26 



KIDD'S LONDON JOUKNAL. 



referred: — "A favorite method adopted by the 

 wild bushmen for approaching the ostrich and 

 other varieties of game, is to clothe himself in 

 the skin of one of these birds, in which, taking 

 care of the wind, he stalks about the plain, cun- 

 ningly imitating the gait and motions of the 

 ostrich until within range, when, with a well- 

 directed poisoned arrow from his tiny bow, he 

 can generally seal the fate of any of the ordinary 

 varieties of game. These insignificant looking 

 arrows are about two feet six inches in length ; 

 they consist of a slender reed, with a sharp bone 

 head, thoroughly poisoned with a composition, 

 of which the principal ingredients are obtained 

 sometimes from a succulent herb, having thick 

 leaves, yielding a poisonous milky juice, and 

 sometimes from the jaws of snakes. The bow 

 rarely exceeds three feet in length; its string is 

 of twisted sinews. When a bushman finds an 

 ostrich's nest, he ensconces himself in it, and there 

 awaits the return of the old birds, by which means 

 he generally secures the pair. It is by means of 

 these little arrows that the majority of the fine 

 plumes are obtained which grace the heads of 

 the fair throughout the civilised world. — J. B., 

 Chelmsford. 



[We thank our observant Correspondent, and 

 yet thirst for more particulars.] 



Australian Parroquet. — I have a much valued 

 " pet," who is just now very sick and very 

 ailing. During the last week more particularly, 

 she has suffered much from a tumour which has 

 formed under the wing, the use of which is lost. 

 The tumour is very large, and must have been 

 forming for some considerable period. It is only 

 recently, however, that we have discovered it. As 

 this bird is an especial favorite with the family, 

 can you, or any of your readers, kindly propose 

 a mode of cure? — F. A. 



[This is a class of birds with which we are not 

 conversant; we therefore crave assistance from 

 those whose knowledge exceeds our own.] 



Proper Food for Soft Billed Birds, — the Dif- 

 ficulty of Keeping them in Vigorous Health during 

 the Winter Months entirely Removed. — As we 

 have unquestionably some of the sweetest song- 

 sters, nay, that "Prince of Melody," the 

 Nightingale, among the soft billed warblers, how 

 strange is it that so few persons, comparatively 

 speaking,, can keep them in health, indeed, can 

 keep them at all ! It cannot be that their gentle 

 pleasing manners are less fascinating, or their 

 gratitude one whit less than those of their more 

 generally-kept gramenivorous brethren. To what 

 then shall we attribute it? It is attributable solely 

 to the want of good food — a natural food, agree- 

 able to their habits and tastes, and adapted to 

 their nourishment ; a food which will preserve 

 the life and vigor of their constitutions, without 

 which you will have no song (remember, " no 

 supper, no song "), neither can they live long. 

 That this really is a fact, may at first excite great 

 surprise, seeing that we have "Dr. B.'s celebrated 

 German paste," and many other elaborate 

 mixtures, expressly intended for their use. True; 

 but are ihcyfit for the purpose? I say, "no." 

 Our little friends need no " domestic cookery '." 

 What they require is a simple, unmixed, natural 



food, having analogous reference to good, ripe 

 seed, for their harder-billed brotherhood; and not 

 a stale, musty compound, whose very essence is 

 dyspepsia concentrated. This is the panacea, 

 and how shall we make up for the want? 

 Simply by going to Nature herself for her child- 

 ren's food, and by looking amongst the insect 

 world for the supply of the insectivorous family, 

 just as we should do with seeds, for our other 

 favorites. Taking this position, and having had 

 some little experience, I have adopted a sure 

 method of obtaining a constant supply of this 

 great essential, during the " winter of the birds' 

 discontent;" even when snow is on the ground ; 

 and that too in a perfectly fresh, unaltered state 

 — -aye, in a living state. This food, I would re- 

 mark, can be as conveniently kept in a good 

 condition by a natural law, as good seed; and 

 what is more to the purpose, it can be obtained 

 at a most economical rate. I enclose you in 

 confidence, a full description of the food, how ob- 

 tained ; together with drawings of the small ap- 

 paratus required. After a due inspection, I think 

 you will agree with me, that it is a most desirable 

 object attained towards enabling us to keep the 

 soft-billed as easily^as the hard-billed. I may add 

 that with this food, they will breed as freely in con- 

 finement as other birds. In offering this to the 

 notice of fanciers, let me remark that it will en- 

 tirely supersede all those indescribable messes, 

 called " German paste," &c. Let these be pre- 

 pared with all due care and skill, yet are they, 

 so to speak, totally deficient in true nourishment ; 

 although, use being second nature, birds eat 

 them because they have nothing else to eat I The 

 apparatus I have constructed is very simple; 

 cleanly in its use, and of trifling cost. Moreover, 

 under my direction, it can be easily made by any 

 carpenter or amateur. — Walter. 



[As this appears an interesting discovery for 

 the lovers of nightingales, &c., we "will take 

 charge of any private communications, if left at 

 the office of our publisher.] 



The Wren, The Hedge-Sparrow, and the 

 Redbreast. 



The song of these three well-known warblers 

 may be termed perennial. Formerly it was very 

 rare for me to hear the notes of the second, 

 whilst the storms of winter raged through this 

 little valley. But now, it is otherwise ; for the 

 yew shrubs, which have grown up into a spacious 

 cover, seem to be more congenial to the habits of 

 the hedge-sparrow than any other evergreen; and 

 it ma}' be seen perched near the top of these, 

 and warbling there, from time to time, in every 

 month of the year. 



As I am not yet a convert to the necessity or 

 advantage of giving to many of our British birds 

 the new and jaw-breaking names which appear 

 on the page of modern ornithology, I will con- 

 tent myself with the old nomenclature, so well- 

 known to every village lad throughout the land. 



There is a problem to be solved in the economy 

 of these three soft-billed little birds, before we 

 can safely come to the conclusion that severity 

 of climate, and want of food, are the real causes 

 why our summer birds of passage leave us shortly 

 after the sun has gone down into the southern 



