372 
Wisely, sir, in permitting your bird to be where 
gas is. His lungs can hardly be proof against its 
baneful influence.] Whilst I write (7 p.m.), he is 
pouring out a full tide of song. I never confine 
him to any particular food. I give him boiled 
egg, mashed potato [you should put no butter in 
it], apples, hedge fruits, preserves, fresh meat, 
insects, &c. Spiders he is particularly fond of. 
[All soft-billed birds rejoice in spiders; and they 
are the very best of food for them.) I let him 
come out on the table every morning. By this 
means, his wings get free play ; and he is alto- 
gether more lively. [Al birds that are tame and 
familiar should be allowed a daily flight,—“ pro- 
vided always” there be no cat in the house; and 
those who love birds never ought to admit a cat 
under the same roof withthem.] He is about the 
size of a thrush, and marked much like the wag- 
tail. The colors are somewhat lighter, but the 
tail is equally long, and in constant motion. When 
he commences his song, he has all the sprightly 
action of the robin. He only imitates birds,—not 
animals.—J. R., Hull. 
[You are fortunate indeed in having a mocking- 
bird who does not imitate animals generally. 
His value is thereby considerably enhanced. 
Their imitation of cats, owls, dogs, and the 
screaming of parrots, is by the multitude reckoned 
a mark of perfection. We readily confess that 
WE can see no beauty in such performances. 
Many things are ‘“ wonderful,” that are not 
“‘pleasing.”’] 

Notes on the Season,. &c., at Barnsley—The 
sudden coming together of autumn and winter 
towards the close of the month just elapsed, having 
been marked by peculiarities differing in this 
neighborhood from those recorded in some other 
places,—a brief recapitulation of the meteoro- 
logical phenomena of the last quarter may not be 
uninteresting to readers at a distance. In Sep- 
tember we had rain on 15 days, very heavy in 
some instances; that on the 12th amounting to 
1 inch, the quantity of the whole month being 3} 
inches. In October there was rain on 26 days; 
that on the 5th amounting to 1 inch, and for the 
whole month to 5 inches. In November there 
was rain on 14 days; but up to the 24th the quan- 
tity was little more than half an inch. From the 
snow of that day, and the rain of the following 
morning, was produced nearly an inch, and the 
quantity for the whole month was 22 inches of 
rain. The greater part of the month was fine, 
the rich sunlight prevailing soon removed the 
effect of the transient showers; so that the fears 
justly felt, after the unfavorable time of harvesting 
the grain, that the getting into the ground of the 
seed corn would be equally unfavorable, were soon 
set at rest. The rigor with which winter set in 
on the night of the 21st was so great that, on the 
22nd, the waters on the Fleets (a low tract often 
overflowed by the Dearne) were sheeted with so 
strong a coat of ice, that the healthy sport of 
skating was enjoyed thereon on the 22nd, 28rd, 
and 24th; as excellent skating as the oldest 
admirers of the art had ever experienced, and un- 
remembered by any so early in the season. The 
ice was from 12 to 2 inches thick on the 22nd, on 
which day our sport was enjoyed within a charmed 
circle, shut out by a thick tog from observation 


he would let us. 
KIDD’S OWN JOURNAL. 
without. On the 24th the fog cleared up: the 
sun rose for a short time in a sky changing from 
crimson to orange and grey. But dense clouds 
soon gathered, and the cold thaw wind which had 
veered from N.to 8. by E. and S. E., brought 
first driving hail, succeeded by snow, covering 
the ground to the depth of 3 or 4 inches, which 
was ultimately followed by drenching rain. The 
thermometer, which had been 43° in the shade, 
on the 21st, during the strongest period of the 
frost, stood from 25° to 30°; the barometer, 
which was 30°10’ on the 28rd, only sank to 
29°70' on the 25th November. This month sets 
in with a mingling of November fogs, passing 
gleams of sun, and sometimes, when a little 
frost occurs at night or morning, with the shining 
of the crescent moon and the Queen of Night— 
Venus, now at her best for telescopic obser-, 
vation. Many birds, characteristic of the season, 
have been observed. The common and Jack 
Snipes have been more than usually abundant 
in the Dearne valley, where also a common Sand- 
piper Las been shot. The far more rare green- 
legged Sandpiper, and a Dipper, have been taken 
in a net used by the unfeeling birdcatcher to 
snare the beautiful Kingfisher. Siskins have 
been seen by me among the beechnuts and 
alder seeds. Bramblings, too, and Goldcrests, 
have been noted in abundance in Cannon Hall 
Park, amongst the noble beech trees which adorn 
that fine domain.—T. Lister, Barnsley, Dec. 10. 
[Old Winter” seems to be in earnest this 
year, and determined to give us a specimen of his 
power. Weare glad of it; and welcome him most 
heartily. Health follows in his footsteps, aud re- 
generation takes place whenever his “icy morsels” 
are scattered over the earth. Snow, too, has 
preceded him; and what lovely pictures has she 
formed all over the country! ‘The trees, covered * 
with rime, are quite poetical {no joke is intended 
here); and the fantastic ornaments adorning 
the sprays and hollies are superlatively beau- 
tiful. Whilst we write (Dec. 16), the whole face 
of the country is gemmed with the richest jewels. 
The snow lies deep on the roads. The hedges are 
bespangled with glittering diamonds innumerable ; 
trembling in the rays of the pale but ever- 
glorious sun, who peeps from behind a fleecy 
cloud to enjoy the work of Nature’s lovely hand ; 
in which he will bear a part, and on which he 
will throw an additional lustre. Oh,—if space 
permitted, what a “Mirror of the Month” we 
could write to-day! Our thoughts,— our exis- 
tence, are fairly ‘‘ poetry,”’—and nothing else. 
We have seen sights to-day which we shall 
never forget. Let us here record the fact of 
snow falling (near London) for the first time, on 
Dec. 15. It continued that and the following 
day, and averaged in some places a depth of 
from two to four feet. In other parts of the 
country, the depth was from six to ten feet. 
The cold has been such as to make people’s faces 
“short,” crisp, healthy—jollv. Oh, may those 
faces never grow longer! A “short,” merry, 
eood-tempered, smiling countenance is so be- 
coming! Does it not make even the chin on a 
fair face look provokingly-tempting? It does. 
And we feel angry with the frost for “pinching ” 
it. We would most willingly do tt for him,—if 
A-hem !] 



