pels me to say that, if of these " affectionate" 

 birds,twenty males were let loose in one room, 

 not three would be found alive the next 

 morning; and even these survivors would 

 be desperately wounded. Their strength 

 alone has saved them (unless indeed they 

 have studied the " whole art of Avar") ; and 

 opportunity alone is wanting for each one of 

 them to receive from the other his quietus, 

 which is inevitable, if they continue together. 



If robins, confined in cages, are expected 

 to sing, they must on no account whatever 

 be permitted to see each other, for their 

 jealousy exceeds, if it be possible, that of 

 Woman ; and once provoked, they are nearly 

 as irreconcileable. Thus much for their foi- 

 bles. I will now give you an instance of 

 their gentler nature. You will thereby see, 

 not only how possible it is to tame a robin, 

 but to mould it to your entire will. 



In the autumn of last year, I took posses- 

 sion of my present residence; and being alone 

 for a week until the arrival of my family 

 from town, I rose as early as half-past four 

 in the morning, to attend to my cage-birds, 

 which I fed on a table in the back garden. 

 While employed in this operation, I per- 

 ceived that I was closely watched by a very 

 elegantly-formed, fine, stout robin, who 

 seemed bent on ascertaining whether or not 

 I was a friend to his tribe. Within three 

 days, his mind, on this point, was set at rest, 

 and he became my constant guest — in doors, 

 in the garden, on my shoulder, on my finger ; 

 and to sum up all, I taught him, at command, 

 to perch himself firmly on the bridge of my 

 nose, and to take a meal-worm, while thus 

 seated, from my hand. It would often 

 happen, on my return home, that he was in 

 "Ravenscourt Park (which adjoins my 

 garden). At such times, I had only to give a 

 peculiar whistle, and he would be at my^side 

 in a few moments. 



Finally, our " engagement for the season" 

 terminated only two months since, when my 

 little friend committed matrimony. He is 

 now teaching his young family, four in 

 number, how to fly, and is in the garden the 

 greater part of the day, singing joyously. 

 His great familiarity, however, is suspended 

 pro tern., and I can scarcely expect that his 

 instinct will permit him to return to his old 

 habits of strict intimacy until August — Wil- 

 liam Kidd, New-road, Hammersmith. 



Other anecdotes, referring to this " choice 

 spirit," and certain members of his family, 

 shall appear in due course. The Natural 

 History of the Eobin, is truly interesting. 

 He seems to be a universal favorite, and 

 welcome at all tables. 



A FROST IN LONDON. 



• Zeal and Judgment. — Zealous men are ever 

 displaying to you the strength of their belief while 

 judicious men are showing you the grounds of it. 



A frost in London ! What a miscellany 

 of absurd mischances — what lavish materials 

 for laughter and description are comprised 

 in these words ! Every quarter of London 

 abounds in food for cachinnation. Let us 

 extract a few " Random Records." In the 

 more fashionable streets, where the quick, 

 bustling step of business is little, if at all 

 known, the pavement on either side (for we are 

 supposing a strenuous frost, ushered in by its 

 usual herald, a snow storm) is one mass of 

 dark, glossy ice, which the trim dandy eyes 

 with ludicrous misgiving, as if but to look 

 were to tumble. Should he wear stays, his 

 trepidation deepens into paralysis. Hard 

 by the squares, close underneath whose rails 

 a mass of drifted snow lies crouched, some 

 five or six urchins are busy manufacturing 

 snowballs, one of which, destined for the 

 sconce of a fellow idler, wears away on the 

 wrong tack, and drives bump ashore against 

 the midriff of a fat man in spectacles. 



On the Serpentine, a prepossessing young 

 skater, whose first year of shaving will not 

 expire till March, inspired by the manifest 

 admiration of a group of lovely girls, re- 

 solves, for once, to out-do himself, but, alas ! 

 in rounding the loop of the figure of three, 

 he loses his equilibrium, changes abruptly 

 from the perpendicular to the horizontal, 

 and cuts one figure more than he had anti- 

 cipated. Close beside him stands a deter- 

 mined wag, who, overpowered by his sense 

 of the ridiculous, misses his footing, and 

 plunges into an adjacent hole, and finishes 

 his laugh three feet beneath the ice. It is 

 to be hoped that he will be drowned, as the 

 interest of his situation will be materially 

 improved thereby. 



In Sloane Street, which the " nipping 

 blasts" scour from one end to the other, like 

 Cossacks on a foraging party, No. 179, in 

 venturing forth to visit No. 98, meets with 

 No. 82, First Floor Furnished, with a thin 

 blueish tinge at the tip of her nose. Neither 

 ladies have been conscious of the existence 

 of hands or feet for the last ten minutes. 

 Their tongues, however, it is gratifying to 

 add, are still in high condition. Throughout 

 the East-end, every third plebeian's digits 

 are deep " emboAvelled" in his pockets : the 

 Houndsditch Israelites, with their stiff frozen 

 beards, look like itinerant statues of JEscu- 

 lapius ; and the driver of the " Hansom " cab, 

 which stands next the airy regions of Fins- 

 bury Square, is a petrefaction from the waist 

 downwards. 



At Bishopsgate Within, Miss A , the 



Venus of the ward, who has been asked 

 thrice in church, cannot become one flesh 



with Mr. B , the Apollo of Farringdon 



Without, till the huge chilblain, on the 



