ORNITHOLOGICAL CRITICISMS. 
13 
I have never seen this plan carried into effect. At first it seems very like a 
tame-Bullfinch-let-loose affair; but I think it just possible that it may be true, 
as the Bullfinch, though very shy, displays considerable unwillingness to quit 
the hedge in which it may be concealed. Besides being a “ hidling” bird, the 
wings of the Bullfinch are short, and little calculated for lengthy flights. It is, 
therefore, a peculiarly stationary species in all the countries it inhabits. 
There is now at No. 36, Princes-Street, Leicester-Square, London, a “ Baron 
von der Hutton,” who offers piping Bullfinches and Canaries for sale; but the 
worthy Herr is so singularly morose that his real wish seems to be to prevent 
visitors from purchasing his little prodigies. Is this the man respecting a visit to 
whom in 1835 Mr. Neville Wood furnishes so amusing an account in his British 
Song-Birds (p. 397), or is the occupation of teaching Bullfinches to pipe a 
peculiarly souring process to the temper ?* 
The late Baron Ternaux, say's an anonymous writer, decorated his grounds 
at St. Ouen, near Paris, with splendid looking-glasses, which reflected the varied 
landscape, and produced a very fine effect. One day the gardener found one of 
the Peafowls before the glass, with its tail displayed, and apparently contemplat¬ 
ing itself with great satisfaction. The gardener let it remain there until he went 
round the grounds; he returned in a few hours, and found the Peacock still before 
the glass. He now drove it away, but it as constantly returned. He at length 
took it to the aviary; but the Peacock, as soon as it could get out, went back to 
the mirror, refusing all food for the delight of beholding itself in the glass. The 
Baron at last suffered it to remain, ordering food to be placed before it near the 
glass ; but it did not touch it; and, on the third or fourth day, the bird of Juno 
was found lying dead before the glass. A second Peacock, which had never seen 
the mirror, was brought, that it might be observed whether the effect would be 
the same; when it was found that it was as proud of viewing its own image as 
its predecessor; and, to prevent its meeting a similar fate, it was not allowed 
access to the grounds. 
The above anecdote was communicated to the narrator by the Baron himself, 
on his last visit to London. The feeling of the birds was probably the action 
of the organ of Love-of-approbation, according to the phrenological system. It 
thus appear, that the Peafowl is a perfect Narcissus. The same phenomenon 
has been observed in other kinds of birds, as Goldfinches, Turkeys, &c.; but 
in some cases the idea of the presence of a companion must be the dominant 
feeling. 
* Von Hutton is the man we visited ; and his advertisements may frequently be seen in the 
Morning Chronicle , and other London daily papers. His occupation and his appartment have 
known no change for the last four years.— Ed. 
