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KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



extreme. In beetles we have the Calosoma inquisi- 

 tor, Adhelocnenia nubila, Toxotus meridianus; 

 all from the Oak: in June, the first abundant. In 

 July, Goroninus nobilis; Rhagium bifasiatum; and 

 numerous others. In Lepidoptera, in July, we 

 have the Rose wing, (Callimorpha rosea,) the 

 Wood White Leucophasia sinapis. I could go on 

 enumerating the species, but I must conclude. I 

 have already encroached too much on the space 

 of your delightful Journal, which cannot be 

 spoken of too highly; and which, as opportunity 

 occurs, every lover of nature ought to recommend. 

 Our ramble we pleasantly concluded, by returning 

 across the fields; many of which were beautifully 

 ornamented by waving forests of wheat. Theirs 

 was indeed a land of promise. I hope it may be 

 fulfilled! — A Lover of Nature. 



Love and Friendship. — In these two words, 

 Mr. Editor, as applied to animals, is there not 

 much difference? I have had an argument 

 about it, and my opponent says there is no dif- 

 ference. She will have it that these nice dis- 

 tinctions do not exist in the lower world. What 

 say you? — Floretta. 



[You are right, Floretta; your adversary is 

 wrong. There is as much difference between 

 the two words, as applied to the lower world, 

 as to the higher. Friendship is often indifferent ; 

 hollow — It is one-sided. A friend may become 

 an enemy. How often this happens! But love 

 is imperishable. Damp it, it rises with a burning 

 flame. Quench it — if you can! Our love of 

 animals, and our experience with them, enable 

 us to " talk like a book." We " value " friend- 

 ship, where we find it. When we love, our fate 

 is'sealed. The object loved and ourselves are 

 one in essence — uneasy apart. A little word, in 

 your little ear, Floretta: — 



" Love is a passion that endureth, 

 Which neither time nor absence cureth; 

 Which nought of earthly change can sever — 

 Love is the light that shines for ever. 

 Its chain of gold, what hand can break it? 

 Its deathless hold, what force can shake it? 

 Mere passion things of earth may sever, 

 But hearts that love — love on for ever." 



Show our " confession of faith" to your opponent; 

 and if she dissents, tell her, Miss Floretta, she 

 has yet much to learn.] 



How to Rear young Sky-Larks. — I have three 

 young sky-larks, Mr. Editor, just fledged. How 

 shall I tend tbem? How shall I feed them? I 

 look to you for chapter and verse. — Maria J. 



[Young larks are difficult to rear. They are 

 peculiarly liable to cramp. Procure a long cage 

 with a wooden tray in it. The cage need not be 

 very wide, but it must be long, to enable the 

 larks to have a good run. Cover the bottom 

 with plenty of red, gravelly sand ; and place the 

 cage in the sun. Water must not be given in- 

 side, lest the sand should become damp. Mix 

 some crushed rape and hempseed, scalded, with 

 some crumb of bread, also scalded. Squeeze out 

 the water till the mass becomes only moderately 

 moist. Then at the 'end of a pointed stick ad- 

 minister some of this to the birds. They will soon 

 learn to peck at jit, and quickly feed themselves. 



A little piece of raw, lean rump-steak, cut up 

 finely in the food, will bring them nicely for- 

 ward. They may be caged off when six weeks 

 old. Their regular diet of Clifford's German 

 paste, and sponge cake, may be commenced when 

 they are nearly two months old. Till then, yolk 

 of egg and stale crumb of bread had better be 

 given them. All their food must be quite fresh, 

 particularly when they are young. This is abso- 

 lutely needful. Of course you will provide your- 

 self with meal worms, and give them one daily. 

 When young, let a little water dribble from the 

 end of your finger into each bird's mouth. It is 

 requisite, to assist in the proper digestion of their 

 food.] 



Singularly-marked Mice. — Dear Mr. Editor, — 

 About two years since, I had the pleasure of an 

 interview with Mr. Sarsfield Gray, owner of a 

 farm on the outskirts of the Forest of Dean, and 

 very near to Coleford. Previous to this in- 

 terview I had seen a letter of his (written two 

 years antecedent), in which he said — " I had a 

 wheat-rick removed last week to one of my 

 barns. On this occasion, although I was very ill 

 at the time, I was speedily sent for to see the 

 mice that abounded in the. rick. Their numbers 

 were incredible. Hundreds and hundreds were 

 killed by the dogs; and some few I had cap- 

 tured for myself, considering them, as I did, 

 no less remarkable than they were beautiful. 

 They were all white, spotted with brown, — the 

 color of a dormouse, very small, and of the 

 usual form. To my extreme mortification, I 

 found on the following morning that my little 

 captives had eaten a hole through the box in 

 which they were confined, and made their 

 escape. I had set my heart upon keeping these 

 pretty animals; and the disappointment I feel is 

 the greater, because, since then until the present 

 moment (nine days), not one more has been 

 seen." — I should tell you, Mr. Editor, that 

 neither Mr. Gray nor any of his men had ever 

 before seen any mice at all resembling those in 

 question. Mr. Gray imagined, perhaps cor- 

 rectly, that they might have been the produce of a 

 cross between the white mouse and the dormouse. 

 Have any of your readers ever met with mice of 

 a similar kind? — Muscipula, Frome. 



[We think the surmise about "the cross" is 

 founded in reason, — the more so, as neither Gil- 

 bert White, nor any other naturalist, makes men- 

 tion of any mouse of the kind herein described.] 



How to disperse Rats and Mice. — Are you 

 aware, Mr. Editor, that a plant which grows in 

 abundance in the field, the Dog's Tongue (the 

 Cynoglossum officinale of Linneeus), has been 

 found to possess a very valuable quality? If 

 gathered at the period when the sap is in its 

 full vigor, bruised with a hammer, and laid in a 

 house, barn, or granary, or any other place fre- 

 quented by rats and mice, these destructive 

 animals immediately shift their quarters. The 

 remedy is very simple, and well worth a trial; as 

 such I send it to the Public's own Journal. — 

 Rusticus. 



Birds in Confinement.— Last month, Mr. 

 Editor, you deprecated the practice of taking 

 the nests of the nightingale. May I say a few 



