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admiration, and have insured him that security he enjoys among us; though the aid of fable has also been called in, to guard him from the assaults of thoughtless boys. In the winter season, impelled by the potent stimulus of hunger, he frequents our barns, our gardens, our houses, and often alights, on a sudden, on the rustic floor; there, with his broad eye incessantly open, and looking askew upon the company, he picks up eagerly the crumbs of bread that fall from the table, and then flies off to the neighbouring bush, where, by his warbling strains, he expresses his gratitude for the liberty he has been allowed. He is found in most parts of Europe, but no where so commonly as in several counties of England. His bill is dusky; the forehead, chin, throat, and breast are of a deep orange colour, inclining to vermilion; the back of the head, neck, back, and tail are of ash colour, tinged with green; the wings are somewhat darker, the edges inclining to yellow; the legs and feet are dusky. He builds his nest in the crevice of some mossy bank, and sometimes secretes it in the thickest coverts. The elegant Poet of the Seasons gives us a very exact and animated description of this bird in the following lines:

-Half afraid, he first

Against the window beats: then, brisk, alights
On the warm hearth; then, hopping on the floor,
Eyes all the smiling family askance,

And pecks, and starts, and wonders where he is,
Till, more familiar grown, the table crumbs
Attract his slender feet.

An old Latin proverb tells us, that two Robin Redbreasts do not feed on the same tree. We cannot vouch for the truth of this; but it is certain that the Redbreast is a solitary bird, and that he does not live in much harmony and friendship with those of his kind. The male may be known from the female by the colour of his legs, which are blacker.

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Is, next to the robin redbreast, the boldest of the small feathered tribe, which frequent our barns and houses; he is a courageous little creature, and fights undauntedly against birds ten times bigger than himself. We have seen the Sparrow introducing himself into pigeonhouses; and in spite of the outraged parents, and unmindful of their wings, with which they endeavour to keep the intruder away, opening with their sharp and short beak the naked craw of the young ones, and feeding on the half-digested grain which it contained. The quantity of corn they consume is so considerable, that in several countries the landlord or farmer puts a price on a Sparrow's head, and, by this means, rids his lands of this troublesome depredator; but it is believed that the good they do in ridding land of caterpillars, more than compensates for the loss.Mr. Bradley, in his Treatise on Husbandry and Gardening, shows, by a calculation, that a pair of Sparrows, during the time they have their young ones to feed, destroy on an average, every week, three thousand three hundred and sixty caterpillars.

This bird is easily tamed, and will hop about the house, and on the table, with great familiarity. They feed on any thing, and are particularly fond of meat

cut into small pieces. Their song, if we can so call their chirping, is far from being agreeable. The male is particularly distinguished by a jet black spot under the bill upon a whitish ground. They are found nearly in every country of the world. The Hedge Sparrow is a smaller variety of the bird above described, and is called in French, Friquet.

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Is a very docile bird, and will nearly imitate the sound of a pipe, or the whistle of man, with its voice, the mellowness of which is really charming. He is, by bird-fanciers, supposed to excel all other small birds, by the softness of his tones and variety of his notes, except the linnet. In domesticity, we should rather say, in captivity, his melody seems to be as great a solace to himself as a pleasure to his master. By day, and even when the evening has called for the artificial light of candles, he pursues his melodious exertions, and if there be any other birds in the apartment, wakes them gently to the pleasing task of singing in concert with him. His notes are upon one of the lowest keys of the gamut of birds.Thomson says:

The mellow Bullfinch answers from the grove.

SPRING.

His plumage is beautiful, though simple and uniform, consisting only of three or four shades of colours. In the male, a lovely scarlet or crimson colour adorns the breast, throat, and jaws, as far as the eyes; the crown of the head is black; the rump and tail white; the neck and back gray, or lead-coloured. The name of this bird originates from his head and neck, like those of the bull, being very large in proportion to the body. The female does not share with the male the brightness of colours on her plumage. They build their nests in gardens and orchards, and particularly in places that abound in fruit trees, as they are passionately fond of young fruit, which they often destroy before it is ripe.

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Is also called Thistlefinch, from his fondness for the seed of this plant. He is a very beautiful bird; his plumage is elegantly diversified. His form is small, but pleasing; his voice not loud, but sweet. He is easily tamed, and often exhibited as a captive, with a chain round his body, drawing up with trouble, but yet with amazing dexterity, two small buckets, alter

nately, one containing his meat, the other his drink. We remember one who, after having been doomed a whole year to this drudgery, and having nipped off a link of his chain, remained spontaneously a captive for several months, ere, by some accident, his master became conscious of his bird being under no constraint, and at full liberty. It is, perhaps, a melancholy but yet a true observation, that mankind is less patient of freedom than of slavery; and that men, like brutes, know better how to make good use of the latter than of the former. When caught old, the Goldfinch, after a few weeks, if well attended to, and gently treated, becomes as familiar as if he had been brought up by the hand of his keeper. Some have been taught to fire a small piece of artillery, and go through the drilling exercise, to the great astonishment of the spectators: but the cruel and severe treatment that animals undergo, when taught performances altogether contrary to their nature, should prevent us from encouraging such exhibitions.

This bird, as if conscious of the beauty of his plumage, likes to view himself in a glass, which is sometimes fixed for this purpose in the back of the cage. The art with which these birds compose and build their nests, is really an object of admiration; it is generally interwoven with moss, small twigs, horsehair, and other pliant materials; the inside stuffed, most carefully, with a fine down. There the female deposits five or six eggs, of a white colour, marked at their upper end with purple dots. It is reported that this small creature exceeds the general rules of life among those of his size, and often lives twenty years.

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