Notes from 
an Old Diary. 
(45) THE BIRD WORLD. 
be a hen. I grieved over it for a time, 
but it turned out to be a good breeder 
and feeder. 
I hand-reared some Redstarts, Night¬ 
ingales, and Blackcaps, and raised by 
these means enough to buy a Canary, 
which cost me a very large sum, 7s. 6d. 
Many a day did I go and listen to this 
bird singing, quite unknown to the 
owner. It was a stormer, and came from 
Norwich, so I suppose you could call it 
a Norwich bird. I bred from two nests 
of birds. This was the start, and I con¬ 
sider I was lucky. How many times I 
examined this pair during the year to see 
if they had the u pip ” I could not say. 
That was the only disease I was 
acquainted with. How I dread to think 
of my foolishness in pricking the oil 
glands of the birds for the pip, when no 
pip existed, only in my foolish and un¬ 
enlightened brain, but by accident light 
dawned upon me. A stranger explained 
to me that it was Nature’s medicine 
chest. This caused me to think. I can 
say that from that day to this I have 
never done so cruel an action, and have 
stopped many others doing the cruel 
trick. Such is ignorance! Now we 
have to thank the various papers for 
stopping all this superstition respecting 
birds. 
I have caught in the day-time quite a 
number of Owls. These I kept in the 
loft over the stables, but was caught in 
the act, and had to at once release them. 
I have taken two kinds of Owls from one 
tree, also Sparrow and Kestrel Hawks. 
For many years I have hand-reared nests 
of Bullfinches and Goldfinches, and 
generally a nest of Linnets. 
As I refer to my diary, so does it 
refresh my memory, once I had a nest of 
eggs given me from a pair of Yorkshires, 
the hen dying. These I placed under- 
some Linnets in the garden, and after 
they got to about eight days of age, I 
hand-reared them, and brought up three 
—two I kept, and one I returned to the 
giver. I have done the same since on 
several occasions, with good results. In 
practising this experiment, you must 
make sure the eggs are in safety, and 
not likely to be taken. I chose the 
Linnets’ nests because they were the 
safest, and not likely to be disturbed. 
An old pigsty made of bricks I netted 
with fish-netting, and made into quite an 
artistic aviary, planting in it all kinds of 
trees and shrubs in old pails and pots, 
nests of various kinds I placed in these 
to get my birds to breed. I tried the 
Hedgesparrow to breed with a Robin, 
and cock Yellow Hammer with a hen 
Chaffinch and another kind of Buntry. 
These, of course, turned out failures. 
The Grey and Yellow Wagtail I had, and 
tried to pair, but they refused. Three 
kinds of Tits I had there at one time, 
but one by one I lost them, owing to 
their getting through the double netting. 
I was not at all sorry, for they took up 
much of my time in searching for their 
natural food. 
I once kept an Ox-eye Tit for 
five years in a cage, and it proved a 
great pet; at last I killed it by giving it 
flies from a flypaper. A nest of Red¬ 
starts I raised at this time, and gave 
them to Dr. Bradburn at the time when 
he was compiling his noted work, and 
many a letter have we written comparing 
notes. I advocated hemp seed for fresh- 
caught birds, which I believe he at last 
also strongly advocated. How nice it 
is to go back to bygone days, and get 
your memory refreshed. Some things 
you sadly repent, and others you are 
proud of. What has been sacrificed for 
knowledge? I believe that the Bull¬ 
finches and Goldfinches have always 
held the greatest hold on my love. Many 
and many a nest have I hand-reared of 
these, and many a pet has been made, 
and many a tale could I unfold respect¬ 
ing the Bullfinch, which I shall give in 
another article. Many a dozen have 1 
caught in trap cages during the winter 
and spring, when they have been after 
—-the_fruit buds; I knew if I did not catch 
them in that way they would have been 
shot, for the damage they do to the 
gooseberry and plum buds are consider¬ 
able. But yet, on the other hand, the 
owners of these trees would let the fruit 
stay upon the trees until it either rotted 
or fell off, and yet would not allow one 
of the most beautiful of our British birds 
a feed. Some are never happy unless 
