A LITERARY, SCIENTIFIC, AND INSTRUCTIVE FAMILY PAPER. 



Conducted by WILLIAM KIBD, of Hammersmith,— 



Author op the Familiar and Popular Essays on "Natural History;" "British Song 



Birds;" "Birds op Passage;" "Instinct and Reason;" 



" The Aviary and its Occupants," &c. 



"the OBJECT of our work is to make men WISER, WITHOUT obliging them to turn over FOLIOS and 

 quartos.— to furnish mattkr for THINKING, as well as READING."— Evelyn. 



No. G.— 1852. 



SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7. 



Price l-$d. 



Or, in Monthly Parts, Price Id. 



NATUEAL HISTOEY OF SONG BIEDS. 



We have " taken time by the forelock ;" 

 and beginning from the First Month, we 

 shall be able to notice everything connected 

 with the feathered tribes that passes through- 

 out the varied seasons of the year. 



February, we may mention, is a trying 

 month both for man and beast, more parti- 

 cularly in our latitudes. It is the signal for 

 snow and frost, hail, sleet, and cutting 

 winds. Nor is fog wanting to complete the 

 picture of desolation. 



If we wander abroad for a walk, soon do 

 the elements hasten our return home. If 

 we sit within doors, soon do we feel 

 gloomy. Yet is the sight of the driving- 

 snow a pretty picture, falling as it does in 

 a multitude of fantastic shapes. The reflec- 

 tion, too, cast therefrom on the trees and 

 hedges, lias a picturesque and curious effect 

 on the landscape : — 



" See where the cherish'd fields 

 Put on their winter robe of purest white. 

 'Tis brightness all} save where the new snow 



melts 

 Along the mazy current. Low the woods 

 Bow their hoar head ; and ere the languid sun 

 Faint from the west admits his evening ray, 

 Earth's universal face, deep hid and chill, 

 Is one wild dazzling waste, that buries wide 

 The works of man.' 1 



'Tis now that we see large flocks of the 

 feathered tribe, rendered bold by famine 

 and cold, draw near to the dwellings of 

 man, seeking among barns and farm-yards 

 for what few seeds may have escaped from 

 the straw and chaff. Our gardens, too, are 

 the resort of many little pensioners, who, in 

 the confidence of friendship, venture to hop 

 on our breakfast table. At the present time 

 of writing we are thus honored. One 

 robin, in particular, and his lady, follow our 

 footsteps whenever we quit the house. 



While winter thus holds all nature spell- 



bound, we will take advantage of the oppor- 

 tunity to chat a little about Birds — the object 

 of their creation, their structure, &c. The 

 question is one of universal interest, and 

 we shall pursue the inquiry with delight. 



Birds are unquestionably the most beau- 

 tiful of the animated tribes ; they embellish 

 our forests, and afford amusement in our 

 walks ; Avhile their pleasures, their notes, 

 and even their animosities, serve only to 

 enliven the general face of nature, and to 

 cheer the contemplative mind. In no part 

 of the animal creation are the wisdom, the 

 goodness, and bounty of Providence dis- 

 played in a more lively manner, than in the 

 formation and various endowments of the 

 feathered tribes ; and whether we examine 

 their elegance and symmetry, their beauty 

 and delicacy of color, their peculiar habits 

 and economy, we shall have sufficient cause 

 for adoring the wisdom of their benevolent 

 Creator. 



As birds are destined to move through 

 the light medium of the air, they are far 

 inferior both in weight and magnitude to 

 quadrupeds : the largest bird, the ostrich, 

 bears no proportion to the elephant ; nor 

 does the humming bird, which nature has 

 placed at the other extremity of this class, 

 nearly approach to the size of a mouse. 

 Nature, as she approximates the confines of 

 each class, confers more and more of the 

 properties of the adjoining one on each 

 species ; till at last they so nearly unite, 

 that it is often doubtful to what family an 

 individual belongs. The ostrich, placed at 

 the extremity of the birds, appears in many 

 respects nearly allied to a superior class ; 

 being covered with hair, like feathers, and 

 incapable of flight, it makes a near ap- 

 proach to the race of quadrupeds : while the 

 small humming bird, of the size of a humble 

 bee, and sucking, like it, the nectaries of 

 flowers, seems to be degraded nearly to the 

 rank of an insect. 



To compensate their want of strength, 

 birds are supplied with swiftness ; and to 



Vol. I. — New Series. 



