KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



103 



I then took them home and reared them up ; 

 feeding them by hand on bread and egg till they 

 were able to shift for themselves. They are still 

 alive, and in good health and excellent spirits. 

 They turned out to he two cock birds and a hen; 

 and as they were reared beside a Belgian canary 

 (a remarkably strong singer), the cocks soon 

 learned the canary notes, which they now sing 

 quite distinctly. 



The peculiar, long drawling note with which 

 the Siskin finishes his song, they have entirely 

 abandoned, as a useless and very unmusical 

 superfluity ; and they may be pronounced very 

 proficient scholars of his Belgian Highness. 



I may state that the nest was a very comfort- 

 able dwelling, built somewhat after the fashion 

 of the chaffinch, but far more loosely put together. 

 In conclusion, let mc remark, to corroborate what 

 you have yourself frequently asserted in the 

 Gardeners' Chronicle — no person is qualified to 

 speak or write about the haunts, the habits, and 

 management of birds, who has not had personal 

 experience of the same. All compilations from 

 old books are of no value, and only serve to prove 

 the ignorance of the compilers. — D. W. 



[Our correspondent, in his zeal to prove the 

 correctness of his statement, offers (in his note) 

 to dispose of one of the two Siskins, which is in 

 fine voice. If any of our readers should feel a 

 curiosity to become the owner of so valuable a 

 bird, we will take charge of a written commu- 

 nication.] 



A FEIENBLY HINT. 



"In the multitude of counsellors there is safety." 



To the Editor of "Kidd's Journal." 



Sir, — I have more than one reason not to be 

 pleased with the "title" of your Paper. In the 11 

 first place, it is not a new one ; but this would 

 not he so objectionable, if the patronymic could 

 be traced to a respectable ancestor. It is -now 

 more than a hundred years since the first of the 

 family endeavored to intrude itself into good 

 society; but from its dulness and stupidity, it 

 obtained admission only into a few houses of 

 respectability. Among these was a crotchety 

 old gentleman, who took it in out of pure charity 

 to the "poor devils" whose writings prolonged 

 its existence. His reason for continuing his 

 patronage was somewhat whimsical. " The 

 London Journal," said he, " puts me to sleep; 

 and my servant never fails to ask me very 

 gravely, ' Does your honor intend to lake your 

 'London Journal' to night?' To do him jus- 

 tice," said the old gentleman, "he reads with a 

 becoming monotony, perfectly in accordance with 

 the character of this Journal." But the low 

 estimation in which that London Journal was 

 held, is not the proximate cause of my distaste 

 for the title of your Paper. 



When your second number appeared, I ap- 

 plied to a bookseller for The London Journal; 

 but I was somewhat surprised, and I confess, dis- 

 appointed, when I was told that the price was 

 only " one penny." Surely, I said, Mr. Kidd's 

 Journal has not already fallen so low in public 



estimation, as to he reduced one third in price; 

 after all we have heard of the treat wc were to 

 expect, upon the re-appearance of a periodical 

 conducted by a gentleman who was once so great 

 a favorite with the public! Nevertheless, I 

 hastened home with my " London Journal:" but 

 what was my surprise, on examining its contents, 

 to find myself the possessor of a penny picture 

 book, filled with that kind of " literature" which 

 scientific men are not very fond of reading ! De- 

 termined, however, to turn the penny I had spent 

 to some account, I took the hint of the crotchety 

 old gentleman, and requested one of my family to 

 give me " The London Journal " after I had re- 

 tired to rest. The experiment answered admi- 

 rably : in five minutes I was fast asleep. 



Now this is not the case when I am so impru- 

 dent as to take too large a dose of your Journal. 

 The new ideas it engenders, keep me awake ; so 

 that I have resolved, in future, to reserve your 

 Paper for my morning studies, that I may have 

 the day before me to digest its valuable and en- 

 tertaining contents. 



But to come to the point. I see no reason why 

 you should not re-baptise your Paper; retaining 

 only your own name in addition to that of 

 Journal. Your well-known reputation will 

 acquit you of vanity ; and to my fancy, your title 

 will be more neat and appropriate. Eor myself, 

 I am resolved never to ask for your Paper 

 under any other name than that of " Kidd's 

 Journal." 



I am, Sir, &c, 



A Lover op Natural History. 



[As we have invariably found " Honesty 

 to be the best policy," we will frankly 

 confess that our Title HAS caused a succes- 

 sion of unfortunate mistakes. In a host of 

 instances, another paper has been substi- 

 tuted for our own. This is by no means 

 the fault of the Proprietor of the paper 

 alluded to. We absolve him from even the 

 suspicion of such a thing. It results entirely 

 from the gross ignorance of the people who 

 are in the habit of selling periodicals ; many 

 of whom not being able to read, and evi- 

 dently imagining one " London Journal" to be 

 quite as good as another, invariably supply 

 the "picture book" as our Correspondent 

 calls it, because it is the cheapest as to 

 quantity. A lady residing on Notting-hill, 

 was nearly a fortnight in trying to convince 

 her bookseller that there was a difference 

 between the two papers ; nor ivould he 

 procure ours until compelled. He gave in 

 at last, simply and solely because he was 

 ashamed of contradicting a lady so repeatedly. 

 The fact is, ours and Leigh Hunt's were 

 the Original " London Journals " of mo- 

 dern times. Illness caused us to halt ; and 

 we merely re-assumed the title to let our 

 friends know of our being again afloat. We 

 shall seriously consider , the question, so 

 kindly raised by our zealous Correspondent, 

 as to a change in our title — " A Kose by 

 any other name would smell as sweet."] 



