226 



KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



Having witnessed this glorious sight, the 

 ear must next be charmed ; and a nice walk 

 before breakfast will bring you better ac- 

 quainted with the sun's companion. See 

 where he rises — his wings covered with 

 pearls of dew ! 



Whither away, companion of the sun! 

 So high this lovely morning ? Are these clouds 

 Of floating silver, which appear to shun 

 Day's golden eye, thy home? or why 'mid 



shrouds 

 Of loosen'd light dost thou pour forth thy song ? 

 Descend, sun-loving bird ! nor try thy strength 



thus long. 



Etherial songster, soaring merrily ! 



Thy wings keep time to thy rich music's 

 flow, 

 Which rolls along the sky celestially ; 



And echoes o'er the hill's wood-waving brow 

 Along the flood that back reflects the sky, 

 And thee, thou warbling speck, deep mir- 

 ror'd from on high. 



In this our opening Gossip on the 

 Months, we have merely peeped at the com- 

 ing prospects of the season. Every day 

 will now usher in some pleasing novelty, and 

 introduce us to some old friend returned 

 from abroad to spend his summer amongst 

 us. These arrivals our good friends should 

 by all means anticipate. There will be the 

 swallow, the nightingale, the black-cap, the 

 wry -neck, the cuckoo, and a host of others. 

 Of these, it will be our pleasant duty to 

 speak from week to week. 



As for the flower gardens, — how many 

 pages of our Journal could we not fill with 

 even " thoughts " upon their beauties ! How 

 much enjoyment do they lose who live in 

 cities at this season ! Confined in an un- 

 wholesome, badly- ventilated apartment, they 

 slumber till a late hour ; and rise with a 

 feverish tongue to breakfast : whilst we, 

 some hours a-head, have enjoyed a sight 

 worth a kingdom, and purchased health for 

 a song. Oh, ladies fair !— 



Did you but know, when bath'd in dew, 

 How sweet the little Violet grew 



Amidst the thorny brake, — 

 How fragrant blew the ambient air, 

 O'er beds of primroses so fair, — 



Your pillow you? d forsake. 



Would we could tempt you to make but one 

 single trial of our remedy against fashionable 

 ailments ! The honor of your company 

 would be an ample recompense for the cure 

 we should effect ; and we would cast such 

 a spell around you, that you should never 

 again speak lightly of the pleasures of A 

 Country Life. 



The orchards have yet to put on their glo- 

 rious attire. What a sight awaits you here ! 

 Even now the blackthorn is putting forth 

 its flowers ; next we shall have the ash, the 



ground ivy, the box-tree, the pear tree, the 

 apricot, the nectarine, the plum, the haw- 

 thorn, the apple tree, and the sycamore. 

 What a world of beautiful blossoms have yet 

 to appear ! The peach trees are now in all 

 their beauty ; the almond trees too, are 

 bashfully blushing. Nor must we fail to 

 notice the wild cherry, and the garden 

 cherry, the loveliness of whose blossoms 

 cannot be depicted in words. Yes, lovely 

 creatures, — 



Ye may simper, blush, and smile, 

 And perfume the air awhile ; 

 Bute're long ye must be gone; 

 Fruit, ye know, is coming on. 

 Then, ah then ! where is your grace, 

 When the Cherries take your place ? 



Let us hope that our fugitive thoughts 

 to-day, may win some at least of our fair 

 friends (whom we cannot help associating 

 with our love of flowers — both being so 

 amiable), to come and share with us in the 

 joys of A Country Life ! 



ANIMALS AND THEIR YOUNG. 



[Concluded from page 182.] 



The maternal feelings both of the lioness and 

 tigress are very strong, and while attending on 

 their cubs they will brave every danger, and 

 seem scarcely susceptible of fear, either in their 

 defence or in hunting for their prey. Captain 

 Williamson relates, that when he was in an 

 Indian district, two tiger cubs were given to him, 

 which had been brought from a considerable 

 distance by some natives who obtained posses- 

 sion of them during the absence of the 

 tigress. The Captain secured them in a stable, 

 where they made a considerable noise, notwith- 

 standing their being supplied with abundance of 

 food. After having been thus secured for several 

 days, the bereaved tigress arrived during the 

 night, attracted apparently by their cries, to 

 which she replied with the most fearful howl- 

 ings ; and such was the violence of her fury, that 

 the cubs had at length to be let loose, under the 

 apprehension that the tigress would break in and 

 glut her wrath on the robbers of her young. In 

 the morning, it was found that she had carried 

 both the cubs back into the jungle. The parental 

 instincts arc peculiarly conspicuous in the largest 

 carnivorous quadrupeds. Among birds in general, 

 the male performs a part in the rearing of the 

 young not greatly inferior to that of the female. 

 He largely aids in building the nest, frequently 

 shares the duties of the hen-bird during^ incuba- 

 tion, and performs his part in feeding and 

 defending the young, with a zeal little inferior to 

 that of the mother. 



Among quadrupeds in general, no such paternal 

 care is needed. The milk of the mother supplies 

 all that is needful for the sustenance of the young, 

 and accordingly, in the great majority of cases, 

 and especially among gregarious animals, all pa- 

 rental affection is confined to the female, the 

 males being apparently totally unconscious of any 



