might have in some degree impaired his beauty, 

 and lessened the dignity of his mien, — yet was he 

 a most beautiful object to behold. I will ven- 

 ture to assert he will never again dare to repeat 

 his visits here. His punishment appeared to 

 have been heavy.— Flora G., Worcester. 



First-rate Food for Nightingales in Confine- 

 ment. — I have great pleasure in forwarding you 

 an excellent receipt for food peculiar to nightin- 

 gales. They will thrive on it, and it will 

 preserve them in excellent health. The compo- 

 nent parts are as follows. Two pounds of 

 rolled beef; one pound of grey peas ; one pound 

 of sweet almonds (blanched in hot water and 

 pounded fine); twelve fresh eggs; and one and 

 a-half ounce of saffron (in powder). Let the 

 peas be pounded and carefully sifted, and the 

 beef carefully scraped and cleansed from fat, skin, 

 and fibre. Infuse the saffron in a quarter of a 

 pint of boiling water. All this being done, let 

 the twelve eggs be broken into a basin, and all 

 the above ingredients carefully worked in, 

 finishing with the saffron. Make the whole up 

 into round cakes about the thickness of your 

 finger, and dry them in an oven, after the bread 

 is withdrawn ; or in a large baking pan rubbed 

 with fresh butter, and placed before a gentle 

 fire. These cakes are sufficiently dressed when 

 they have acquired the consistence of newly- 

 made biscuits. When required for use, they 

 should be broken, and crumbled in the hand. 

 A receipt like the above is invaluable to night- 

 ingale fanciers .and it is worthy a place in the 

 Public's " Own Journal."— E. K. 



[We 'tender you our grateful acknowledg- 

 ments for this, on behalf of our readers generally.] 



So/tEggs, or Eggs without Shells. — I see several 

 of your Correspondents are troubled in ,this 

 matter, as I have often been myself. I will tell 

 you how to obviate the annoyance. When the 

 hen canary, or other cage bird, is about breeding, 

 mix some yolk of egg boiled hard, with some 

 stale bun; and add a little finely-sifted old 

 mortar. This will in no way affect the male 

 bird, and it will infallibly prevent the laying of 

 soft eggs. You may act the same with domestic 

 fowls, adding barley meal, scalded with pot- 

 liquor. — J. A. B. 



Canary with a Bald Head, 8fc. — My dear Mr. 

 Editor, I am in sad trouble ; and that, I know, 

 makes you my friend at once. I have a pet 

 canary, — such a darling! I would not part with 

 it for a world, — if offered me. Do cure it for 

 me, — will you? You shall claim your own 

 reward; for I know your skill, and feel " happy " 

 in your hands. My bird's head is bald, and part 

 of the neck is naked. He is quite an object. 

 And he mopes so ! In spite of his love for me 

 he now looks at me, as I pass, quite languidly. 

 Heigho! what shalll do?— MaryE.B. Belgravia. 



[fcjpoken like a fairy Queen! Look up, fair 

 goddess; we pledge our regard for you, invoked 

 by yourself, that we will work a perfect cure for 

 your pet. He has what is called the surfeit. 

 He has been fed on bad seed, or unripe green 

 food (perhaps both), which has caused a humor, 

 of an acrid nature, to exude from his skin. This 



has eaten away the feathers. Wash his head 

 well in common salt and water, drying it with a 

 piece of soft linen. Then apply a little fresh 

 butter, or hogs' lard, on th.e nude parts, rubbing 

 it carefully in. Repeat both the washing and 

 the rubbing daily, for a week. This will kill the 

 disorder; and it being now Spring, the chances 

 are that the feathers will almost immediately be 

 replaced. If not, the bird will be well and " jolly" 

 if you feed him properly. Provide the very best 

 canary, rape, and flax seeds, and mix some old 

 well-bruised mortar with his sand. Also give 

 him occasionally a little water-cress, and some- 

 times share your egg with him. A little (fresh) 

 boiled milk now and then, is an agreeable 

 change ; and these birds love chickweed. This 

 done, be sure and report progress, that we may 

 claim our reward.] 



A load in a Hole. — We have often heard this 

 expression made use of, but perhaps few of us 

 know its origin. Let me tell you a curious cir- 

 cumstance that I have been an eye-witness to. 

 Some time since — it is quite fresh in my memory, 

 my sister and myself were in the habit of passing, 

 daily, a block of red sand stone, the top of 

 which was quite smooth. One very hot day we 

 were surprised to observe on it, as we thought, a 

 palpable spot of rain. It excited our surprise at 

 the time ; and we were still more surprised when, 

 a day or two subsequently, we observed the very 

 same apparent " spot of rain " unabsorbed by 

 the heat! About this time, some heavy rains 

 fell ; and on our looking again for the spot, there 

 it was, but considerably darker, and more moist 

 than any other part of the stone. We then 

 covered it over with a board, which remained (off 

 and on) for several months; and once during 

 that time we passed a heated iron over the top. 

 Still, no visible alteration. After this, the spot 

 increased to the size of a crown piece ; and one 

 day happening to let a stone fall just upon the 

 damp place (as we called it), behold the surface, 

 which was very thin, chipped off, and on inves- 

 tigation we found imbedded, in a place just big 

 enough to hold him — a toad. When he first felt 

 the air, this tenant of the tomb gently raised 

 himself, looked about him, blew himself up (or 

 out) to an immense extent, and then shuffled off 

 to a small pond, the existence of which seemed 

 to have been known to him ere he was buried ! 

 Here he was seen for a few days only, enjoying 

 the otium cum dignitate. He then finally dis- 

 appeared. What a tale he had to unfold to the 

 inhabitants of that pond ! — Hester E. 



A Cure for Cage-birds that are Egg-hound. — 

 As soon as the hen commences the building of 

 her nest, mix some yolk of egg boiled hard, with 

 some stale, sweet bun ; and add some finely 

 powdered loaf sugar. Continue this till she has 

 laid two or three eggs. The object of the above 

 compound is to assist in lubricating the vent, 

 thereby enabling the eggs to pass freely. — 

 J. A. B. 



[As very many really valuable birds lose their 

 lives from neglect in this matter, we trust our 

 readers will peruse the above carefully.] 



