 in return a vote of grateful thanks. A number 

 of replies, bearing on the inquiry made, poured 

 in, and the end was answered. What can we 

 more?] 



THE WONDERFUL BIEDS 



OF 



MADEMOISELLE VANDERMEERSCH. 



We have just had an opportunity of wit- 

 nessing the celebrated troupe of birds, whose 

 performances under the command of Made- 

 moiselle Emilie Vandermeersch have ex- 

 cited so much surprise and admiration. 



We must not for one moment confound 

 this intellectual passe temps with the " happy 

 families" and other groups of domesticated 

 animals, whose obedience has been the 

 result of cruelty, and whose actions are re • 

 gulated by fear. This is altogether a dif- 

 ferent subject. It is the mind acting upon 

 the mind. 



All who have read carefully our transla- 

 tion of the Works of Gall — that portion 

 which appears in our Journal of to-day in 

 particular — will be well able to comprehend 

 the mode of action pursued by Madlle. 

 Vandermeersch in the education of her 

 birds. She well knows their peculiar in- 

 stincts ; and knowing them, has turned her 

 knowledge to good account. She cannot 

 explain, neither can we, in so many words, 

 how the birds are taught ; but it is plainly 

 evident there is a sympathy, a tacit under- 

 standing between the teacher and her pupils. 

 W 7 e have done the same thing ourselves, on 

 a smaller scale. We have taught a wild 

 robin to come to us at command ; to sit on our 

 nose, lie passive in our hand, allow himself 

 to be taken up at will, played with in the 

 presence of strangers in our garden ; and to 

 domesticate himself for more than two years 

 in our house — entering and departing just as 

 suited him. We know how we did it, but 

 we cannot tell others. Madlle. V. alsb 

 knows how she has worked the charm, and 

 she cannot explain it. Suffice it to say, that 

 affection, not cruelty has been the main- 

 spring of action. Now affection will conquer 

 anything, everything, and everybody. 



We may here observe that Madlle. Emilie 

 is a most lovely woman ; young, innocent, 

 beautiful, and fascinating. What an eye- 

 brow ! and what an arch smile ! If her birds 

 did not do the bidding of such a sweet en- 

 chantress as she is, they would deserve to 

 have their necks wrung. They know by 



