KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



245 



of his excellence, and lie will vie with any 

 song bird twice his size. With crest erect, 

 you will observe him bid defiance even to a 

 nightingale. He soon ceases to regret the 

 loss of his liberty, when he has a kind master 

 or mistress; and you will find him quite 

 " one of the family " in his expectations. 

 He courts homage; and woe be to you, if you 

 fall short in paying him due respect. He 

 will resent it by " silent" contempt. 



In purchasing your birds, select young 

 " branchers," clean moulted, [in preference to 

 old birds. The latter are apt to be sulky, 

 wild, and fractious. In August, you will 

 procure them readily. The sooner they are 

 caged, and domesticated, the better on every 

 account. 



We will only add, that if you woo these 

 charming little rogues in the way they ought 

 to be wooed, they will soon love you most 

 tenderly. They will take their food from 

 your hand most affectionately, at all times ; 

 and lavish on you those numerous unmis- 

 takeable endearments in which we all so 

 greatly delight, 



SURAL KOTES— Ho. II. 



MONTGOMERY— NORTH WALES. 



Br John Matthew Jones. 

 (of the Middle Temple) 



" Come now to the forest, for Autumn is there, 

 She is painting its millions of leaves— 

 With colors so varied, so rich, and so rare, 

 That the eye scarce her cunning believes : 

 She tinges and changes each leaf o'er and o'er, 

 Nor flings it to earth 'till 'twill vary no more." 



Summer has left us ; the Autumn is fast 

 passing away, and Winter is near at hand. The 

 thermometer this morning stands at 52 degrees. 

 The woods have begun to put on their autumnal 

 tint. The poplar is already denuded of leaves ; 

 and the ash, elm, and sycamore, will soon 

 follow. 



In the " Butcher's Nursery " (a very large 

 wood close to the town), the squirrels are daily 

 amusing themselves on the pendant branches of 

 the beech trees. It is a very pretty sight to sit 

 and watch the manoeuvres of these interesting 

 little animals. At times you may see one hang- 

 ing at the very extremity of a twig, and busily 

 occupied in procuring masts; and others again 

 sitting upright on some of the topmost branches, 

 holding beech masts in their fore paws, and 

 munching away at a great rate; their little ears 

 pricked up and their tails curling over their 

 heads, presenting a sight — to an enthusiastic 

 naturalist — delightful to behold. 



In this part of England, the squirrel is seen to 

 great advantage; the immense woods, which 

 clothe the hill sides, offering him a safe and 

 secure harbor. Here no idle men assemble to 

 molest God's creatures; and save now and then 

 some truant boys, the whole of this country is 



left in repose for the different kinds of animals 

 to continue their species. In the " Butcher's 

 Nursery " may be seen many other kinds of 

 animals; the hare, Aveasel, shrew, and field- 

 mouse, abound; as do also the wood-pigeon, 

 green woodpecker, thrush, blackbird, greater tit- 

 mouse, tomtit, long-tailed tit, lesser titmouse, 

 common, and 'golden-crested wren, and creeper; 

 and they may be seen every day. 



The titmice, golden-crested wrens, and creep- 

 ers, always keep in company; and are generally 

 to be found at the top of the wood among the 

 larch trees, busily engaged searching about 

 the branches for insects. The wood-pigeon 

 frequents the large beech trees ; and if you creep 

 silently along, you may gain a sight of him 

 sitting on one of the topmost branches, preening 

 himself in the sunshine. This bird consumes an 

 immense quantity of beech masts, and I am sorry 

 to mention the fact (lest any morose old farmer 

 should get hold of this number of " Kmr/s 

 own "), that he also gets through a fair share of 

 wheat. I very rarely kill one of these birds, 

 without finding many wheat seeds in his crop; 

 but, poor fellow! he amply repays the small 

 injury he docs by his evening " coo," and 



" Breathes there a man with soul so dead" 



who would not pause to listen to the sweet soft 

 note of this pretty bird? 



Eor two or three days last week not a martin 

 was to be seen, and I really thought they had 

 left us ; but yesterday I saw a great number of 

 them sailing about as usual. I was surprised 

 the other morning upon waking, to hear a great 

 fluttering in my bedroom-chimney; and pre- 

 sently down came a martin, and immediately 

 flew on the top of a bookcase, where he stayed 

 for some short time, putting his plumage to 

 rights after his exploring expedition. He then 

 began to fly about the room, every now and then 

 picking a fly from the ceiling ; he always returned 

 to his post on the bookcase. The robin sings 

 very loudly in the mornings and evenings; a 

 sure indication that cold weather is at hand. We 

 have a great quantity of wasp3 this Autumn, 

 and it is impossible to pick up an apple or pear 

 without finding two or three of these gentlemen 

 inside ; it therefore behoves people to look — not 

 before they leap, but — before they take a bite. 

 I never recollect a better year than this has been, 

 for all kinds of fruit ; the apple trees are literally 

 groaning under their weighty burdens. 



On frosty evenings the barn-owls may be 

 heard in all directions : there are two or three 

 about the " Treethe," a like number in the 

 " Butcher's Nursery," and two about the " Old 

 Castle." Eirst one cries, then another will 

 answer him; and so on. I was much pleased 

 the other day upon paying a visit to Broadway 

 Hall (about five miles from hence), to see this 

 owl sailing round about the house without dis- 

 playing the least fear. The kind owner of this 

 pretty spot never allows the birds to be molested ; 

 and they plainly show the benefit of such protec- 

 tion, by coming upon the lawn close up to the 

 windows, and feeding upon the worms and in- 

 sects. Among the number, I noticed the black- 

 bird, and the yellow wagtail ; the latter in par- 

 ticular looked very pretty as he ran about the 



