lameness, but often attracts to itself the diseased humours necessarily engendered in the body by the unnatural habit of life. The feet, indeed, are the seat of most of the diseases incident to cage-birds; and it is often necessary to examine them minutely-as a hair twisted round a claw eats so deeply into the flesh, as frequently to result in the drying and dropping off of the part. Attention to this point is rendered all the more important, and may be enforced by the fact, that it is rare to see a cage-bird of any age, which has its full complement of claws. It cannot, however, be denied that there is not only a difference between species, but between individual birds in this respect; some carefully keeping themselves clean-others not even taking the trouble to cleanse their feet, beak, or wings. I have always found Yellow-hammers, Reed-buntings, Bullfinches, and Redpoles exceedingly clean birds; whereas, on the contrary, Larks and Fauvettes allow their feet to be constantly full of dirt, and even suffer them to ulcerate and drop off, before they will take the trouble to remove the offending matter.

Many lovers of birds find pleasure in rendering them so tame, that they may be taken on the hand into the open air; or be let fly, and again recalled. One of my friends, who has succeeded in taming not only birds, but also otters, adders, weasels, foxes, and martins,-so that they follow him wherever he goes, and obey the slightest sign of command,-makes use of the following method, which, from my own experience, I can assert to be easy and certain. If the object of the experiment be a bird, he opens the door of the cage, and teazes it with a soft feather. This he does till the bird pecks at the feather, then at his finger, and at last comes out of the cage and perches upon his hand. He then smooths its feathers down, caresses it, and offers it some favourite article of food, which it soon learns to take from his hand. He then begins to accustom the bird to a particular call or whistle; carries it upon his hand or shoulder from room to room, in which all the windows are carefully closed, lets it fly, and calls it back. As soon as the bird becomes obedient to the call, in the presence of other persons and animals, the same experiment is cautiously repeated in the open air, till at last it is rewarded with complete success, and the bird refuses to forsake its master, either in a large company, or among the temptations of the garden. This process is particularly adapted for young

Linnets, Bullfinches, and Canary-birds; but in spring, or pairing time, it is necessary to guard against taking birds so tamed into the open air, where they are likely to hear the cry of their wild comrades. This is the season during which they most commonly relapse into their former wildness.

A new and approved method of completely taming all kinds of cage-birds, in the course of one or two hours,—with which I have only lately become acquainted,-is the following:

A portion-larger, or smaller, in proportion to the wildness of the bird-is cut off from the inner plume of the pen feathers, so that the bird cannot hurt itself if it attempts to leave the hand, and the external appearance of the wing is not impaired. The nostrils of the bird are then touched with bergamot, or any other odorous oil, by which it is for a time so stupified, as to perch quietly on the finger, or to hop from one finger to another. It may indeed attempt to fly away once or twice; but this is not often repeated, especially if the experiment be tried in a dark place as, for example, behind a curtain, which offers the further advantage, that if the bird fall, it is not likely to hurt itself. As soon as it sits quietly on any one finger, another finger must be placed in such a position as to cause the bird to step upon it; and so soon as it is accustomed to hop quietly from one finger to another, the main difficulty is overcome. For if when the bird is gradually aroused from its state of stupefaction, it perceives that its teacher does not use it roughly, it may by degrees be taught to manifest perfect obedience to his commands. To teach it to eat from its master's mouth, it should be kept in the cage without food for some time. If it be then taken upon the finger, and its favourite food be presented to it on the outstretched tongue, hunger will soon teach it to feed.

Birds tamed in this manner may easily be taught to sing, while perched on the hand. To effect this, it is only necessary to coax them by the appropriate tones, gestures, and caresses. The Chaffinch may be made to sing by whistling Yach! yach! and stroking it on the neck; and the Bullfinch, by speaking to it in a friendly manner, accompanied by a backward and forward motion of the head. A considerable degree of perseverance is, however, in all cases, essential to the success of this method of taming birds.

IV. FOOD.

THE chief consideration to be attended to, in choosing food for the various species of cage-birds, is to select that which bears the closest resemblance to their natural diet. In many cases, this is exceedingly difficult, and in some impossible; as, for instance, how can we procure the seeds on which many of the East India birds, which adorn our aviaries, are accustomed to feed? And thus a great obstacle in the way of our success is to accustom cage-birds, or rather their stomachs, to such food as we are compelled to offer them; though there are birds, it is true, such as Chaffinches, Yellow-hammers, Thrushes, &c., which as soon as they are brought to the house, eat without hesitation or detriment, whatever is given to them. Others, however, are more delicate, and at first, partly from grief, and partly from want of their usual fare, will eat nothing. It is indeed considered a bad sign if such birds as are generally accounted delicate, begin to eat greedily as soon as put into the cage-as it is thought to indicate an unnatural indifference at the loss of freedom, which can only proceed from disease. If, on the contrary, they sulkily hide themselves in a corner for some hours, there is little need to be anxious about them, as when the sulky fit is allowed to wear itself off, they usually begin to eat heartily. On this subject Dr. MEYER of Offenbach writes to me as follows: An almost infallible method of inducing freshcaught birds to take the food of the aviary, is to leave them undisturbed for some hours in a cage, where water and the appropriate food are easily accessible. If the bird do not eat, it is to be dipped in fresh cold water, and replaced in the cage. It will sit for a few moments apparently quite exhausted, but will soon recover and begin to plume itself, and after a minute or two will become exceedingly lively, and begin to eat. The appetite thus incited in birds by the use of the bath, is analogous to the same phenomenon in the human being.

In order to elucidate the general rules which I shall give, as to the FooD of cage-birds, I have divided them into four classes: First, such as eat only seeds, as Canaries, Bullfinches, Siskins, Linnets, Goldfinches, &c. Second, such as eat both seeds and insects, as Quails, Larks of every species, Yellow-hammers, and the various kinds of Tits. Some of the last-mentioned species, however, partly subsist upon berries. Thirdly, such

as eat insects and berries, as Nightingales, Redbreasts, Thrushes, Blackcaps, &c. Fourth, such as eat insects only, as Wagtails, Fieldlarks, Whitetails, Blue-throated Warblers, &c. Birds of the fourth class are the most difficult to preserve in health; and yet, as their song is in general not remarkable for beauty, they by no means repay the trouble which must be expended on them. To meet this difficulty, it is a good plan, in spring, to collect, dry, and store up for use the flies which may be found in great numbers in the windows of old buildings. At the season, therefore, when living insects cannot be procured, these flies may be mixed with the paste which I am about to describe; and which, with the occasional addition of a few ants' eggs, or meal-worms, may be considered as an universal diet for all delicate birds. Let a supply of wheaten bread, sufficient for three months' consumption, be baked without salt. When the loaves have become stale, they are again to be put into the oven when a batch of bread has been withdrawn, and allowed to remain while it gradually cools. They may then easily be pounded into a species of meal, which will keep good for a quarter of a year. Of this, a large tea-spoonful is allotted for the daily portion of each bird, and mixed with three times the quantity of warm milk, which in no case, however, must be allowed to boil. A stiff paste is the result, which may be cut into small pieces on a board, is very nourishing, and never becomes neither sour nor sticky, even in the hottest weather. In the case of delicate birds, a few flies, or chopped meal-worms, may, as before said, be mixed with this paste.

With respect to the first class, experience teaches that Canaries prefer a mixture of canary, summer-rape, and crushed hemp seed; Goldfinches and Siskins poppy seed, now and then mixed with a little crushed hemp seed; Linnets and Bullfinches rape seed alone. Besides this, all require an occasional supply of green food-cabbage, and lettuce leaves, and water-cress-as well as river sand, which is highly useful in the process of digestion, and with which the floor of their cage should always be kept strewed. Among birds of the second class, Quails are fond of wheat and bread crumbs; Larks prefer barley meal mixed with cabbage and water-cress cut small, or poppy seed and crumbs of bread, or in winter, oats; Chaffinches like rape seed in summer, sometimes mixed with a little hemp seed; Yellow-hammers are fond of the same diet as the Larks, with the exception of the green food; and the various species of Tits cat

fir seeds, hemp seed, oats, meal, lard, bread, hazel and walnuts. All birds of the first and second classes are easily preserved alive, except when taken in the pairing season, in which case they sometimes die of hunger and grief for the loss of their freedom.

Although I have always felt a repugnance to all appliances and remedies which claimed to be universal, I am emboldened, by a very long experience in the management of cage-birds, to recommend two Universal Pastes. That these pastes are not wrongly designated by the name "universal," is proved by the fact, that all my birds, except those which, for their song's sake, are kept in separate cages, are fed, and thrive upon them. They are besides recommended, not only by their cheapness and simplicity, but by the considerable saving of time effected in the case of any amateur, who has a numerous collection. The receipt for the first is as follows: Take, and thoroughly soak in cold water, a well-baked stale wheaten loaf, then press the water out, pour milk over it, and mix with it two-thirds of its own weight of barley or wheat meal, well ground and sifted.

The second is made thus: Grate a carrot (which may be kept in sand, in a cool place, a whole year) on a grater, which, to fit it for future use, must be immediately washed quite clean; then thoroughly soak a penny roll in water, press the water out, and mix both bread and carrot with two handfuls of the above-mentioned wheat or barley meal. The whole must then be well pounded in a mortar.

It must, however, be observed, that both these pastes ought to be made every day, as they soon become sour, and therefore unwholesome for the birds. I myself keep this food in a long earthen vessel, out of which about half my birds can feed at once. An earthen vessel is better than a wooden one, because it is not only easier to be cleaned, but because it preserves the food sweet for a longer period. I feed my birds of which from thirty to forty are generally in possession of my room-on the first-mentioned paste; on which they thrive so well, and preserve so perfectly the beauty of their plumage, that no one would suppose them to be captives. All birds, whatever may be their natural diet, eat it willingly; and there may be seen in my room, Chaffinches, Linnets, Goldfinches, Siskins, Canaries, Redbreasts, Larks of all kinds, Quails, Yellow-hammers, Ortolans, Buntings, Hedge-warblers, Redtails, &c., all feeding out of