when lie was most loved. Ranging one clay 

 through the house, he passed into the room 

 adjoining the conservatory; the window of 

 the latter chanced to be open, and my pet 

 chanced to fly out ! In the dieting of this bird, 

 I observed that lie was most fond of raw 

 scraped beef and egg made into a paste. 

 Sheep's heart and egg (as recommended by 

 some), he cared little about ; mutton he 

 would not eat. 



Now let me tell you about my Thrush, 

 which I rescued from some cruel boys, ere 

 he was well fledged. This bird was of a sin- 

 gular habit, and by no means so tame as 

 some of his tribe. Neither was he of a happy 

 disposition. At night, in particular, he was 

 very restless, very lidgetty. lie would never 

 sit quietly on his perch, but was incessantly 

 hopping up and down his cage. Perhaps 

 these bad habits were hereditary ? [We 

 think it more than likely ; for we have known 

 several birds from one particular nest, ex- 

 hibit similar "hereditary" propensities. 

 Some birds can never be tamed. They were 

 born wild, they live wild, they die wild.] 

 This bird lived many years with us, singing 

 most beautifully all the autumn and winter. 

 In the spring, however, he was overpower- 

 ingly loud ; and we found it impossible to 

 have him suspended in a room. 



As you have borne with me politely thus 

 far, I will now only draw on your patience 

 for a few minutes longer, while I speak of 

 your own pet — the Robin. These little 

 darlings — are they not most loveable? [Indeed 

 are they. When we are cliez nous, we live 

 with them, and they with us. We are never, 

 scarcely, out of their society. They sing to 

 us, walk with us, run with us, all but talk to 

 us. Oh ! we do love the rogues dearly !] 

 And observe, Mr. Editor, they are not 

 always invited guests. In the first instance, 

 they invite themselves. Do they not seem 

 intuitively to know that they are welcome ? 

 And do they not presume upon that know- 

 ledge, to come in and out of your house just 

 when they will? [This is their true cha- 

 racter, their invariable course of action 

 where they find a welcome ; but there are, 

 even in our own neighborhood, many people 

 who hate birds, and shoot robins ! The 

 gardens of these people are perfectly free 

 from our little visitors. With us, they seem 

 to take shelter in perfect confidence, and in 

 large numbers.] Of these " voluntary " 

 visitors, Mr. Editor, I have had no end. 

 Winter brings them regularly to their old 

 quarters, and very rarely do they desert a 

 friend. 



Even at the sea* side, where there is 

 scarcely a bush to shelter them, a robin 

 once found out our green-house, and used 

 to come in, every evening, to roost. When 

 the west wind blew so strong as to pre- 



vent the green-house door being opened 

 for him, he would fly round to the opposite 

 side of the house, and attract attention by 

 a peculiar twit, or rapid utterance of a short 

 but loud song. This always caused the 

 window to be opened ; he would then fly 

 in, pass through the drawing-room, and 

 make his way direct to the green-house. 



Last Spring we had a robin, which lived 

 almost entirely in the house. Our window 

 was usually left open at night for him, to 

 enter. If, by chance, it was not left open, 

 Mr. Bob would come and tap loudly on the 

 glass with his beak, and flutter to get in, 

 until some one of the family came to his 

 friendly aid. How often have we all been 

 amused to see him, on his entrance, fly direct 

 to the chimney glass ! Here he would sit, 

 attitudinise, and fight his shadow — till he was 

 tired out ! 



Once, after a short absence from home, we 

 missed him. We took it for granted that he 

 was killed, from the fact of our finding a dead 

 robin in the garden. [There is no doubt this 

 bird was the victim of jealousy. So jealous 

 are these birds Cone and all), that they live in 

 constant fear of each other. We have been 

 playing with certain tame robins in our own 

 garden, when others were aloft on the trees, 

 watching us. On several occasions, these 

 last have darted suddenly down, and struck 

 our pets violently on the head with their 

 strong legs, to their great injury.] We sadly 

 grieved about the loss of this dear little bird, 

 as you may suppose. 



Robins are so naturally tame and confiding, 

 that I much prefer them to all other " wild " 

 birds. They so soon make themselves at 

 home with you, and so cheerfully enliven you 

 with a song ! The robins that visit us, regu- 

 larly return to roost on a particular picture ; 

 and look for their little bit of sponge-cake 

 and butter as regularly as possible, ever after 

 their first visit. 



Commend me to the company of these de- 

 lightful little visitors, Mr. Editor, say I. 

 Harmless themselves, they teach us many a 

 lesson that we should all do well to profit by. 



Jane M. S. J. 



[Our fair correspondent is very right in 

 directing attention to the Siskin. We shall 

 have a good deal to say about this pretty 

 little creature, at a fitting opportunity. In 

 one of our early numbers (seeVol. I., p. 101), 

 a correspondent gave a long and very inte- 

 resting account of the Siskin in Scotland. It 

 is well worth a perusal. 



We shall be glad to receive more " Notes 

 on Birds" from the same source as the fore- 

 going. The writer evidently enjoys the 

 society of her little friends; and her remarks 

 about their winning ways have a freshness 

 about them which is quite charming.] 



