hen. A turkey can hatch a greater number of 

 eggs, and is always a most careful mother. One 

 of their turkeys has been in the habit of hatching 

 two broods in a season, and seemed last year to 

 be quite accustomed to her task. When the 

 young ducks took to the pond/which is shallow, 

 she used to wade in as far as she could go with 

 safety, and there remain, seeming to survey her 

 charge with much more complacency than fear. 

 My friends say, that since adopting the plan of 

 hatching ducks by means of turkeys, they have 

 reared almost all the young ones hatched. That 

 was never the case under the " natural " system. 

 Surely the saving the lives of so many innocents, 

 that would otherwise be sacrificed, far more than 

 counterbalances the slight charges of cruelty 

 which may be brought against us ?~J. B. M. 



The Hedpole ; its Amiability and Docility. — I 

 send you a short account of the wonderful 

 instinct of a redpole. About two months ago, I 

 purchased two of these little birds in the neigh- 

 borhood of Holborn, and had them both "braced," 

 in order to train them to draw water. One of 

 them very soon became accustomed to his new 

 mode of life, and speedily became a " proficient " 

 in drawing his water. About three weeks ago, 

 I purchased a cage trap, and placed in it the bird 

 that I could not train ; I thought he might act as 

 a decoy to others. My dog, a small terrier, 

 being loose, damaged the cage and liberated 

 the bird= Missing my little friend, I con- 

 cluded that the dog had killed him. In the 

 course of the day, however, I was agreeably 

 surprised to see the little fugitive hopping about 

 the garden ; and placing his companion in the 

 trap, soon decoyed him home. Since then, I 

 have each morning let the little fellow out for a 

 flight. I take the spring off the trap, and he flies 

 to and fro; refreshing himself from his com- 

 panion's board. The most remarkable part of the 

 story is, that he never enters the trap tilljhe 

 wishes to go to roost in the evening. Will you 

 be kind enough to inform me whether the red- 

 pole is an English or foreign bird? I never re- 

 member seeing them here, excepting only in cer- 

 tain seasons. — C. G. 



[The redpole is an English bird, and visits our 

 southern latitudes during the Winter principally. 

 It is gregarious, and the London bird-catchers 

 trap them in large quantities. It breeds in the 

 northern parts of the kingdom, and comes down 

 to us in the middle of Autumn. It is a pretty 

 and a good-tempered bird, and may be taught any 

 thing.] 



Experiments in Breeding Canaries. — I am par- 

 ticularly fond of birds, and have been in the 

 habit of breeding canaries for the last fifteen 

 years. During the last ten years, I left the eggs 

 with the hens, as they laid them ; and the last five 

 years, I took them away. This I know you 

 speak very much against ; but, if not troubling 

 you too much, I will send you an account of my 

 success, under both plans, during the fifteen years 

 or seasons; and tell you why I tried both plans 

 last season. I shall now be guided by your Jour- 

 nal in every respect ; and at the end of the sea- 

 son, I shall see what the result will be. — J. A. B. 



[Send us full particulars by all means, and let 



the public have the benefit of your experience. 

 We shall offer our own remarks, as usual ; but 

 we court information from every quarter. " In 

 the multitude of counsellors, there is safety."'] 



Instinct and Reason in the Feathered Tribe. — 

 You have expressed in your remarks on instinct 

 and reason, a desire to know, " Where instinct 

 ends and reason begins?" and many, you say, 

 even doubt the existence of " reason," so called, 

 at all. Now, I have a bird that is generally in 

 a cage, with two companions ; if the cage con- 

 taining the three birds is put upon the table, 

 when the candles are lighted, the bird continues 

 perfectly quiet, and is disposed to roost ; but if 

 he is put into another cage, and that cage, after 

 the hour of roosting, be placed upon the table, he 

 becomes excited — feels that his companions are 

 away; and tries, by means of song, to bring 

 them to his notice. Instinct does not call to his 

 recollection the society of his playmates; 'tis 

 reason that informs him of their absence. [How 

 so?] If you place the cage in which they are 

 confined by the side of his, anxiety at once ceases, 

 and he remains tranquil and composed. If, there- 

 fore, a knowledge of their return pacifies his fears 

 and renders him content, he must be governed 

 by a reasoning faculty, since instinct alone could 

 not impress upon his mind the absence of those 

 from whom he had been separated. I have 

 another bird that possesses, I think, an under- 

 standing. If a small flower-pot-pan, nearly full 

 of cold water, be put into his cage, he will use it 

 readily for the purpose of bathing ; but if one of 

 larger dimensions be placed upon the floor, he 

 will forsake the smaller bath for the one that 

 is more extensive. It is not instinct that directs 

 him to the increased enjoyment which the greater 

 quantity of water affords. Again: — amongst 

 many little tricks that Master Pressnitz performs, 

 there is one of taking off the lid of a box, con- 

 taining a few dainties. When the box is placed 

 before him, he takes the lid in his beak and 

 throws it from him ; but if you place your finger 

 on the lid he will stand and scold, and knows 

 full well that to remove it is impossible. But 

 the moment the finger is taken away, and the 

 obstacle removed, off goes the lid in a jiffy. 

 He will fly about the room for hours, apparently 

 intent upon his own amusement; but should his 

 mistress go to the cheffonier, which contains 

 his bit of dried sponge-cake, he is after her at 

 once — settles on her shoulder, and asks, in his way, 

 for a " bit of nice." If I were not unwilling to 

 trespass longer on your time, I could give you a 

 dozen proofs that my canary birds are governed 

 by reason and not by instinct. — E. R. M. 



[We have ourselves had animals that exhi- 

 bited marks of intelligence, very, very, very far 

 beyond those here related ; but we confess our- 

 selves totally unable to agree with our fair Cor- 

 respondent as to their indicating anything 

 beyond the " instinct" of their nature.] 



The Skylark— Of all birds, the skylark is my 

 favorite, and has been from my infancy; but 

 I could never succeed in rearing them from the 

 nest, or in fact, keeping a bought bird for any 

 length of time. They all dropped off, one by 



