KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



219 



Singular Spot for the Nest of a Wheatear. — 

 The wheatear (saxicola cenanthe), though a very 

 solitary bird, frequently builds its nest in rather 

 public places. In the summer of last year, I had 

 occasion often to walk on the line of the Wilts 

 and Somerset .Railway, a short distance from this 

 town. On such occasions, I always observed a 

 wheatear at a certain spot, and imagined that it 

 must have a nest very near. Once I saw the old 

 bird fly out from a hollow place, under one of the 

 line of rails, which was left for the purpose of 

 draining the water in case of heavy rains. I 

 marked this spot, and, to my great surprise, found 

 a nest of five young birds exactly under the cen- 

 tre of the iron rail on the up line; so that the old 

 bird must have laid, and hatched these young 

 ones, with six trains daily passing over her to and 

 fro ! I noticed the young ones several times after- 

 wards, till the old birds led them away. It was 

 certainly the most strange place for a nest I ever 

 saw. In the northern parts of England and 

 Scotland this poor bird is the victim of supersti- 

 tion. Old and young think it a merit to kill the 

 old birds, and destroy their eggs. The male 

 birds sing very sweetly, and have rather a power- 

 ful voice ; but I believe they are never heard, save 

 Avhen the hen is sitting on the eggs.— J. K., 

 Trowbridge, 



Food for Pigeons. — If " G. P." (see page 169) 

 continues to feed his pigeons on hempseed, they 

 will necessarily be so inflamed they cannot sit; 

 besides which, it will in time cause first the 

 feathers, and then the birds to rot. Pigeons, I 

 am aware, are exceedingly fond of hempseed, 

 but it should be given with a sparing hand, and 

 only when they have a cold or other disease. To 

 have various kinds of pigeons in one loft, it is 

 necessary to " mate" the birds strongly before 

 turning them loose. They should be fed upon 

 beans, and, when they have young ones, on 

 tares. If" G. P." observes these directions, and 

 maintains strict cleanliness, his birds will be 

 healthy. I beg to refer him to some other re- 

 marks of mine connected with pigeons, at page 

 155. By the way, your printer has given my 

 initials on that page as "J. H.,"— they should 

 have been J. R., Boston. 



Sparrows. — How can 1 get rid of them ? — 

 Can any of your numerous correspondents sug- 

 gest a plan whereby I could poison the sparrows? 

 They are very destructive at this season of the 

 year to the gardens. I have tried various ways, 



but cannot get them to eat the poisoned food > 



J. K. 



[If you are tormented with sparrows as we 

 are, we pity you. They- eat more corn than all 

 our poultry put together. However, do notpoison 

 them. It is cruel and dangerous; for many 

 innocent birds fall victims, by eating the poisoned 

 grain which the sparrows drop from their beaks. 

 Try small netting spread over your beds.] 



Breeding-cages, — You will agree with me in 

 saying that the breeding-cages in general use 

 are perfectly disgraceful to the times in which we 

 live. [Indeed they are, and we have often 

 raised our voices against them.] I therefore 

 wish, as the season for the breeding of birds is 



near at hand, to describe, pro bono, the cages 

 which I adopt and find to answer admirably. 

 It is idle for people to persist in saying they 

 " love " their birds, whilst they yet keep them in 

 abject misery. My cages, I would observe, have 

 been in use four years, and the)- are now as good 

 as ever. Their length is two feet six inches; 

 height, one foot six inches ; depth (from back to 

 front), one foot. They are made of the best yel- 

 low deal. [Let us here, by all the strength of 

 argument, insist upon the wood being of mahogany, 

 as being protective from the inhabitation of 

 "vermin" — those pests of the bird-cage and 

 midnight murderers of the feathered race] — well 

 painted inside and out [Thrice at least] , the in 

 side a light, green. The fronts are made of 

 polished mahogany, and strongly fitted with 

 tinned wire. This will never rust, and with a 

 little care will always look bright. The fronts 

 are made moveable, with a view to remove and 

 replace them when the cage has been properly 

 cleansed, which it must be whenever needful. In- 

 side the cage two perches aic placed, from end to 

 end. This makes the cage strong and firm. On 

 the right-hand side, near the top, is an opening 

 four inches square ; and within two inches from 

 the bottom (on the same side) is another opening, 

 six inches long, and four inches high. I have 

 then a box } six inches high and six inches wide, 

 to reach from the front to the back of the cage, 

 thus securing one side and one end open. I have 

 a small door to fit on the outside of the open end, 

 and this is partly wired to let a little light in. 

 This being the box in which are placed the " nest 

 boxes, 1 ' is fixed to the cage over the top hole by 

 means of two brass hooks, screvved on the top of 

 the cage, and made to fit in two small " eyes " 

 screwed into the box. Thus you will see I have 

 my nest-boxes outside instead of inside the cages. 

 By this arrangement the dirty box can be re- 

 moved, and a clean one substituted, in less than 

 a minute. The birds, too, are kept from being 

 disturbed, and I have little or no trouble. For 

 the purpose of hardening the shell of the hens' 

 eggs, I throw a little well-bruised old mortar at 

 the bottom of the cage. [Everybody should do this, 

 and never neglect it.] I have, moreover, a small 

 cage to fit upon the bottom opening, and it is 

 wired on one side and on the front. Into this I 

 put the young birds when they leave the nest, 

 and their father feeds them without any trouble. 

 The use of this cage is to prevent the old birds 

 from plucking out the feathers of their offspring 

 to line the next nest with. I thus keep my 

 young birds in good plumage, and keep them 

 out of the way of the old birds who are engaged 

 in preparing for another family. In my last (see 

 page 154), your printer has made me say — 

 " During the last ten years," &c. It should have 

 been " the first ten years," &c Please comb his 

 hair for him. — J. A. B. 



[You are indeed a regular "fancier," and your 

 plan of operations is a good one. Let us hear, by 

 all means, of any pleasing results that may attend 

 your experiments during the coming season. 

 You say in your letter, you have procured us " a 

 round dozen of subscribers," Thanks ! Tell 

 these good folk " to go and do likewise ! " This 

 is the legitimate way of pleasing themselves, and 

 helping us ; for we are really laborers in the 



