the Germans only, had them, and perpetuated 

 the breed? There is something about this that 

 I cannot well comprehend. — J. P., Athlone. 



Vermin in Canaries. — I have ten canaries, Mr. 

 Editor, in a large cage. They are infested with 

 vermin. How shall I cure them? They are so 

 restless and fidgetty, that they will not sit quiet 

 on their perches a moment, but dash frantically 

 about their cage, as if in distress. — Y. A. K. 



f If you had read our Journal regularly, you 

 would therein have found many and very minute 

 instructions about the great evil of which you 

 complain. It is not too late to read them now. 

 You must destroy the cage, and get a new one; 

 and carefully remove from the bodies of each one 

 of your birds (with the point of a fine needle) the 

 insects which are feasting on them unseen.] 



Diseased Fowls. — My fowls, Mr. Editor, par- 

 ticularly my bantams, are dropping off one by 

 one. Some from influenza, some from consump- 

 tion. Those suffering from the former, have 

 their eyes sealed up with tears, and are consumed 

 with a burning thirst; the latter refuse all kinds 

 of temnting food, and die of starvation. What 

 can I do?— Y. A. K. 



[We could answer you more satisfactorily, did 

 we know the kind of place your fowls are located 

 in. You must immediately separate the infected 

 from the healthy, and keep them apart. If the 

 former are very bad, use the knife and put them 

 out of their misery at once. If slightly injured, 

 bathe their eyes with warm milk and water, 

 applied with a soft linen rag ; and be sure to keep 

 them warm. Cleanliness, plenty of water, and 

 wholesome food, are indispensable. Try your 

 consumptive birds with boiled rice, given warm ; 

 and if you can, let them have the run of a pad- 

 dock. At this season, fowls are liable to atrophy 

 and influenza; and they require much careful 

 attention to preserve them in health. Ours are 

 always hearty — simply because we give them a 

 change of diet; and keep them warm, dry, and 

 clean. Boiled potatoes (warm), and bread 

 soaked in boiled milk, form an agreeable variety 



— but pray keep the sound from the wrcsound.] 



Flower Bulbs. — Much judgment should be 

 shown in purchasing. Bulbs should not be se- 

 lected for their size, but for their weight and 

 solidity; a small bulb that is heavy and firm, 

 especially about the point of growth, will pro- 

 duce a much finer flower than one double the 

 size, but soft and scaly ; and hence it is not 

 right to estimate them by their size, so much as 

 by their weight and proper maturation. If you 

 purchase early in the season, the bulbs must be 

 kept cool and in the dark ; and if you wish to 

 have good flowers, avoid those which have been 

 exposed in the windows of seedsmen and florists, 



— W. P. Ayres, Blackheath. 



The Woodpecker. — Dear Mr. Editor, — I have 

 just been reading " Audubon's Ornithological 

 Biography" (a most interesting book); and in it 

 I find some very pleasing notes on the Wood- 

 pecker. I send them for insertion in Our 

 Journal — " While in the Great Pine Forest of 

 Pennsylvania, I was surprised to see how differ- 



ently this bird worked on the bark of different 

 trees when searching for its food. On the hem- 

 lock and spruce, for example, of which the bark 

 is difficult to be detached, it used the bill side- 

 ways, hitting the bark in an oblique direction, 

 and proceeding in close parallel lines, so that 

 when, after a while, a piece of the bark was 

 loosened and broken off by a side-stroke, the 

 surface of the trunk appeared as if closely 

 grooved by a carpenter using a gouge. In this 

 manner the pileated woodpecker often, in that 

 country, strips the entire trunks of the largest 

 trees. On the contrary, when it attacked any 

 other sort of timber, it pelted at the bark in a 

 straightforward manner, detaching a large piece 

 by a few strokes, and leaving the trunks smooth, 

 no injury having been inflicted upon it by the 

 bill. This bird, when surprised, is subject to 

 very singular and astonishing fits of terror. 

 While in Louisiana, I have several times crept 

 up to one occupied in searching for food on the 

 rotten parts of a low stump, only a few inches 

 from the ground, when, having got so near the 

 tree as almost to touch it, I have taken my cap 

 and suddenly struck the stump as if with the in- 

 tention of securing the bird, on which the latter 

 instantly seemed to lose all power or presgnce of 

 mind, and fell to the ground as if dead. On such 

 occasions, if not immediately secured, it soon 

 recovers, and flies off with more than its usual 

 speed. When surprised while feeding on a tree, 

 they now and then attempt to save themselves by 

 turning round the trunk or branches, and do not 

 fly away unless two persons be present, well 

 knowing, it would seem, that flying is not always 

 a sure means of escape. If wounded without 

 falling, it mounts at once to the highest fork of 

 the tree, where it squats and remains in silence. 

 It is then very difficult to kill it, and sometimes 

 when shot dead it clings so firmly to the bark 

 that it may remain hanging for hours. When 

 winged and brought to the ground, it cries 

 loudly on the approach of the enemy, and essays 

 to escape by every means in its power, often in- 

 flicting a severe wound if incautiously seized." 

 The instincts of animals are indeed remarkable, 

 and their habits not less so. — Nannette. 



Instinct of the Partridge. — I send you the fol- 

 lowing, which recently appeared in our " Chester 

 Courant." I have made inquiry, and find the 

 statement to be minutely correct. I therefore 

 feel anxious to see it recorded in Our Journal. 

 A few miles from this city may be witnessed a 

 remarkable instance of that strong instinct, ap- 

 proaching, in some instances, to human reason, 

 with which nature has endowed the lower orders 

 of the animal creation for the production and 

 rearing of their young; and which often, when 

 surrounded by their progeny, calls forth a 

 courage quite foreign to their nature. On the 

 side of the embankment of the Chester and 

 Crewe Railway (where trains are of course fre- 

 quently passing), some 200 yards above Beeston 

 station, a partridge has made her nest, and is 

 now sitting on her eggs, which are evidently near 

 incubation. The grass upon this embankment 

 was last week mowed for hay, when so far from 

 being disturbed by the operation of hay-making, 

 the partridge continued to sit on her eggs quite 



