356 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



You will then have a spawning bed of the 

 best kind ; and you will find that the fish are 

 not slow to avail themselves of the conve- 

 niences with which you have provided them. 

 This ought to be done not later than the first 

 week in October, in most brooks ; as trout in 

 many districts are spawning very soon after 

 this time. 



Two or three years ago, a gentleman of 

 fortune in Yorkshire, who wished to stock a 

 small lake he has with improved varieties of 

 trout, wrote to me to request I would send an 

 experienced and trustworthy person to him. 

 He wished to send him into various parts 

 of the kingdom where the trout were cele- 

 brated for their size and flavor, that he might 

 there obtain fertilised roe, for the purpose 

 of replenishing his spawning boxes, and thus 

 storing his lake with good trout. I accord- 

 ingly sent him a man, every way qualified 

 for such a mission, and furnished with cre- 

 dentials. He obtained roe in various parts 

 of the northern counties, which were duly 

 hatched, when the proper precautions were 

 taken ; and from his mouth I gathered some 

 very interesting particulars. — T. Gr., Cli- 

 theroe, May 20. 



{To be Continued.') 



BIRDS 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.XIIL— CAGE BIRDS— THE CANARY.* 



YOU WILL FIND THAT THE SIGHT of a 



nest-bag, and a peep at the two nest-boxes, 

 will soon inoculate the " happy pair " with a 

 desire to enter upon the duties of an active 

 and a profitable life. The chances are, that 

 the very first day they enter a breeding cage 

 will see the nest-bag pulled to pieces ; and 

 the nest itself progressing far towards com- 

 pletion. The hen, be it observed, is the most 

 alert in this matter. 



Whilst cosily seated on the building mate- 

 rial, and busily arranging it for the reception 

 of her eggs (the average number of which is 

 from two to five), the hen will keep on 

 giving utterance to a constant succession of 

 very peculiar, but expressive conjugal 

 notes. Now it is quite easy for a curious 

 observer, to see that each one of these notes 



* Our " Treatise on the Canary" (the copy- 

 right of which, we think it right to mention, is 

 vested in ourself only) is this day completed. 

 It is highly gratifying for us to be enabled to 

 state, that its originality and utility, as well as 

 fidelity and perspicuity, have been universally 

 commended. The copious extracts from it, which 

 have appeared week by week in all our prin- 

 cipal Papers, are confirmatory of this fact. 



is full of the " dear "-est meaning, and per- 

 fectly comprehended by the male. His lord- 

 ship, like a good husband, will ever be ob- 

 served thoroughly attentive, tenderly affec- 

 tionate, and ready, at a moment's notice, to 

 do her ladyship's bidding. Thus, at one 

 time, we find him feeding her while sitting 

 on the nest ; at another time, arranging the 

 moss, hair, and wool ; and, at all times, 

 lavishing on her the most delicate atten- 

 tions anticipating, indeed, her every wish. 

 So passes the honeymoon. 



The mutual affection evinced by these 

 sweet little creatures is most extraordinary. 

 Nor do their tender endearments cease until 

 the young ones are hatched. Then, how- 

 ever, come on the " cares of state." The 

 great responsibility from henceforward de- 

 volves on the male, to whose care the hen 

 mainly entrusts her infant brood. He has to 

 feed them, tend them, and watch over them 

 while the mother flies leisurely about, and 

 exercises herself; resolutely bent upon re- 

 cruiting herself, and recovering her lost 

 strength. If she interferes in the feeding of 

 the young, it is by eourtesy more than by 

 an assumption of right. But there are, let 

 us add, many exceptions to this general rule. 



As the young will, generally, be hatched 

 on the thirteenth day after sitting, have in 

 readiness some soft victuals in a saucer, for 

 their parents to feed them with— such as the 

 yolk of fresh, hard-boiled egg, sponge bis- 

 cuit, and scalded rape-seed; the whole 

 moistened in the first instance with boiling 

 water, but not made too thin. This should 

 be given fresh, twice daily. A little well- 

 seeded chick-weed, quite ripe, should also be 

 given to the old birds at this time, twice or 

 thrice a-week at least. 



When we gave a strict caution that your 

 birds should be left unmolested, and quite 

 private whilst breeding, this had reference 

 more particularly to the early part of the 

 process. When the young are hatched, it 

 will be needful every now and then to look 

 at them quietly. If they appear, as young 

 birds should do, red and healthy, with 

 their crops distended, all is well. If, on 

 the contrary, they are of a pale sickly hue, 

 and their crops are empty, then at once con- 

 struct them, as neatly as may be, a new nest 

 (after first scalding and drying the mate- 

 rials), and change the one for the other. 

 Change also the nest box. This done, care- 

 fully remove the nestlings with a warm 

 hand, and place them in their new abode. 



On examining the old nest, you will find 

 it full of minute vermin. Subject one of 

 them to pressure under a pin's head. The 

 blood emitted once ran in the veins of your 

 innocent nestlings, who, from their very birth 

 till this moment, have sustained these ver- 

 min in life ! ! Never neglect this act of duty. 



