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THRUSHES AND BLACKBIRDS.

Bessie Mountain, "you may teach them a good many things. I had one that I gave two tin rattles (such as are

given to children) to play

with, and never little bird had more fun than he had with them; he would take one of them in his beak, shaking it, and making a noise, and sometimes getting into a great rage and scolding them if I took

one from him, and terribly angry with me for so doing; but when he got older, he was ashamed to play with any such toys."

"Was there not a particular kind of cake you used to make for your thrushes and blackbirds, Bessie?" said Mrs. Warden.

"Yes, it agrees better with them than other kind of food,"

any

answered she, "indeed they live

longer and have finer plumage

with this meal than that which they get when at liberty. They are also very fond of it, and I will give you a proof that they themselves prefer it to the food they get I had a beautiful thrush called in a state of nature.

Bobby, and this naughty little bird once got away from me. Well, I was very sorry to lose so sweet a pet, for his song was perfectly delightful. I left his cage in the garden, and behold, the very next day he was observed to go into his cage and feed. I put fresh food for him, hoping he would come again; he not only came himself, but brought two or three birds with him, and a very great treat they had, he and his friends returning every day for a week.

CAKE FOR THRUSHES' FOOD.

85

Then I thought it was high time to lie in wait for Master Bobby and catch him, as I did not like making cake for all his acquaintance. So accordingly I got three of the farm servants to help me, and we four watched slily till he and his companions came again to feed, when we pounced upon them and surrounded them as they came out of the cage, and caught Mr. Bobby safe and sound again. I think this shows that the food must be peculiarly attractive to them, or they would never have ventured to come in this manner for it."

"By the way, Bessie dear, you have always promised us the recipe for this cake of yours," said Lucy Warden, "will you tell it us now, and I will copy it out with my pencil for a feast for our birds."

‘Why, you take a basinful of bean-meal (that is, beans ground to flour), with a little suet shred fine, an egg or two well beaten up, a few carraway seeds, and mix all this into a paste, which you bake slowly till it is quite done enough; but you must be careful not to let it burn, as it will then hurt the birds, nay, perhaps, kill them. When cold, or better still, let it remain till the day after baking, and then chop it fine, but not to powder, but only about as fine as you would chop suet for a plum-pudding. This cake, with a little fresh raw beef or mutton cut into small pieces, once or twice a-week, is the best food possible for thrushes and blackbirds. You should indulge them in bathing, too, of which they are extremely ford, as it keeps them free from vermin, which they're very subject to."

"And so, I'm sorry to say, is my dear little woodlark," said Lucy Warden, "but I take care to supply him plentifully with dry earth and gravel at the bottom of his cage to roll in, as it helps him to throw his feathers during moulting, and to destroy those odious vermin; and then after

washing his cage, I rub a little camphorated spirits of wine into the crevices, to prevent insects harbouring there. His song is so sweet, that I don't mind all the trouble we are obliged to take with him, but he is very difficult to keep quite in good health and plumage. The woodlarks have also very delicate legs, which, if great care be not taken, they are apt to break. They should never be approached too suddenly, as they are timid birds, and hurt themselves in flying up. Their nails should occasionally be cat, and their legs scaled, after which a little sweet oil should be rubbed on them."

"They should never be left in a draught," said William, "which indeed is very injurious to all birds, causing inflammation of the lungs, a disease that is scarcely ever cured. They should be fed on the same mixture as the nightingales, with occasionally a little meal, which may be varied by giving them grated liver."

"The titlark is a nice bird, easily tamed, and with a pretty song," said Lucy; "he should be treated in the same way as the woodlark.”

"The skylark is a cheerful bird, and always singing, but rather too noisy for a house," said William; "besides, Mamma has a strong objection to confining this soaring bird (as, indeed, I believe she has in her heart to shutting up almost any bird in a cage, though she is kind enough to indulge our love of keeping them), otherwise, this little fellow is a hardy bird, and does not require half so much attention as the woodlark does. He should be fed in the same way, and supplied with a fresh turf frequently, as ought also all the larks."

"Another reason for not keeping a skylark-in a town, at all events," said Bessie Mountain; "since these fresh turfs are difficult to procure there, as often as the birds

SKYLARK, GOLDFINCH, AND BULLFINCH.

87

ought to have them. A goldfinch, now, is a good bird for a pet," continued she, "for they are familiar, readily tamed, and long-lived. They are kept

on the same food as the linnet, excepting that they will not eat the turnip-seed; but if you can get thistles for them they will be very thankful, and it is so good for them, that many

people gather a good stock, which they dry against wintertime."

"I am very fond of the bullfinch," said Mrs. Warden; "it is not only very beautiful, with its sleek black head, and its pretty red waistcoat and grey coat, but it has a sweet natural song, in addition to which it may be taught to whistle tunes and waltzes, and is docile and capable of strong personal attachment."

"We feed ours with hempseed, mixed with rape and canary," said William, "and it is very fond of a morsel of almond, which I have seen it take from between Mary's lips, it is so tame."

66

But of all dear little birds, I love the darling bold-faced robin red-breast," said Mary.

"Ah! 'the bird with the scarlet stomacher,' the favourite of the poets," said Mr. Singleton, "God's own bird,' who 'painfully did Cover o'er with leaves' the poor babes in the wood,

and who 'cheers us

with his slender notes, and more than half suppressed,'

88

ROBINS AND STARLINGS.

in the midst of the frost and snow, when all the other songsters are mute in the 'bare ruined choirs' of the leafless trees."

"I do not think it right to keep a robin in a cage," said Bessie Mountain; "but if you can give them a room to themselves to fly about in (for they are sadly jealous little things, and won't suffer the company of other birds), with a cage in one corner for them to go and feed and roost in, they will live a long time. They will then catch flies and spiders, and all kinds of insects; and they should have provided for them a little bread-crumb and meat chopped fine, which must be cooked, and fresh, or they will not eat it; sometimes, too, they require a little cheese, which they are very fond of, and they must have plenty of water to go to, both for drinking and bathing in.”

"Papa has promised me a starling," said George, "and I know I shall like him for a pet, he's such a merry fellow, and chatters so. I know what to feed him on: wheat, rye, millet, rapeseed, for his dinner; elderberries, olives, cherries, and grapes for his dessert; and snails, worms, and little beetles for a treat."

"With such good living as that," said Mr. Singleton, "he 'll scarcely hate his prison, or feel inclined to cry, 'I can't get out!""

"Look here!" said Mary; we 've got a pretty little family of canary nestlings covered up snug and warm in this tiny basket. It is so pretty to watch the old birds feed them; and when they grow bigger, we mean to feed them ourselves, on—”

"Oh, my dear Mary," said George, interrupting her, "don't tell Mr. Singleton that; everybody knows what canary birds are fed on.”

"Indeed," said Mr. Singleton, "you don't know what a