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KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL 



nature, these carnivorous animals seem as indis- 

 pensable to restrain within the needful limits the 

 vegetable feeding herds, as are the various 

 destroyers of the superabundant insect caterpil- 

 lars and grubs, which would otherwise desolate 

 the vegetable kingdom as with a noxious blight. 



In all these matters, Nature is " consistent ;" 

 and we cannot think of them without feelings 

 of admiration. 



BIEDS OF SONG. 



Give me but 

 Something whereunto I may bind my heart, 

 Something to love, to rest upon, — to clasp 

 Affection's tendrils round. Mrs. Hemans. 



No. V.— CAGE BIRDS.— THE CANARY 



The average duration of a canary's life, in 

 the hands of a kind master, is from sixteen 

 to twenty years. With us, the " oldest in- 

 habitant " lived fifteen and a half years. 

 Not long since, there was one to be seen, at 

 the house of William Spooner, Esq.,* Wood- 

 lane, Shepherd's Bush, strong and vigorous 

 in his eighteenth year. He was even then 

 rich in song ; but about the middle of that 

 year, his legs were getting gouty, and his 

 sight was beginning to fail. He died before 

 he had attained the age of twenty. We 

 never remember to have seen a finer bird, 

 in every respect. His affection towards his 

 master and mistress was, as is usual with 

 these birds, firm to the last. They sorely 

 mourned his loss. 



In order to secure longevity for your birds? 

 be careful in the selection of your cages. 

 Herein lies the grand secret. The cages 

 generally in use, are altogether ill-adapted 

 to comfort ; being open to the air at every 

 point, and admitting a succession of draughts 

 from morning till night. Hence the cause of so 

 much sickness and of so many deaths. Birds 

 so attended to, speedily become asthmatic, 

 and seldom live more than three or four years, 

 as daily experience shows.f 



* This gentleman is now the right worthy 

 publisher of Ividd's Own Journal. 



t A" Naturalist " asks us, why we consider 

 the canary, when first brought over to this 

 country, was "tender and difficult to rear?" In 

 addition to its being recorded as an " historical 

 fact/' we imagine that though these birds love hot 

 climates, the cause might proceed, in no small 

 degree, from the ignorance and vrant of skill ex- 

 hibited in his care and culture. It is of late 

 years more particularly, that he has been fully 

 studied, and that his inherent excellencies have 

 been duly appreciated. Now, in fact, he may be 

 said to be acclimated. He is indeed one of the 

 hardiest of our songbirds, and will live in a state 

 of perfect liberty in an open garden, all through 

 a severe winter. We have proofs of this in our 

 possession. 



Above all things, religiously avoid the 

 circular, open-barred brass cages, with slid- 

 ing doors, now so much in vogue. We mean 

 those resembling a parrot's cage, on a re- 

 duced scale. They are frightful instruments 

 of destruction ; bringing full many an inno- 

 cent songster prematurely to his place of 

 final rest. The brass, we need hardly ob- 

 serve, when water lodges on it, presents 

 gangrene ; and this when tasted, produces 

 sometimes a lingering, sometimes sudden 

 death. All manner of " cheap " cages too, 

 must be discarded as inadmissible. They 

 are made of dry deal, and invariably harbor 

 vermin. Of these latter, we shall ere long 

 have to tell a pretty tale. As a rule, buy 

 no cages whatever excepting those made of 

 mahogany. 



The proper description of tenement for a 

 canary is a mahogany cage, 13 inches long, 

 11 inches high, and 8 inches deep. The top, 

 back, and one of the sides, should be of 

 wood ; the other side should be of tinned 

 wire-work (also the front), so as to admit 

 the air., and at the same time exclude a 

 thorough draught. Just above this wire- 

 work should be a wooden slide, running in a 

 groove. It might then be used, or not, as 

 occasion might require. The cage inside 

 should be painted white. This, if your bird 

 were of a fine bright yellow color, would show 

 him off to advantage. 



A long, square, but narrow perch, should 

 run from end to end, about the centre of the 

 cage ; and a second of a similar kind, directly 

 behind the two tin pans inserted at the front 

 of the cage (one on either side) to hold the 

 seed. In the middle of the wirework, at 

 the front, let there be a hole sufficiently 

 large to admit the bird's head while drinking. 

 Never use glasses or fountains for holding 

 water ; but receptacles of tin, suspended by 

 bent wires. Glasses and glass fountains are 

 apt to get displaced ; and many a prisoner 

 dies for want of water thus unthinkingly re- 

 moved beyond his reach. By having these 

 two perches only, the bird's feet will be kept 

 clean, and he will have plenty of room for 

 exercise, without injuring his plumage. 



A bird thus lodged, may be placed any- 

 where, or hung out of any window. He will 

 never know what fear is, and he will be 

 steady to his song. It is quite a mistake 

 (irrespective of its being cruel) to place any 

 bird in an open cage, if you wish him to sing 

 well. By allowing him to gaze about, his 

 attention becomes distraught, and his 

 thoughts are divided. So well do the Ger- 

 mans know this, that they frequently pass a 

 piece of red hot metal before the eyes of their 

 choicest birds, with a view to keep them 

 " intent upon their song alone." The inten- 

 sity of the pain inflicted by the heated metal 

 causes the tears of the poor victims to flow 



