FIDELITY AND ATTACHMENT OF DOGS. 



485 



small caterpillars, grasshoppers, crickets, moths, and many other insects, 

 and will swallow a larger one than could be imagined for so small a 

 bird. In confinement it will feed readily on the general food of its 

 congeners, and is very fond of the yolk of an egg boiled hard, so that it 

 may be crumbled, on the top of the other food, or put in the cage in an 

 empty egg-shell. It should also be supplied with a few insects occa- 

 sionally, such as flies, spiders, small caterpillars, moths, or butterflies. 

 Being an inhabitant of the sides of ditches and rivers, it is very partial 

 to washing, which it must not be allowed to do in winter, or it will wash 

 itself till it is so weak that it can never recover, and I lost several of 

 this species by allowing them to wash in winter. I therefore gave them 

 their water in a very small cup, not much larger than a walnut, in 

 which they can only dip their heads ; but they even try to wash in 

 this, by throwing the water over themselves, which amuses without 

 hurting them. I have a male bird of this species that has sung occa- 

 sionally all the winter. The song is very loud and variable, consisting 

 of a great number of notes, and sung with many changes of voice, so 

 diversified as to resemble the song of several different birds. Birds of 

 this species are very courageous, and are sometimes apt to quarrel with 

 each other ; and if two are in one cage they must be parted, or one will 

 probably fall a victim to the other. 



The nest of this bird is generally affixed to the side of a large tree^ 

 such as a pollard willow or poplar, twisted round the young branches 

 with the webs of caterpillars. It is a deep nest, and composed chiefly 

 of dry blades of grass, intermixed with a few bits of moss, all closely 

 and neatly bound tight together, with the strong webs of the gregarious 

 caterpillars that infest the trees and hedges in summer. It is rather a 

 rare bird in this country, much more so than the sedge bird, and only 

 visits particular districts. It is not, however, uncommon in the neigh- 

 bourhood of London , there being annually several in the Regent's Park, 

 and also on the banks of the Thames, between Battersea Bridge and the 

 Red House Tavern, in Battersea Fields. 



ON THE FIDELITY AND ATTACHMENT OF DOGS TO THEIR 



MASTERS. 



BY MISS HUNTER*. 



That dogs forsake their own species, relinquish their own pleasures, 

 and leave their natural food to become the friends and companions of 



* This communication does great credit to the young writer. — Editor, 



i 



