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KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



and we are not surprised at our Correspondent 

 courting the company of himself and mate. 

 (These birds by the way, do not, like most other 

 birds, dissolve the marriage union every year). 

 In size they resemble the sparrow, and are about 

 six inches long. In some of our counties it re- 

 mains all the year; it seldom however visits 

 Cornwall, nor does it go far north. It creeps up 

 the trunks of trees, and builds in their hollows. 

 Its whereabouts may be known by a smart rap, 

 rap, rap, enunciated by its bill coming in contact 

 with a tree. If you then look carefully upwards, 

 you will see a small, grey, blue-backed bird, 

 busily occupied in knocking away with the full 

 force of its head against the trunk, — its beak and 

 body, as if the whole were one solid mass, moving 

 on the hinges of its thigh-bones. After a while, 

 the bird will be seen to glide, rather than climb, 

 up or round the stem, and disappear, till it is 

 again detected by a repetition of the rap-rap- 

 rap. It is curious to watch how artistically it 

 hammers a nut to pieces, first fixing it in a crevice 

 of the bark. The shell broken, it eats the kernel 

 at its leisure. In secluded grounds, these birds 

 are easily tamed; and when undisturbed, will 

 live and die on the same spot. We have heard 

 that in America they are far tamer than they are 

 here, — approaching the person, and exchanging 

 all sorts of familiarities with their owners. As 

 we have said repeatedly, kindness will do any- 

 thing. The Nuthatch lays six, sometimes seven 

 eggs, about the size of those of the Parus major, 

 or larger titmouse. The nest, which has a very 

 small entrance, is used in winter for a storehouse; 

 also for abed.] 



On the Artificial Incubation of Eggs. — I sent 

 you a communication on this subject some time 

 since (see p. 90), and am anxious to know what 

 you think about my new incubator. Its cheap- 

 ness is surely as great a recommendation as its 

 unfailing usefulness. — W. L. J. 



[We have no doubt of the success of this ap- 

 paratus, so far as the successful hatching at a 

 cheap rate extends. But we advise you and all 

 others using it, to sell all the poultry so reared 

 for the table. Fowls thus bred, will never be 

 fit for breeding from. Nature shakes her head 

 at this artificial means of producing chickens 

 from eggs.] 



Another Ailing Bullfinch. — I have a pet bull- 

 finch which sings sweetly. May I give it a bath 

 now and then ? [Certainly not at this season, — 

 wait until May. He will then enjoy a bath, and 

 may have one daily.] What is the proper food 

 for these birds? [Canary and flax only. Six 

 bempseeds a- week; one daily, as a treat, may 

 alone be allowed. Then will the plumage be 

 always bright, and the bird well.] Is the bull- 

 finch a seed bird? [Yes.] May I give him sugar, 

 rice, biscuit, and cake occasionally? [You had 

 far better not.] Can I ever teach him to " pipe?" 

 [No ; in Germany alone can the airs you wish to 

 hear warbled over, be taught. It is an " art " 

 we English do not possess.] — Rosa. 



The Anatomy and Mechanism of Birds. — An 

 Article or two on this subject in your Journal 



would be most acceptable to your readers, and 

 not only amusing, but highly instructive. — C P. 

 [We quite agree with you, and shall furnish 

 what you require at an early day. It is pleasing 

 to observe what curiosity our Journal is exciting 

 everywhere. Knowledge is never stationary.] 



Food for Blackbirds. — I have a blackbird in a 

 cage ; but he pines sadly and looks unhappy. I 

 feed him on bread and hempseed, and now and 

 then I give him a few worms. These, however, 

 bring on a looseness which causes him to be 

 very weak. — J. B., Tottenham. 



[Give him some " Clifford's German Paste," 

 and some stale sweet-bun rubbed with it, as his 

 common food. Also, a snail or two, in lieu of 

 worms ; and a little piece of Cheshire cheese now 

 and then. When at breakfast, hand him a por- 

 tion of your bread and butter. He will then 

 amply repay you by an early and sweet song.] 



A Squirrel's Cage. — Ought a squirrel to have 

 a stationary or a rotary cage ? Some say the 

 latter drives a squirrel mad, as he flies round so 

 rapidly when it is in motion. As you are Avell ac- 

 quainted with all that relates to animals, I shall 

 be most thankful for any information you can 

 give me. My squirrel is very tame, and runs 

 between my parlor and shrubbery daily, coming 

 in just as, and just when he pleases. — A Con- 

 stant Reader. 



[That squirrels go mad from frolicking in 

 rotary cages, is an old wife's fable. Open the 

 cage door, and see the performer take to the 

 wheel! Why his little heart would burst if he 

 found he could not turn a wheel of this sort. 

 Buy a rotary cage immediately.] 



THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



Succulent Plants. — No. II. 



In these days, when taste is becoming 

 every clay more refined, and the elementary 

 principles thereof better understood, it has 

 followed, as a matter of course, that plants 

 can be rendered useful as an ornamental 

 appendage to the windows of our dwelling- 

 houses. We now find them assigned a place 

 in the first drawing-rooms of our aristocracy, 

 and cultivated by every grade of society, 

 down to the very humblest cottager. Indeed, 

 it has become almost a rare sight to visit a 

 house without beholding a plant of some kind 

 or other in a prominent position. The window, 

 however, is, at best, but a bad place for all 

 plants ; to some more especially ; and were 

 they to remain for any length of time in 

 such a situation, it would test the skill and in- 

 genuity of many good cultivators to keep them 

 in perfect trim. Yet their experience would 

 make them adopt (under the circumstances) 

 those things most suitable; and so their 

 knowledge would secure to them the best 

 practical result. The case, however, is very 

 different with the many. Some, from an 

 innate love of flowers, always keep their 



