KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



155 



one. This, I believe, originates from my not 

 having* understood the proper food for them. 

 The bird-fanciers of this city (Dublin) give 

 them nothing but hemp seed ,- and this according 

 to all enlightened bird-fanciers, is very in- 

 jurious to birds. I never saw finer larks than 

 were kept by a person in Liverpool, who fed 

 them, I believe, on palm oil and pea meal, made 

 up into a paste. Their cages were only 15 inches 

 long, by 9 wide; and he never gave them a turf; 

 yet did I never see finer birds, either for song or 

 for feather. Will you be so kind as to give me 

 the information I require, and say whether you 

 approve of the palm oil and pea meal? Also tell 

 me if larks can be kept without a turf, as people 

 in a large city like this could not be running 

 out into the country every time a turf is wanting. 

 I have just heard that one of our inhabitants has 

 succeeded in breeding from a robin and a canary ; 

 could such a thing be? I intend to try the ex- 

 periment. — J. C. 



[Palm oil is a " wrinkle," quite new to us, as 

 regards feeding larks with it. " Clifford's 

 German Paste," (24, Great St. Andrew Street, 

 Holborn), is the only mixture we dare recom- 

 mend. This should be rubbed with stale bun, 

 or sponge-cake ; and be administered fresh, daily. 

 If you want your larks to be "happy," give them, 

 at least twice a week, a clover turf. If you care 

 nothing about this, the alternative is before you. 

 All who love birds, must not mind trouble ; and 

 all who do not love birds ought not to keep them 

 at all. We love a great many things, and a'great 

 man)' - people; and never are we so happy as 

 when we can take them home something we 

 know they are fond of; one half the pleasures of 

 life consist in these " trifles." As for breeding 

 from robins and canaries, this is a fallacy. It can- 

 not be. Nature has denounced it as impossible.] 



Will Bullfinches pair with Canaries, or with 

 each other, in Confinement ? — Peeling sure it is no 

 use trying to pair the bullfinch with the canary, 

 after reading your answer to T. A., Aberdeen 

 (see page 43), although I have done so for the 

 last four years, without getting one bird, I 

 should feel obliged to you if you would tell me 

 whether you think bullfinches will pair in a 

 breeding cage ? I ask this question, as I have a 

 remarkably fine cock bird, and also a fine hen, 

 which I bred up from a nestling, in 1850. I 

 paired the latter with a male canary last season ; 

 and she laid four nests of eggs (in all, nineteen), 

 not one of which was of any good. I could not get 

 her to build a nest for herself; but I gave her a 

 nest from one of my canaries, to which she added 

 more nesting, and laid her eggs in it. The hen 

 sat as close as any of my hen canaries. Her 

 first five eggs she laid in the empty box. My 

 object is, not to make any gain thereby, but to 

 see whether the thing could be done, as some 

 of my friends, readers of your Journal, tell me 

 it cannot be done. I have also a pair of hedge- 

 sparrows, in a large cage ; they are paired, and 

 have laid the foundation of a nest, in a corner of 

 the cage. Should they have eggs, I will try and 

 rear some of them under my canaries, of which 

 I shall have sixteen pairs up to breed from. 



[Your friends are quite right in saying you 

 cannot succeed with the bullfinches and the 



canaries. It is a rule of Nature that such 

 things cannot be. Eggs there may be, perhaps 

 will be, in plenty; but they will be necessarily 

 unfruitful. We have had a cock robin paired 

 with a hen canary, and lots of eggs from them, — 

 but every experiment proved to us, that though 

 we are foolish in our ideas, Nature is ever 

 true to herself. Take this as solid truth. There 

 is no reason why the eggs of bullfinches should 

 be unfruitful, if the birds be naturally paired, 

 and if you can get them to lay. The same with 

 hedge- sparrows, — but you should appropriate 

 a large room for the purpose, and let them fly 

 about. We shall be glad to hear how your ex- 

 periments go on ; but study Nature in all you do, 

 and never look for impossibilities.] 



Pigeons, Diseases of. — " Mitcham" is informed 

 that the lump under the tongue of his pigeon 

 (see page 105.) is the Cancer, and the sooner he 

 puts it out of its misery the better. It has arisen 

 solely from the bird having been obliged to 

 drink foul water. I never had one die of that, 

 or indeed any other disease. To insure a sup- 

 ply of clean water, let J. S. purchase, at any 

 earthenware shop in the neighborhood of Isling- 

 ton or Shoreditch, a pigeon fountain ; one hold- 

 ing half a gallon will cost 2s., but they are to be 

 had larger. By adopting these the pigeons can- 

 not get into the water, which is thereby kept 

 clean. I would here suggest that your corres- 

 pondent keep some clay, mixed with a large 

 quantity of salt, for his pigeons to peck at ; and 

 if cleanliness be observed, his birds will continue 

 healthy. It is useless to prescribe "remedies" for 

 diseases which may be prevented. — J.H. 



[Pigeons require extreme cleanliness, as our 

 correspondent remarks. We have kept them 

 from early childhood, and nothing ever ailed 

 them. This was all owing to good management, 

 for we loved our birds.] 



Migratory Butterflies, an important Query. — 

 T. G., in No. 6, of your Journal (page 90), at 

 the conclusion of a long article on the " Propa- 

 gation of Eels," says, — "Even Butterflies con- 

 gregate together previous to migration." Will 

 he be so obliging as to mention the names of these 

 migratory Butterflies which thus congregate? 

 He will thereby afford great satisfaction, not only 

 to myself but to very many other Entomolo- 

 gists. — Bombyx Atlas. 



A KAMBLE IS DEVONSHIRE. 



Early Spring Flowers. 



By S. Hannaford, Jun., Esq. 



" welcome Spring ! 



Who can bathe 

 His brow in thy young breezes, and not bless 

 The new-born impulse, which gives wings to thought 

 And pulse to action? "— Cariungton. 



Who is there amongst us — lovers of flow- 

 ers and the beauties of Nature, in whose 

 heart these beautiful lines by our Devonshire 

 poet will not find an echo ; and not feel, when 

 rambling by woods and hedge-rows at this 

 cheering time of the year, when — 



