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KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



front of each small cage with green glazed calico; 

 partly filling them with fragments of a birch- 

 broom, to imitate as nearly as possible the bottom 

 of a rough hedge. They were then placed high 

 against a wall, opposite a staircase window. The 

 latter end of the following April, I requested Mr. 

 Blake, bird- dealer, John .Street, Tottenham Court 

 Road, to catch for me a male and female night- 

 ingale, which had paired in a wild state. He 

 procured me a very fine pair, which fortunately 

 mated off without losing much flesh. In about a 

 week after placing them in the cages described, 

 I was much pleased to observe the hen bird — 

 having previously marked her by taking about 

 half an inch off her tail — carrying about Avithcred 

 oak leaves, with which I had supplied them. She 

 ultimately made her nest in one of the small 

 cages, and brought up three young birds. During 

 the time she was sitting, the male bird sang as 

 stout as if in a state of liberty. When the young 

 were hatched, he appeared, to devote himself 

 entirely to the task of assisting to bring them up. 

 I afterwards found an addled egg in the nest, 

 which was made in a corner at the bottom of the 

 cage.- — H. H. 



[This comes to us so well authenticated, that 

 we readily give it publicity. We confess it to be 

 the only instance within our own knowledge, of 

 nightingales having bred in confinement.] 



*** Certain of our readers are in the habit of writing 

 us long cases for consideration, and request immediate 

 answers by post. We observe that in almost every case, 

 no postage stamp is enclosed for the payment of our 

 letter in reply. This is ungenerous ; and indeed compels 

 us to discontinue the practice of private correspondence 

 from to day. On the other hand, we have a number of 

 kind letters ; enclosing in some instances no fewer than 

 six stamps — the writers apologising for their intrusion 

 on our time. The five extra stamps Ave of course return. 

 We merely mention this, to shoAV the difference between 

 meanness and generosity. Such readers as these arc at 

 all times Avelcome to our best offices of kindness and 

 attention. 



BIBDS OF SONG. 



Give me but 

 Something whereunto I may bind my heart, 

 Something to love, to rest upon, — to clasp 

 Affection's tendrils i - ound. — -Mrs. IIejians. 



No. VIII.— CAGE BIRDS. -THE CANARY. 



As many inexperienced persons meet 

 with repeated vexations, either in losing their 

 young birds when hatched, or in having the 

 eggs forsaken by the parent birds during 

 the process of incubation, Ave Avill very plainly 

 shoAV the reason, and provide the remedy. 



Any person who Avill take the trouble of 

 thinking and reasoning on the subject, must 

 be struck with the folly generally exhibited 

 in putting up birds to breed from, themselves 

 only a year old ! That the hens do lay, and 

 that their eggs are sometimes fruitful, Ave 

 grant ; but the giddiness of the parents, their 

 inattention to their young, and want of ex- 

 perience generally— are constant causes of 

 their first and second broods dying in their 

 infancy. 



No birds should be paired until they are 



at least two years old. From that period 

 they may be said to be in full vigor, and in- 

 stinctively qualified for the perpetuation of 

 their race. You Avill find the hens at this 

 age less fickle in their attachments, and 

 more devotedly affectionate to the husband of 

 their choice. There Avill be but one common 

 feeling between them ; they will share jointly 

 the solicitude attendant on the hatching and 

 rearing of a family, and the male will be con- 

 stant in feeding his partner as she sits on 

 the nest. All these points are essentially to 

 be regarded. 



The next consideration Avill be, how to 

 breed your birds perfectly pure. Having 

 once procured a good " stock," your anxiety 

 for the future will be removed. If you wish 

 to have birds of a brilliant or " gay " plumage, 

 let both parents be of a clear and uniform 

 yelloAv, free from all foul feathers. If any 

 of the latter be visible, the breed will be im- 

 pure. If you select a Belgian canary, let it 

 be a Jonque male bird only, and associate 

 Avith him a Norwich or Yorkshire hen. The 

 Belgian hens, although good mothers, are 

 yet of so large and so long a body that they 

 sit awkwardly upon the nest, and find great 

 difficulty in hatching their eggs. This re- 

 mark applies, hoAvever, more particularly to 

 a breeding-cage. If the birds are in a room, 

 and build in a tree, the objection Ave make 

 Avill be over-ruled. 



Such persons as are not particular Avith 

 regard to color, will find the grey canaries 

 breed as well, or perhaps better than most 

 others. They are assuredly the best nurses. 

 But. whatever color you may choose, take 

 special care to select birds of the largest and 

 longest feathers you can get, and let them 

 be in robust health. A sickly parent, father 

 or mother, "will produce a puny, degenerate 

 offspring. In selecting a pair of English 

 canaries, let the hen be the larger of the tAvo, 

 so that her eggs may be the better covered. 

 The heat imparted from the body of the 

 mother is tAvice as great as that from the 

 father. 



When a pair of canaries have the misfor- 

 tune to "addle" their first nest of eggs, 

 which notwithstanding the attention on their 

 part -will sometimes be the case, you will 

 find that it will teach them a practical lesson. 

 They will speedily go to nest a second time, 

 and most probably, on this occasion, hatch 

 every egg, and rear every one of their off- 

 spring. Some males are steady and good to 

 breed from, when a year old ; but the hens 

 should never be put up until in their second 

 or third year. 



The late Sir John Sebright, in a pamphlet 

 on the " Instinct of Animals," maintains that 

 " acquired habits in animals become heredi- 

 tary." We incline strongly to the same 

 opinion. Long experience goes far to con- 



