the sofa in the small drawing-room; the light shone calmly and romantically as before; and I was as before-alone. Yet there was a pleasant calm-a feeling of plenitude and elevation in my soul-my heart was at rest. What was it that made me feel so well, though I had been disappointed in my visit? Left alone, I had not felt lonely nor at loss; I had studied the works of the Great Father; I had

learned and adored, and so forgotten time, solitude, myself, earth and carthly wishes, and my expected visit. Oh! was it not clear that I had had a visit after all-a visit, not from mortal friends, but from immortal? They had whispered to me, "Hereafter thou shalt never feel lonely when alone; then we will come to thee." And I was glad and thankful!

THE immediate subject of consideration is one of the most popular of the day - the management in health and treatment under disease of our indigenous and imported birds.

There cannot be a doubt of the increasing interest upon the subject of Natural History, various treatises teem from the press receiving their impetus from the vox populi calling aloud for wholesome food. Alack a day! the era of fables has passed away; wiser in our generation, the veriest toddler would lisp out its incredulity on the subjects of "Red Riding Hood" and "Puss in Boots," were a nursemaid to be found daring enough to promulgate any history less veracious than the predatory habits of the wolf, or the amiable instincts of the domestic cat.

The opportunities afforded by the increase of steam navigation, for the importation of foreign birds, has an obvious tendency to induce the scientific naturalist to write of their habits, their instincts, and their homes; such histories treating only of the subject in a wild state, involve the serious considerations of voluminous matter and great expense. Yet, while admitting the full merit of learned disquisitions, I fearlessly assert the want of practical information for the management of our little helpless prisoners.

A treatise adapted to the daily use of the possessor of a bird or birds, free from the errors of prejudice and inexperience, is much required; and this deficiency has suggested, through the medium of a popular channel, the offer of a correct guide, for the preservation, in health and in song, of our caged favourites, affording to the public the results of long observation and practice, together with tried and approved remedies, under the many ills, that even the feathered race are "heirs to." I write avec connaissance de cause; there is no teacher like experience; the medical treatment of my numerous dependents was once a source of

VOL. XVI.

perplexity; a foreign authority knew nothing of our British song birds-(the sweetest in the world!)-an English writer treated the German canary as if, instead of the stoverearing among the miners, the dainty importation had all its lifetime fed upon rank seeds and inhaled our fogs. Being for many years the possessor of both home and foreign specimens, and bringing to the aid of my object the results of inquiries personally instituted among amateurs of every class, I may say I have "taken my degree," and shall, I trust, be found "qualified" to furnish a desideratum, the absence of which I have too frequently regretted.

I have found that the best informed upon the subject of birds in captivity, are those persons whose habits of life are sedentary; their monotonous pursuits lead them to observation, and a well-directed enthusiasm producing care, gentleness, and kindly feelings; and it may be set forth as an axiom, that where healthy and lively birds are found, their possessors love their pets, and have their advantage in the reflected gratification afforded by their meed of care, while others, only selfindulgent, weary of the charge.

I trust I may be able to induce a more general acquaintance with the nature and habits of our little cheerful companions, to the advantage of both parties. It is an old saying, and a good one, that "whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well;" and, when to this aphorism is added a consideration involving animal suffering, or the contrary, I feel assured I shall not have spoken in vain, by trying to serve that class in creation which more than any other has a peaceful and holy influence on our nature. A bird can only by mute signs complain, but in its contentment has a voice of gladness and of praise.

Birds and flowers are among the inexpensive elegances of life; their possession adds to the

D

pleasures of the rich, and the labours of the poor are refreshed from a purifying source. In proportion to the means of each class will be found their several belongings. The gorgeous bird, transplanted from his native land; the gentle linnet, taken from the nest; the captured nightingale, that "bears no rivalry," are each and all sufferers through ignorance-an ignorance not wilful, but from the want of a proper guide—a plain, practical adviser.

The "too much" or the "too little" of advice must be ever a matter of opinion. I have very much to say about cage management, which must be reserved until brought under the heads of the several birds to be discussed, confining myself in this place to a few brief hints as to the general care of hard-billed and soft-billed birds. The necessity for condensing even a popular theme in the pages of a periodical, as well as the consideration that the possessor of any particular bird would seek its history and interests under its name, have induced this arrangement.

The distinctive appellations of "hard and soft billed" have given rise to much error in the treatment of the former. Being styled "granivorous," they are too frequently limited to seed. The class so called includes Grosbeaks, Finches, and Buntings. Of the firstnamed and the latter we have but few natives. Each and all require, in addition to seed, soft food, as a substitute for the variety provided by nature. Canary, millet and hemp are common to the home and foreign birds; rape and flax are shunned by the latter, and paddie (or unshelled rice) avoided by the former. In an aviary these little variations are of no consequence, the supply being equal to the demand; but where each bird has its own habitat, the provision should be made accordingly.

The soft food, to be given in glass, japanned tin, or zinc vessels, should be changed daily. Bread and milk, (toast and milk is even better,) German paste, chopped egg and crumbs of roll or sweet bun, potatoes mashed alone or with oatmeal added, bread and butter cut thin and finely chopped, and in most cases a little bit of scraped or chopped raw beef. A vessel of new milk, and green food in season, (never to be given during frost,) of which I consider the small-leaved chickweed, salad, cresses, and grass-seeds the best. Lettuce and maw (or poppy) seeds should be sprinkled over the vessel of bread and milk occasionally.

A little watchful care will soon point out the preference shown by a bird to any particular supply; yet it frequently happens that

he will leave untouched one day the food that the next he may enjoy. These little caprices are in accordance with all animal nature. I therefore enjoin it as a rule to give the regular bill of fare daily, and withdraw in the evening that portion liable to become objectionable.

Exercise, air, and cleanliness do more for birds than even an abundance of food. By the former I mean suitable cages, and in some cases a flight about the room, under due precaution from accidents; by the latter I am to be understood as advising well-cleansed cages weekly, fresh sand or fine gravel, sometimes clay, every other day, water-fountains and baths renewed daily, the latter cold in summer, tepid at other seasons.

The evils of an unnatural state of confinement can only be alleviated by our just and careful attendance; by these the owner of a little dependent being will find his rewardthrough the contrary, sad suffering must be the result. We are bound to foster and protect the little creature whose life is at our mercywhose melody is at our service. A few minutes each morning will serve to avert the merited reproach of cruel neglect; deaths by starvation; bad feet, from soiled perches; parasites, from unwashed cages; asthma and consumption, from sour soft food, and withered vegetable matter, from exposure to draughts of air, an uneven temperature, a broiling sun, or an easterly wind, leaving the defenceless, unsheltered bird in misery, leading on to death. Let not my readers look lightly upon sufferings inflicted upon that which is a portion of the creation. "The sparrow on the housetop" is not despised of God!

The soft-billed birds are generally called Songsters, and embrace several genera. The LARK SPECIES may be pronounced as on the outskirts, being to a certain degree granivorous; the bill varies from both orders; the claw is peculiar; and these birds dust themselves, instead of bathing; the food must therefore accord. For SKYLARKS it should be German paste, mixed with crumb of roll, and occasionally hard boiled yolk of egg added; also oats, varied by substituting groats-the former being heating. Hempseed is given by some amateurs, and it is difficult to deprive the bird afterwards of it; but it is objectionable. Fresh water and sand, chopped cabbage and cress, with a fresh sod of turf, a cheerful sunny aspect, without draughts of air, will, combined, preserve both health and song. The cage best adapted will be noted elsewhere.

The WOODLARK'S food should consist of German paste, crumb of roll or sweet bun,

crushed hemp (one-fourth), and occasionally chopped egg; fresh water daily. Clay, dry, not too fine, is better than sand; their feet being delicate, it cuts like glass. A small sod of peat, in addition to a perch, is necessary.

The lark species, together with the bullfinch and chaffinch, are generally classed under the head "granivorous and insectivorous." I am inclined to place the two latter birds with the seed-eaters, which, according to my rule, get soft food in addition. Larks eat ants and mealworms, and ant-mould improves their condition.

THRUSHES AND BLACKBIRDS are berry and insect eaters; but an artificial state of life brings them readily to prepared food. German paste, with bread-crumbs, is the most nourishing; a little scraped raw beef, bread and butter, and occasionally chopped egg. Fruit, slugs, and mealworms, ad occasio, may form a desert. Many disorders may be averted by giving a change of food to soft-billed birds. To this hardy kind an alteration in diet once a week is desirable: crushed scalded hempseed, made into a paste with bread-crumbs, or beanmeal and potato, the latter blended, and the meal mixed through it; but observe if the thrush or blackbird will partake of these varieties; they are capricious-some disliking moist food, others loathing the dry. The latter has great advantages, giving strength, liveliness, and song. Fig-dust and crushed hemp are given to nestlings.

NIGHTINGALES were once a puzzle: they are too delicate for experiments, and the only suitable food is the yolk of a hard-boiled egg, pressed through an iron sieve, with an equal quantity of scraped raw beef, moistened with water. Ants, ants' eggs, and the mould in which they are found, are all desirable; mealworms occasionally, if ailing especially. When nightingales are not fat, (they become so generally in autumn,) the water may be omitted, prescribed for moistening the egg and beef. Apoplexy is threatened, when any soft-billed bird begins to totter; immediately change the food from dry to moist. Sand, water, cleanliness, and quiet management are essential. The skin of the nightingale is so porous, that a bath in winter would cause death. At no time allow the water given for bathing to be below the temperature of the room.

ROBINS must also have a change of food at times: the best for general use is German paste, roll-crumbs, and hard-boiled yolk of egg, reduced to a pulp by a few drops of water, and a little raw scraped beef. A change may be made to German paste, bread-crumbs, and bullock's liver grated fine and mixed: the latter

ingredient creates thirst, and the favour it once possessed is disappearing. These birds like bread and butter also, and mealworms entice them to great familiarity. They are wonderful bathers. At the spring season they droop, their feathers look ruffled, then clammy-before the last state emancipate a bird unfit for the cage, for the imprisonment of which its captors are doubly culpable; for this little friend of man volunteers his visits, and asks but liberty in return, for his merry bow and his song. One taken from London to the neighbourhood of Dublin was mercifully set free when the spring gladdened his little heart. Every day until the year following "Bob" paid his visit at the window; he then introduced his wife; the cares of paternity caused a decline in his diurnal salutations, but I have no doubt the returning autumn will find him at his post. A white feather marked him above his kind; indeed, he permitted "no (robin) near his throne."

Of the wholly insectivorous class it is here useless to write: they are the most delicate birds, mostly unfit for confinement, and their various treatment requiring separate heads. The wren family-the wagtail species-the redstarts, wheatears, blue-breasts, stone-chats, and black-caps are the true sylviade (warblers). In the proper place, I purpose giving to each bird its history, with all the attention and effects of research in my power. I cannot add much of personal experience in this most difficult division, for, with very few exceptions, I think the hand of man is fatal.

A chapter will be devoted to the "largebeaked birds:" a few words will in this place suffice.

PARROTS are as injudiciously treated as petted children: where any sensible management is shown them (the birds), they thrive well, and repay all care. Subject to many ailments, in consequence of an ill-adapted climate, want of exercise, and over-feeding, attention on the part of the owner should be directed to great simplicity of diet. Bread soaked in water or tea, and squeezed rather dry, with a few chillies throughout; a vessel containing biscuit, or, better still, toast, on which boiled milk has been poured. In a division of the feeding vessel place wheat, (new if possible,) Indian corn pounded, also canary seed; water to drink (the most comical error has been bruited about that parrots do not drink, originating, I conclude, in some of the tribe inhabiting spots far from streams; but in a free state how juicy are the fruits they obtain !) Eschew hempsced; it is, as a dietary supply,

deleterious to the feathered race. A few grains of the small or Russian hemp may be admitted to the store-closet, but only "exhibited” as a treat, indicative of a rendre being looked foryour bullfinch to "pipe" an extra waltz, your canary to perform his feats of love-but parrots are more than any other birds subject to ailments, the "cure" for which has puzzled learned ornithologists; the "prevention" should be addressed to preserving a pure state of blood. A chicken-bone is not hurtful to a healthy bird; but, to the pampered, gouty “individual,” plain fare is advisable : fruits are wholesome. On these matters I shall hereafter fully treat, confining myself to this additional observation, that atrophy is among their complaints; therefore, nourishing plain food will best avert the evil. The French call one disorder "s'arracher les plumes," and it is among the most serious. The greediness of this class is proverbial, indigestion results, and, like all over-indulged "darlings," they carry out by temper those unwholesome measures once injudiciously indulged. The food of parrots being succulent, they do not appear to drink; but so necessary are liquids to them, that sugar-candy is frequently added to the water in the cup to tempt them.

One great and general error is the cold to which these poor sufferers are exposed. In neither the Old nor the New Continent are they to be found, with few exceptions, in a colder latitude than 25 degrees. I therefore recommend a night covering, only descending, for obvious reasons, half-way downwards, -a plan I adopt successfully with all my birds. If the cage is circular, the covering fits the upper portion; if oblong, it extends over half of the two sides, one end and top; thereby giving warmth and seclusion, with pure air

and morning light-the instinctive attraction with all unsophisticated nature.

I have been, in this resumé, desirous to preserve to their possessors these justly-deserved favourites. While, in reality, they are sufferers from captivity, they are supposed to be gifted with endurance proportionate to their size, a too common error!-their endearing ways-their extraordinary powers of imitation, both of words and actions, would almost argue a sense beyond that of instinct. Companionable, capable of strong attachment, and ready to forgive us the misfortune of imprisonment, are strong appeals to considerate treatment.

These prefatory pages touch only upon general management; the peculiarities of individual species will elicit, in future chapters, observations upon natural tendencies, seasonable distribution, and migratory impulses, so far as to render easy the transition from birds on the wing to those in confinement. Birds are, to the observer, harbingers of all changes in nature; they are the keys to natural history, and, if we persist in keeping them in a state never designed, let us, at least, substitute care, kindness, and the nearest approach, in their treatment, to the provision so bountifully supplied where they are indigenous

to the soil.

It may here be observed, that while some of our natives and strangers require to be placed in separate cages, as much from their shy habits as from some peculiarity in their allotment of food, others-and by far the most numerous delight in the freedom of an aviary or aviary-cage. Of the provision necessaryof the suitability of the proposed inmatesI am prepared to write, having been the possessor of birds, in both positions, for many years.

THE works of Jean Baptiste Greuze, the painter of the elegant little picture from which the engraving entitled "Innocence" is taken, may be cited as exemplifying the general character of the French school of art during the past century, prior to the appearance of David, who seems to have arrived just in time to rescue it from the low state of inanity, feebleness, and falsehood, into which it was rapidly sinking; though he perpetuated many of its errors, especially its affectations; from these it seems almost impossible for the majority of the French artists to disengage themselves.

The terms here applied may seem somewhat harsh and unjust in the opinion of those who regard art as intended only to confer a transient enjoyment, and feel not that its highest and holiest end is to exercise an efficient moral power on mankind.

The corruptions which had spread over the whole surface of society in France before the great Revolution, and which broke out in those terrible convulsions that to this day still agitate it, penetrated even to the retirement of the artist's studio, and too often infected his labours with their unhealthy and unworthy influences;