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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Wild Nature Won By Kindness + +Author: Elizabeth Brightwen + +Illustrator: Elizabeth Brightwen + +Release Date: April 16, 2007 [EBook #21111] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILD NATURE WON BY KINDNESS *** + + + + +Produced by Joe Longo and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="main"> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 528px; padding-top: 1em"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Cover" title="Cover" width="528" height="744" /> +</div> + +<div class="newchap"> +<h2 style="margin-top: 5em; margin-bottom: 5em"><i>WILD NATURE WON BY KINDNESS.</i></h2> +</div> + +<div class="newchap"> +<div class='center'> +<table style="margin-top: 5em; margin-bottom: 5em" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Other books" border="1"> +<tr><td> +<br /><br /> +<i>BY THE SAME AUTHOR.</i> +<br /> +<hr class="minor" /> +<p class="pub"> +<b>More about Wild Nature.</b> With Portrait<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em">of the Author and many other full-page Illustrations.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em">Crown 8vo, imitation leather gilt, gilt edges, in box, 5s.</span> +</p> +<hr class="minor" /> +<p class="pub"> +<b>Inmates of my House and Garden.</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em">With 32 Illustrations by Theo Carreras. Uniform with</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em">above, 5s.</span> +</p> +<span style="font-size: small">ALSO</span> +<p class="pub"> +<b>Glimpses into Plant Life.</b> Fully Illustrated.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em">Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d.</span> +</p> +</td></tr> +</table></div> +</div> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1"></a></span></p> +<div class='center' style="margin-top: 3em"> +<table width="450" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Title page" border="1"> +<tr><td> + +<p class="titleblock" style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 20px; word-spacing: 0.25em; letter-spacing: 0.15em; font-size: 215%">WILD NATURE</p> +<p class="titleblock" style="margin-bottom: 50px; word-spacing: 0.5em; letter-spacing: 0.25em; font-size: 155%">WON BY KINDNESS</p> + +<p class="titleblock" style="font-size: 50%">BY</p> +<p class="titleblock" style="font-size: 120%">MRS. BRIGHTWEN</p> + +<p class="titleblock" style="font-size: 72%"><i>Vice-President of the Selborne Society</i></p> +<p class="titleblock" style="letter-spacing: 0.05em; font-size: 45%">AUTHOR OF "INMATES OF MY HOUSE AND GARDEN," ETC.</p> + +<p class="titleblock" style="letter-spacing: 0.05em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 40px; font-size: 80%"><i>ILLUSTRATED</i></p> + +<p class="titleblock" style="margin-bottom: 37px; margin-top: 10px; font-size: 80%">EIGHTH EDITION</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 93px; padding-top: 1em"> +<img src="images/ornate-london.png" alt="London" title="London" width="93" height="25" /> +</div> + +<p class="titleblock" style="word-spacing: 0.5em; letter-spacing: 0.25em; font-size: 110%">T. FISHER UNWIN</p> +<p class="titleblock" style="letter-spacing: 0.05em; font-size: 75%">PATERNOSTER SQUARE</p> +<p class="titleblock" style="margin-bottom: 40px; letter-spacing: 0.05em; font-size: 75%">1898</p> + +</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2"></a></span></p> + +<div class='center'> +<p class='center' style="margin-bottom: 25px; margin-top: 25px"><i>All rights reserved.</i></p> +</div> + +<div class="newchap"> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3"></a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 40px; padding-top: 1em"> +<img src="images/ornate-to.png" alt="To" title="To" width="40" height="33" /> +</div> + +<p><span class="smcap" style="font-size: 120%">Sir</span> JAMES PAGET, <span class="smcap">Bart., F.R.S., D.C.L., Etc., Etc.</span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap" style="margin-left: 2em; line-height: 1.0">My dear Sir James</span>,—<br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 4em; line-height: 1.0">The little papers which are here reprinted would scarcely</span> +have been written but for the encouragement of your sympathy and the +stimulus of what you have contributed to the loving study of nature. +Shall you, then, think me presumptuous if I venture to dedicate to the +friend what I could never dream of presenting to the professor, and if +I ask you to pardon the poorness of the gift in consideration of the +sincerity with which it is given.</p> + +<p style="line-height: 1.0;" class="right"> +<span style="margin-right: 9em"> + Pray believe me to be</span><br /> +<span style="margin-right: 6em">Yours very sincerely,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-right: 3em"> ELIZA BRIGHTWEN</span><br /> +</p> +<p style="line-height: 1.0"> + <span class="smcap">The Grove, Great Stanmore.</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 3.5em"><i>June, <ins class="transcriber" + title="Transcriber's note: original reads 1800. 1898 seems likely date, same as publication year.">1898</ins></i>.</span> +</p> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4"></a></span></p> + +<p class="newchap" style="margin-bottom: 3em"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">p. 5</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 311px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-001" id="illus-001"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p5.png" alt="FLYING WILD DUCK" title="FLYING WILD DUCK" width="311" height="211" /> +</div> + +<h2><a name="Contents" id="Contents"></a>TABLE OF CONTENTS.</h2> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 74px; padding-top: 1em"> +<img src="images/line.png" alt="" title="" width="74" height="12" /> +</div> +<div class="smcap"> +<table border="0" width="75%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<col style="width:85%;" /> +<col style="width:15%;" /> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">INTRODUCTION.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#INTRODUCTION.">11</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc"> 1. REARING BIRDS FROM THE NEST.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#REARING_BIRDS_FROM_THE_NEST.">18</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc"> 2. DICK THE STARLING.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#DICK_THE_STARLING.">21</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc"> 3. RICHARD THE SECOND.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#RICHARD_THE_SECOND.">25</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc"> 4. VERDANT.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#VERDANT.">44</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc"> 5. THE WILD DUCKS.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#THE_WILD_DUCKS.">51</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc"> 6. THE JAY.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#THE_JAY.">59</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc"> 7. A YOUNG CUCKOO.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#A_YOUNG_CUCKOO.">67</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc"> 8. THE TAMING OF OUR PETS.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#THE_TAMING_OF_OUR_PETS.">70</a></td></tr> +<tr style="page-break-after: always"><td align="left" class="toc"> 9. BIRDIE.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#BIRDIE.">80</a> + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">p. 6</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">10. ZÖE, THE NUTHATCH.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#ZOE_THE_NUTHATCH.">87</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">11. TITMICE.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#TITMICE.">99</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">12. BLANCHE, THE PIGEON.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#BLANCHE_THE_PIGEON.">108</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">13. GERBILLES.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#GERBILLES.">112</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">14. WATER SHREWS.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#WATER_SHREWS.">121</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">15. SQUIRRELS.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#SQUIRRELS.">126</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">16. A MOLE.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#A_MOLE.">131</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">17. HARVEST MICE.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#HARVEST_MICE.">136</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">18. THE CALIFORNIAN MOUSE.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a class="toc" href="#THE_CALIFORNIAN_MOUSE.">140</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">19. SANCHO THE TOAD.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#SANCHO_THE_TOAD.">143</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">20. ROMAN SNAILS.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#ROMAN_SNAILS.">146</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">21. AN EARWIG MOTHER.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#AN_EARWIG_MOTHER.">152</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">22. THE SACRED BEETLE.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#THE_SACRED_BEETLE.">157</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">23. SPIDERS.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#SPIDERS.">163</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">24. TAME BUTTERFLIES.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#TAME_BUTTERFLIES.">173</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">25. ANT-LIONS.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#ANT-LIONS.">178</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">26. ROBINS I HAVE KNOWN.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#ROBINS_I_HAVE_KNOWN.">183</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">27. ROBERT THE SECOND.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#ROBERT_THE_SECOND.">188</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">28. FEEDING BIRDS IN SUMMER</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#FEEDING_BIRDS_IN_SUMMER">195</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">29. RAB, MINOR.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#RAB_MINOR.">202</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">30. A VISIT TO JAMRACH.</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#A_VISIT_TO_JAMRACH.">207</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">31. HOW TO OBSERVE NATURE</td><td align="right" class="toc"><a href="#HOW_TO_OBSERVE_NATURE">214</a></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p style="page-break-before: always; margin-bottom: 3em"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">p. 7</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 554px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-002" id="illus-002"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p7.png" alt="SACRED BEETLE" title="SACRED BEETLE" width="554" height="306" /> +</div> + +<h2><a name="Illustrations" id="Illustrations"></a>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 74px; padding-top: 1em"> +<img src="images/line.png" alt="" title="" width="74" height="12" /> +</div> +<div class="smcap"> +<table border="0" width="75%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Illustrations"> +<col style="width:80%;" /> +<col style="width:20%;" /> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">FLYING WILD DUCK</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-001">5</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">SACRED BEETLE</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-002">7</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">SWALLOW</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-003">11</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">REARING BIRDS FROM THE NEST</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-004">18</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">STARLINGS</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-007">21</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">FLYING STARLINGS</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-008">25</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">STARLING IN SEARCH OF FOOD</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-009">43</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">WILD DUCK</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-012">51</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">TINY, SIR FRANCIS DRAKE AND LUTHER</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-013">58</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">JAY</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-014">59</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">ANOTHER JAY</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-015">61</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">A YOUNG CUCKOO.</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-017">66</a><span class='pagenum' style="text-indent: 0em;"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">p. 8</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">BUTTERFLY AND CATERPILLAR</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-018">67</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">YOUNG CUCKOO ATTACKED BY BIRDS</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-019">69</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">ARABESQUE</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-021">79</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">ZÖE, THE NUTHATCH</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-024">87</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">NUTHATCH IN A COCOANUT</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-025">98</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">TITMICE IN PURSUIT OF BEES</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-026">99</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">TITMICE</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-027">101</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">BLANCHE THE PIGEON</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-029">108</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">GERBILLES</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-030">112</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">WATER SHREW</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-033">125</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">SQUIRREL</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-034">126</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">MOLE</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-036">131</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">MICE</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-038">140</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">ROMAN SNAILS</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-042">146</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">EARWIG</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-045">156</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">EGYPTIAN BEETLES</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-046">157</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">FLYING BEETLE</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-047">162</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">TRAP-DOOR SPIDERS</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-048">163</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">BUTTERFLY</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-050">173</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">ANT-LION</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-051">178</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">THE ROBIN</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-052">183</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">YOUNG BIRDS</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-056">195</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">CHILD AND PET BIRD</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-057">201</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">RAB MINOR</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-058">202</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">RAB MINOR RUNNING</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-059">206</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">NESTLINGS</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-060">207</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">NEST OF WASPS</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-062">214</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" class="toc">SNAKE IN A CIRCLE</td><td align="right" valign="top" class="toc"><a href="#illus-063">230</a></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="newchap" style="margin-bottom: 3em"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">p. 9</a></span></p> +<h4>PREFACE TO THE FIFTH<br />EDITION.</h4> +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-t-p9.png" alt="T" title="T" width="80" height="116"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> +<div style="width: 68px"></div> +<div style="width: 68px"></div> +<div style="width: 62px"></div> +<div style="width: 55px"></div> +<div style="width: 35px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + WO short chapters, one describing the +life of an Ant-lion, and the other +the habits of a tame Toad, were added +to the second edition, which was in other +respects a reproduction of the first.</p></div> + +<p>The present edition has been improved by the +adoption of a number of illustrations which were +designed for the German translation of this book.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">p. 10</a></span></p> + +<p class="newchap" style="margin-bottom: 3em"><br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">p. 11</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 317px; padding-top: 1em"> +<a name="illus-003" id="illus-003"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p11.png" alt="SWALLOW" title="SWALLOW" width="317" height="165" /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="INTRODUCTION." id="INTRODUCTION."></a> +<h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-i-intro.png" alt="I" title="I" width="63" height="100"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 67px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 63px"></div> + <div style="width: 55px"></div> + <div style="width: 27px; height: 9px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + HAVE often wished I could convey to +others a little of the happiness I have +enjoyed all through my life in the +study of Natural History. During +twenty years of variable health, the companionship +of the animal world has been my constant +solace and delight. To keep my own +memory fresh, in the first instance, and afterwards +with a distinct intention of repeating my single +experiences to others, I have kept notes of whatever +has seemed to me worthy of record in the life +of my pets. Some of these papers have already +appeared in <i>The Animal World</i>; the majority are +now printed for the first time.</p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">p. 12</a></span></p> +<p>In the following chapters I shall try to have +quiet talks with my readers and tell them in a +simple way about the many pleasant friendships +I have had with animals, birds, and insects. I use +the word friendships advisedly, because truly to +know and enjoy the society of a pet creature you +must make it feel that you are, or wish to be, its +friend, one to whom it can always look for food, +shelter, and solace; it must be at ease and at home +with you before its instincts and curious ways will +be shown. Sometimes when friends have wished +me to see their so-called "pet," some scared animal +or poor fluttering bird has been brought, for whom +my deepest sympathy has been excited; and yet +there may have been perhaps the kindest desire to +make the creature happy, food provided in abundance, +and a pleasant home; but these alone will not +avail. For lack of the quiet gentle treatment which +is so requisite, the poor little captive will possibly +be miserable, pining for liberty, hating its prison, +dreading the visits of its jailor, and so harassed in +its terror that in some cases the poor little heart +is broken, and in a few hours death is the result. +In the following simple sketches of animal, bird,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">p. 13</a></span> +and insect life, I have tried to show how confidence +must be gained, and the little wild heart won by +quiet and unvarying kindness, and also by the +endeavour to imitate as much as possible the +natural surroundings of its own life before its +capture. I must confess it requires a large fund +of patience to tame any wild creature, and it is +rarely possible to succeed unless one's efforts begin +in its very early days, before it has known the +sweets of liberty.</p> + +<p>In many cases I have kept a wild animal or bird +for a few days to learn something of its ways, +possibly to make a drawing of its attitudes or +plumage, and then let it go, else nearly all my +pets, except imported creatures, have been reared +from infancy, an invalid's life and wakefulness +making early-morning feeding of young fledglings +less difficult than it would have been in many +cases, and often have painful hours been made +bearable and pleasant by the interest arising from +careful observation of the habits and ways of some +new pet animal or bird.</p> + +<p>I have always strongly maintained that the love +of animated nature should be fostered far more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">p. 14</a></span> +than it usually is, and especially in the minds of +the young; and that, in fact, we lose an immense +amount of enjoyment by passing through life as so +many do without a spark of interest in the marvellous +world of nature, that book whose pages are +ever lying open before us.</p> + +<p>The beauties of the country might as well have +been left uncreated for all the interest that thousands +take in them. Not only town dwellers, who +might be excused for their ignorance, but those +who live in the midst of fields and woods, often +know so little about the curious creatures in fur +and feathers that exist around them that they are +surprised when told the simplest facts about these, +their near neighbours.</p> + +<p>One reason may be, that it is now so much the +fashion to spend the year in various places, and +those always moving about have neither the time +nor opportunity to cultivate the little undergrowths +of quiet pleasures which spring out of a settled +home in the country, with its well-tended garden +and farmyard, greenhouses, stable, and fields—the +horses and cattle, petted and kindly cared for from +their birth, dogs and poultry, and all kinds of +special favourites.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">p. 15</a></span></p> +<p>There is a healthy, happy tone about such a life, +and where it exists and is rightly maintained, good +influence is, or ought to be, felt in and around the +home. Almost all children have a natural love of +living creatures, and if they are told interesting +facts about them they soon become ardent naturalists. +I well remember that in my childhood I +had a great dread of toads and frogs, and a relative, +to whom I owe much for having directed my mind +into the love of animated nature, took up a frog in +her hand and made me look at the beautiful gold +circle round its eyes, its curious webbed feet, its +leaping power arising from the long hind legs; she +told me also of its wonderful tongue, so long and +flexible that it folded back in its mouth, and that +the frog would sit at the edge of an ant-hill and +throwing out the tongue with its sticky point, +would pick off the ants one by one as they came +out. When I learnt all this, I began to watch +such a curious reptile; my fears vanished, and like +Kingsley's little daughter, who had been wisely led +to care for all living things and came running to +show her father a "dear delightful worm" she had +found! so I, too, have been led all through my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">p. 16</a></span> +life to regard every created thing, great or small, +attractive or otherwise, as an object well worth the +most reverent study.</p> + +<p>Perhaps I ought to explain that I have described +methods of taming, feeding, and housing one's pets +with extreme minuteness in order to help those of +my readers who may be very fond of live creatures, +and yet from lack of opportunity may have gained +no knowledge of their mode of life, and what is +required to keep them happily in health and vigour. +I have had to learn by experience that attention to +very small details is the road to success in keeping +pets as well as in other things, and the desire to +pass on that experience must be my excuse to +more scientific readers for seeming triviality.</p> + +<p>Many admirable books have been written by +those well qualified to impart their knowledge in +every branch of Natural History, and the more such +books are read the better, but the following pages +simply contain the life histories of my pets and what +I personally have observed about them. I shall be +glad indeed if they supply any useful information, +or lead others to the more careful study of the common +every-day things around them with a view to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">p. 17</a></span> +more kindness being shown to all living creatures, +and tender consideration for them. I trust I may +feel that this little book will then have attained its +purpose. May it especially tend to lead the young +to see how this beautiful world is full of wonders of +every kind, full of evidences of the Great Creator's +wisdom and skill in adapting each created thing to +its special purpose, and from the whole realm of +nature may they be taught lessons in parables, and +their hearts be led upward to God Himself, who +made all things to reflect His own perfection and +glory.</p> + +<table border="0" width="75%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Gem, flower, and fish, the bird, the brute,</span><br /> +<span class="i2">Of every kind occult or known</span><br /> +<span class="i0">(Each exquisitely form'd to suit</span><br /> +<span class="i2">Its humble lot, and that alone),</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Through ocean, earth, and air fulfil</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Unconsciously their Maker's will."</span> +</div></div> +<p class="right">ELIZA BRIGHTWEN.</p> +</td></tr></table> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 260px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-004" id="illus-004"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p17.png" alt="" title="" width="260" height="74" /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">p. 18</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 386px; padding-top: 1em"> +<a name="illus-005" id="illus-005"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p18.png" alt="REARING BIRDS FROM THE NEST" title="REARING BIRDS FROM THE NEST" width="386" height="231" /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="REARING_BIRDS_FROM_THE_NEST." id="REARING_BIRDS_FROM_THE_NEST."></a> +<h2>REARING BIRDS FROM THE<br />NEST.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-t-p18.png" alt="T" title="T" width="80" height="116"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 68px"></div> + <div style="width: 68px"></div> + <div style="width: 62px"></div> + <div style="width: 55px"></div> + <div style="width: 35px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + HE most delightful of all pets are the +birds one has taken the pains to rear +from the nest; they never miss the +freedom of outdoor life, they hardly know +what fear is, they become devotedly attached +to the one who feeds and educates them, +and all their winsome ways seem developed by the +love and care which is given to them.</p></div> + +<p>I strongly deprecate a whole nest being taken; +one would not willingly give the happy little parent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">p. 19</a></span> +birds the distress of finding an empty home. After +all their trouble in building, laying, sitting, and +hatching, surely they deserve the reward of bringing +up their little babes.</p> + +<p>Too often when boys thus take a nest they simply +let the young birds starve to death from ignorance +as to their proper food and not rising early enough +to feed them.</p> + +<p>It is a different matter if, out of a family of six, +one takes two to bring up by hand—the labour of +the old birds is lightened, and four fledglings will +sufficiently reward their toil.</p> + +<p>The birds should be taken before they are really +feathered, just when the young quills begin to show, +as at that stage they will not notice the change in +their diet and manner of feeding. They need to +be carefully protected from cold, kept at first in a +covered basket in flannel, and if the weather is cold +they should be near a fire, as they miss the warmth +of the mother bird, especially at night.</p> + +<p>I confess it involves a good deal of trouble to +undertake the care of these helpless little creatures. +They should be fed every half-hour, from four in +the morning until late in the evening, and that for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">p. 20</a></span> +many weeks until they are able to feed themselves.</p> + +<p>The kind of food varies according to the bird we +desire to bring up, and it requires care to make +sure that it is not too dry or too moist, and that it +has not become sour, or it will soon prove fatal, +for young birds have not the sense of older ones—they +take blindly whatever is given them.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 308px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-006" id="illus-006"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p20.png" alt="" title="" width="308" height="182" /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">p. 21</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 335px; padding-top: 1em"> +<a name="illus-007" id="illus-007"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p21.png" alt="STARLINGS" title="STARLINGS" width="335" height="210" /><br /> +<span class="caption">STARLINGS.</span> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="DICK_THE_STARLING." id="DICK_THE_STARLING."></a> +<h2>DICK THE STARLING.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-f-p21.png" alt="F" title="F" width="70" height="115"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 67px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 60px"></div> + <div style="width: 40px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + EW people would think a cat could +possibly be a tender nurse to young +birds! but such was really the case +with a very interesting bird I possessed +some years ago.</p></div> + +<p>A young starling was brought up from the nest +by the kind care of our cook and the cat! Both +were equally sympathetic, and pitied the little +unfledged creature, who was by some accident left +motherless in his early youth. Cook used to get +up at some unheard-of hour in the morning to feed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">p. 22</a></span> +her clamorous pet, and then would bring him down +with her at breakfast-time and consign him to +pussy's care; she, receiving him with a gentle purr +of delight, would let him nestle into her soft fur for +warmth.</p> + +<p>As Dick became feathered, he was allowed +the run of the house and garden, and used +to spend an hour or so on the lawn, digging his +beak into the turf, seeking for worms and grubs, +and when tired he would fly in at the open window +and career about until he could perch on my +shoulder, or go in search of his two foster-mothers +in the kitchen.</p> + +<p>His education was carried on with such success +that he could soon speak a few words very clearly. +Strangers used to be rather startled by a weird-looking +bird flying in from the garden, and saying, +"Beauty dear, puss, puss, miaow!" But it was +still more strange to see Dick sitting on the cat's +back and addressing his endearments to her in the +above words. Pussy would allow him to investigate +her fur with exemplary patience, only objecting to +his inquisitive beak being applied to her eyelids to +prize them open when she was enjoying her afternoon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">p. 23</a></span> +nap. Dick's love of water led him to bathe +in most inconvenient places. One morning, when +I returned to the dining-room after a few minutes' +absence, I found him taking headers into a glass +filter and scattering the contents on the sideboard. +After dinner, too, he would dive into the finger-glasses +with the same intention, and when hindered +in that design would visit the dessert dishes in +succession, stopping with an emphatic "Beauty +dear!" at the sight of some coveted dainty, to +which he would forthwith help himself liberally.</p> + +<p>In summer Dick had to resist considerable +temptation from wild birds of his own kind, who +evidently made matrimonial overtures to him, but +though he "camped out" for a few nights now and +then, he never seemed to find a mate to his mind, +and elected to remain a bachelor and enjoy our +society instead of that of his own kith and kin.</p> + +<p>Dick was certainly a pattern of industrious +activity, never still for two minutes. He seemed +haunted by the idea that caterpillars and grubs +existed all over the house, and his search for them +was carried on under all possible circumstances—every +plait of one's dress, every button-hole, would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">p. 24</a></span> +be inquired into by his prying little beak in case +some choice morsel might chance to be lurking +there. Dick lived for a few happy years, and then +his bathing propensities most unhappily led to his +untimely death. One severely cold day in winter +he was missed and searched for everywhere, and +after some hours his poor little body was found +stiff and cold in a water-tank in the stable-yard, +where the ice had been broken. He had as usual +plunged in for a bath, and we can only suppose +the intense cold had caused an attack of cramp, +so that he could not get out again, and thus was +drowned. Many tears were shed for the loss of +the cheery little bird, who seemed like a bright +ubiquitous sunbeam about the house, and our only +consolation was the thought that, as far as we knew, +he had never had a sorrow in his life, and we can +only hope that if there are "happy hunting-grounds" +for birds our Dick may be there, bright +and happy still.</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">p. 25</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 630px; padding-top: 1em"> +<a name="illus-008" id="illus-008"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p29.png" alt="FLYING STARLINGS" title="FLYING STARLINGS" width="630" /><br /> +<span class="caption">FLYING STARLINGS.</span> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="RICHARD_THE_SECOND." id="RICHARD_THE_SECOND."></a> +<h2>RICHARD THE SECOND.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-o-p29.png" alt="O" title="O" width="63" height="107"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 66px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 52px"></div> + <div style="width: 32px; height: 9px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + N a wet stormy day in May a young +unfledged bird was blown out of its +nest and was picked up in a paved +yard where, somehow, it had fallen +unhurt.</p></div> + +<p>There he was found by my kind-hearted butler, +who appeared with the little shivering thing in his +hand to see if I would adopt it. The butler pleaded +for it, and it squawked its own petition piteously +enough, but I was far from strong, and I knew at +what very early hours these young feathered people +required to be fed. I therefore felt I ought hardly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">p. 26</a></span> +to give up the time which sometimes brought me +the precious boon of sleep after a wakeful night. +Very reluctantly I refused the gift, and felt wretchedly +hard-hearted in doing so. I will confide to +my readers that in my secret heart I thought the +poor orphan was a blackbird or thrush, and they +are birds I feel ought never to be caged; they pine +and look so sadly longing for liberty; even their +song has a minor key of plaintiveness when it +comes through prison bars, and this feeling helped +my decision.</p> + +<p>A few days after I heard that the birdie was +adopted in the pantry, and was being fed "in the +intervals of business." When a few days later I +was definitely informed that the birdie waif was a +starling, then I confess I did begin to long for +another little friend such as my former "Dick" had +been, and it ended in my receiving Richard the +Second, as we called him for distinction, into my +own care and keeping, and month after month I +was his much-enduring mother. Most fledglings +are much the same at first; whenever I came in +sight the gaping beak was ever ready for food, +and the capacity for receiving it was wonderful.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">p. 27</a></span> +Richard grew very fast; little quills appeared and +opened out into feathers; his walking powers +increased till he could make a tottering run upon +the carpet; and then he began to object to his +basket and would have a perch like a grown-up +bird, practised going to sleep on one leg, which for +a long time was a downright failure and ended in +constant tumbles.</p> + +<p>He was always out of his cage whilst I was +dressing, and was full of fun and play, scheming to +get his bath before I did, and running off with anything +he could carry. When he was about two +months old I had to go to Buxton for a month's visit +and decided that I could not leave Richard behind, +as he needed constant feeding with little pieces of +raw meat and was just old enough to miss my +training and care. He was therefore to make his first +start as a traveller, in a small cage, papered round +the sides, the top being left open for light and air. +He was wonderfully brave and good, very observant +of everything, and if scared a word from me would +reassure him, until at last even an express train +dashing past did not make him start. It was very +amusing to see the attention bestowed upon him at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">p. 28</a></span> +the various stations where we had to get out. A +little crowd would gather round and stare at such +a self-possessed small bird. I was asked "if it was +a very rare bird?" It seemed almost absurd to +have to reply, "No, only a common starling;" but +people are so accustomed to see a caged pet flutter +in terror at its unusual surroundings, that my kingly +Richard rather puzzled his admirers.</p> + +<p>When we began life in our apartments, one important +consideration in the day's proceedings was +the starling's food. There was no home larder to +fall back upon, so a daily portion of tender rump-steak +had to be obtained, to the great amusement +of the butcher with whom we dealt for our own +joints.</p> + +<p>About this time the plain grey plumage began +to be varied by two patches of brilliant little purple +feathers, tipped with greyish-white, which appeared +on each side of his breast. Some began to peep +out of his back and head. He moulted his tail, +and had rich, dark feathers all over, in time, till he +arrived at being what he was often called, "a perfect +beauty"—glossy and brilliant, bronze gold and +purple, with reflets of rich green, and little specks<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">p. 29</a></span> +of greyish-white all over his breast; this richness +of colour, combined with his beautiful sleek shape, +made Richard a very attractive bird.</p> + +<p>When we returned from Buxton, I was so confident +of the bird's tameness I used to carry him in +my hand out to the tulip tree, and there I often +sat and read, while Richard would pry into the +moss and the bark of the tree, searching for insects, +and though he could fly well by this time, he did +not try to do so, but seemed content to keep near +me.</p> + +<p>One morning I heard his first articulate word, +"Beauty," spoken so clearly it quite startled me. +I had been diligently teaching him, by constant +repetition, for many weeks, and by degrees he +gained the power of speaking one word after +another, till at last he was able to say, "Little +beauty," "'Ow de doo?" "Pretty, pretty," "Beauty, +dear," "Puss, puss," "Miaow," and imitated kissing +exactly. All this was intermingled with his +native whistle and sundry inarticulate sounds, intended, +I suppose, to result in words and sentences +some day. Whilst talking and singing, his +head was held very upright, and his wings flapped<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">p. 30</a></span> +incessantly against his sides, after the manner of +the wild birds.</p> + +<p>Nothing stirred my indignation more keenly +than the question so often asked, "Have you had +your starling's tongue slit to make him talk so +well?" I beg emphatically to entreat all my +readers to do their utmost to put an end to +this cruel and perfectly useless custom. My +bird's talking powers were remarkable, but they +were the result of his intelligence being drawn +out and cultivated by constant, loving care, attention +to his little wants, and being talked to and +played with, and made into a little feathered friend +of the family.</p> + +<p>Now must be told an episode which cost me no +little heartache. Richard was out in my room one +morning as usual, when the room door happening +to be open, away he flew into the next room, and +out at an open window into the garden. I saw him +alight on a tree, but by the time I could reach the +garden he had gone. I saw a group of starlings in +a beech tree near by, and another set were chattering +on the house roof, but there was no telling if +my Richard was one of them. I called till I was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">p. 31</a></span> +tired, and continued to do so at intervals all day, +but no wanderer appeared. His cage had been put +on the lawn, but to no purpose. I feared I should +never see my pet again, because I supposed he +might be lured by the wild birds till he got out of +hearing of any familiar voice. I confess it was hard +to think of my bright young birdie starving under +some hedge, for I felt sure he was too much of a +gentleman from his artificial bringing-up to be able +to earn his own living. All I could do was to +resolve to be up very early next day, and call again +and again, on the chance of his being within hearing. +Before six o'clock next morning I was seeking +the truant. Plenty of wild birds were about, the +bright sun glancing on their sleek coats—all looking +so like my pet it was impossible to distinguish +him. I little knew that he was then starving and +miserable under a bush in the upper part of the +garden. I continued calling and seeking him until +breakfast-time, and fast losing all hope of ever +seeing him again. About eleven o'clock I was returning +from the kitchen garden, with my hands full +of fruit and flowers, when, to my intense delight, +poor little Richard came slowly out from under a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">p. 32</a></span> +laurel, and stood in the path before me, as veritable +a type of a birdish prodigal son as could well be +imagined.</p> + +<p>His feathers were ruffled, his wings drooping, his +whole aspect irresistibly reminded one of the Jackdaw +of Rheims; and the way he sidled up to me, +with half-closed eyes and drooping head, was one +of the most pathetic things I ever experienced. He +so plainly said, "I'm very sorry—hope you'll forgive +me; won't do it again"; and certainly his +mute appeal was not in vain, for down went my +fruit and flowers, and with loving words I took up +my lost darling, and cooed over him all sorts of +affectionate rubbish until we reached home and he +was restored to his cage. There his one desire was +water. Poor fellow! he was nearly famished. I +think another hour would have seen his end. +There is no water in the garden, except in the +stone vase in front of the dining-room window, and +he would not have known how to find that, so he +must have been twenty-eight hours without drinking +anything beyond a possible drop of dew now +and then. I had to feed him with great care—a +little food, and very often, until he recovered a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">p. 33</a></span> +measure of strength. He was very drooping all +day, and I quite feared he might not live after all, +he was so nearly starved to death. After some +days, however, "Richard was himself again," and as +bright and amusing as ever. I have not related the +amusing characteristics of his "daily tub." His love +of water was a perfect passion, and water he would +have. At first he was treated to a large glass dish +on the matting in the dining-room, but he sent up +such a perfect fountain of spray over curtains, +couch, and chairs, that the housemaid voted "that +bird" a nuisance, and a better plan was devised. +In the conservatory is a pool of water, with rock-work +and ferns at the back, and there is a central +tube where a fountain can be turned on. I made +a small island of green moss a little above the +water, and, placing Richard upon it, I turned the +fountain on to play a delicate shower of spray over +him. He was perfectly enchanted, and fluttered, +turned about, and frisked, like a bird possessed. As +he became accustomed to it, I began to throw +handfuls of water over him, and that he did enjoy. +He would cower down, and lie with his wings +expanded and beak open, receiving charge after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">p. 34</a></span> +charge of water till quite out of breath; then he +would run a few paces away on his island till he +recovered himself, and then would go back and +place himself ready for a renewed douche. I never +saw such a plucky bird. If I had been trying to +drown him I could not have done more, for sometimes +he was knocked backwards into the pool; +but no matter, he was up again, and all ready in a +minute. He generally tired me out, and when I +turned off the fountain, he would either fly or run +after me into the drawing-room and go into his +cage, which always stood there; and there followed +a very careful toilette—a general oiling and +pluming and fluttering, until his bonnie little +feathers were all in good order; and then would +follow endless chatter, and he would inform the +world that he was a "little beauty," "pretty little +dear," &c.</p> + +<p>Starlings seem to have an abundant supply of +natural oil in the gland where it is stored, for his +feathers were never really much wetted by his tremendous +baths, and he was a slippery fellow to +hold, his plumage was so glossy and sleek.</p> + +<p>A word must be said about his temper; it was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">p. 35</a></span> +decidedly not meek by any means, and his will was +strong, so the least thing would bring a shower of +pecks in token of disapproval, and if scolded his +attitude was most absurd; he would draw himself +up to a wonderful height, set up his crest feathers, +and stand ready to meet all comers, like a little +fighting cock; and when a finger was pointed at +him he would scold and peck, and flap with his +wings with the utmost fury; and yet if a kind +word was said all his wrath vanished, and he +would come on your hand and prize your fingers +apart, looking for grubs as usual. It seemed +strange that his habit of thus searching for +insects everywhere should continue, though he was +never by any chance rewarded by finding one. A +starling's range of ideas may be summed up in the +word "Grubs." It was always immensely amusing +to strangers to see Richard, when out in the room, +searching with his inquisitive beak in the most +hopeless places with a cheerful happy activity, as +if he always felt sure that long-looked-for grub, for +which he had searched all the years of his life, +must be close by, round the corners somewhere, +under the penwiper, behind that book, amongst<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">p. 36</a></span> +these coloured silks; and if interfered with he +would give a peck and a chirp, as much as to say, +"Do let me alone, I'm busy; I've got my living to +get, and grubs seem scarce." Richard was the only +bird I have ever had who learnt the nature of +windows, he never flew against them; he had +one or two severe concussions, and being a very +sensible bird he "concluded" he wouldn't do it +again; he would fly backwards and forwards in the +drawing-room in swift flight, but I never feared +either the windows or the fire, as he avoided both.</p> + +<p>Several times Master Richard was found flying +about in the drawing-room, and yet no one had let +him out; we could only suppose that by some mischance +the door must have been left open; yet +we all felt morally certain it had been fastened +properly, and there was much puzzlement about +the matter.</p> + +<p>However, the mystery was soon solved by my +watching Richard's proceedings. I heard a prolonged +hammering and found he was at work upon +the hasp of his cage door. He managed to raise it +up higher and higher, till by a well-directed peck +he sent it clear out of the loop of wire which held<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">p. 37</a></span> +it in its place. Still the door was shut, and it +required a good many more pecks to force it open, +but he succeeded in time, and out he flew—delighted +to find himself entirely master of the +situation. Then I watched with much amusement +his deliberate survey of the room.</p> + +<p>I was ill at the time, and he first flew to greet +me and talk a little; he hopped upon my hand, +and holding firmly on my forefinger he went +through his usual morning toilette, first an application +to his oil gland, then he touched up all +his plumage, drew out his wing and tail feathers, +fluttered himself into shape, and when quite in order +he began to examine the contents of my breakfast +tray; took a little sugar, looked to see if there were +any grubs under the tray cloth, peered into the +cream jug, decided that he didn't like the salt, +gave me two or three hard pecks to express his +profound affection, and then went off on a voyage +of discovery, <i>autour de ma chambre</i>. He squeezed +himself between every ornament on the mantlepiece, +flew to the drawers, and found there some +grapes which were very much to his taste; so he +was busy for some time helping himself. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">p. 38</a></span> +visited every piece of furniture, threw down all the +little items that he could lift, and, as I was reading, +I did not particularly notice what he was about, +until he came on a small table near my bed, and +then I heard a suspicious noise, and turned to find +the indefatigable bird with his beak in my ink +bottle, and the sheet already plentifully bespattered +with black splashes and little streams of ink trickling +over the table cover; such misplaced zeal was +not to be borne, so Richard had to be caged. +When he was seven months old, his beak began to +turn from black to yellow. The colour began to +show first at the base of the beak, and it went on +gradually, until in a month's time it was nearly all +yellow, though it was black at the tip for some +time longer. As time went on, Richard's talking +powers increased; he quite upset any grave conversation +that might be going on; his voice +dropped at times to a sort of stage whisper, as if +he wished to convey some profound secrets. "Oh, +you little beauty, pretty little dear, 'ow de doo?" +used to mingle most absurdly with the conversation +of his elders and betters. When he could not +have his bath in the conservatory, I +<ins class="transcriber" title="Transcriber's note: extra 'to' removed.">used still</ins> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">p. 39</a></span> +to give him his glass dish, which we used together, +for he would never enjoy his ablutions without me, +and I became considerably sprinkled in the process. +His delight was to have a water fight, pecking +at my fingers, scolding, as if in a great rage, +using his claws, and all the while calling me "Dear +little Dicky; beauty; pretty little dear," &c., for he +had no harder words to scold with; certainly the +effect was most comical. When he supposed he +had gained the victory, he would settle down to a +regular bathe, fluttering and taking headers until +he was dripping wet and delightfully happy, and +the next thing would be to perch on one's chair, +and shake a regular shower of drops over one's +books or work.</p> + +<p>Richard was not, as a rule, at all frightened by +noises, or by being carried about in his cage in +strange places, but early one morning, when he was +out in my room, he flew away from the window +with a piercing scream of terror, and hid himself +quite in the dark, behind my pillow, shivering +with fright, as if he felt his last hour had come. +We found out, when this had occurred several +times, that his <i>bête noire</i> was a great heron, which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">p. 40</a></span> +used occasionally to leave the lake, and circle +round the house, high up in the air. It could only +have been by pure instinct that Richard was inspired +with such terror whenever he saw the great +winged bird, and it showed that artificial training, +though it develops additional powers and habits, +in no way interferes with natural instinct.</p> + +<p>The starling has a remarkably active brain; its +quickness of movement, swift flight, and never-tiring +activity, all show the working of its inner +mind; but more than that, it seems to be capable +of something akin to reasoning. Richard sometimes +dropped a piece of meat on his sanded floor, +and I have often seen him take it up and well +rinse it in his water, till the sand was cleansed +away, and then he would swallow it; and a dry +piece of meat he would moisten in the same way. +Now this involved a good deal of mental intuition, +and I often wondered whether he found out that +water would remove the sand by accident, or by a +process of thought; in either case, it showed cleverness +and adaptability. So also with the processes +of opening the door of his cage. He had first to +prize up the latch with his beak to a certain height,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">p. 41</a></span> +and then by sudden sharp pecks send it clear of +the hasp; then descend to the floor, and by straight +pecks send the door open. If he could not get +the door to open thus, he understood at once +that the latch was not clear of the hasp, so he +went back to his perch and pecked at it until +he saw it fall down, and then he knew all was +right.</p> + +<p>When the second summer of Richard's life came +round, some young starlings were obtained, as we +much wished to rear a hen as a mate for Richard +in the following year. These birds were placed in +a cage in the same room with him, as we hoped he +would prove their tutor, and save us the trouble of +teaching them. But no; Richard evidently felt +profoundly jealous of these intruders, and day after +day remained perfectly dumb and out of temper. +This went on for a week, and then fearing he +might lose his talking powers, I was obliged to +remove them and pay special attention to him, to +soothe his ruffled feelings. He did not begin to +talk until more than a week had passed by, +evidently resolving to mark in this way his +extreme displeasure at others being admitted to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">p. 42</a></span> +share our friendship—a curious instance of innate +jealousy in a bird's mind.</p> + +<p>For more than five years Richard was a source +of constant pleasure and amusement, and was so +much a part of my home-life that when anything +unusual happened, in the way of a garden-party +or a change in daily events from any cause, one's +first thought was to provide for his comfort being +undisturbed. I confess I dreaded the thought of +his growing old, and could not bear to look on to +the time when I must learn to do without his +sweet, cheering little voice and pleasant companionship. +Alas! that time has come, and I +must now tell how the little life was quenched.</p> + +<p>In a room to which he had access, there was a +small aquarium half-full of water thickly covered +with pond-weed. I had left Richard to have his +usual bath whilst I went down to breakfast, and +when I returned I could nowhere find my pet. +His usual bath was unused; I called and searched, +and at last in the adjoining room I saw the little +motionless body floating in the aquarium. The +temptation had been too strong; Richard thought +to have a lovely bathe, had flown down into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">p. 43</a></span> +water, no doubt his claws were hopelessly entangled +in the weed and thus, as was the case with +my former starling Dick, the intense love of +bathing led to a fatal end.</p> + +<p>The sorrow one feels for the loss of a pet so interwoven +with one's life is very real; many may smile +at it and call it weakness, but true lovers of +animals and birds will know what a blank is felt +and how intensely I shall ever regret the untimely +fate of my much-loved little Richard.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 617px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-009" id="illus-009"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p43.png" alt="STARLING IN SEARCH OF FOOD" title="STARLING IN SEARCH OF FOOD" width="617" height="265" /><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">p. 44</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 628px; padding-top: 1em"> +<a name="illus-010" id="illus-010"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p44.png" alt="" title="" width="628" height="356" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="VERDANT." id="VERDANT."></a> + +<h2>VERDANT.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-o-p44.png" alt="O" title="O" width="63" height="107"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 62px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 52px"></div> + <div style="width: 32px; height: 9px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + NE day in early summer I found on a +gravel walk a poor little unfledged +birdie, sitting calmly looking up into +the air, as if he hoped that some help +would come to him, some pitying hand +and heart have compassion upon his desolate +condition.</p></div> + +<p>I carried him indoors, and "mothered" the little +helpless thing as well as I could, by feeding him +with hard-boiled yolk of egg mixed with brown +bread and water. Being a hard-billed bird, I +supposed that would be suitable food, and certainly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">p. 45</a></span> +he throve upon it. The little blue quills began to +tell of coming feathers, his vigorous chirpings +betokened plenty of vocal power, and in due time +he grew into a young greenfinch of the most +irrepressible and enterprising character. His +lovely hues of green and yellow led to the name +of Verdant being bestowed upon him, and his +early experiences made it a somewhat suitable +name.</p> + +<p>Poor little man! he had no parents to instruct +him, and he consequently got into all manner of +scrapes. He only learnt the nature of windows +and looking-glasses by bitter experience; flying +against them with great force, he was often taken +up for dead; but his solid little skull resisted all +these concussions, and by pouring cold water upon +his head and some down his throat, he always +managed to recover. He once overbalanced into +a bath, and was nearly drowned; he fell behind +a wardrobe, and was nearly suffocated; later on +he almost squeezed himself to death between the +bars of his cage—in fact, he had endless escapes +of various kinds. He was very amusing in his +early youth. Whilst I was dressing he would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">p. 46</a></span> +delight in picking up my scissors, pins, buttonhook, +and anything else he could lift, and would +carry them to the edge of the dressing-table and +throw them down, turning his sly little head to see +where they had fallen. He delighted in mischief, +and was ever on the watch to carry off or misplace +things; and yet he was a winning little pet, +fearless in his confidence, perching on one's head +or shoulder, and hindering all dressing operations +by calmly placing his little body in the way, +regardless of consequences.</p> + +<p>He lived in his cage during the day, and next +to him, on the same table, lived a bullfinch—a +very handsome bird, but heavy and lethargic to +a degree; he sang exquisitely, and for that gift I +suppose Verdant admired him, for his delight was +to be as near him as possible. Perched on the top +of his cage, he gazed down at his friend, and in +great measure imitated his singing. Bully, on the +contrary, hated Verdant, and would have nothing +to do with him. The two characters were a great +source of amusement to us.</p> + +<p>Verdant was always let out at meal-times to fly +about and enjoy his liberty, and I am sorry to say<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">p. 47</a></span> +he was always on the look-out for any mischief +that might be possible. Bully's water-jar was +fastened outside by a small pin; this Verdant +discovered was movable, and before long we were +startled by the fall of the said water-jar, the greenfinch +having pulled out the pin; he then began +upon the seed-box, and that also fell, to his great +delight; he was then talked to and scolded, and +up went his pretty yellow wings with angry +flappings, and his open beak scolded back again +in the most hardened manner. He was greatly +interested in watching the numerous birds frequenting +a basket filled with fat which hung outside the +window, and he would swing backwards and +forwards on the tassel of the blind, chirping to the +outsiders, and watching all their little squabbles. +Sunflower seeds were his greatest dainty; he +would perch upon the hand to receive one, or if it +were held between the lips he would flutter and +poise upon the wing to take it. A sort of swing +with a chain and movable wheel was provided, +upon which Verdant soon learned to perch and +swing, whilst he amused himself by pecking at the +chain till he disengaged the sunflower seeds I had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">p. 48</a></span> +fixed in the links. When he was more than a +year old, and I thought he might be depended +upon, I tried the rather anxious experiment of +letting him out of doors. He soon became quietly +happy, investigating the wonders of tree branches, +inquiring into the taste of leaves and all kind of +novelties, when two or three sparrows flew at him +and scared him considerably. Away he went, +followed by the sparrows, and I began to repent +my experiment, and feared he might go beyond my +ken and lose himself. He was out nearly an hour, +but at last he returned and went quietly into his +cage. It seemed strange that the wild birds should +so soon discover that he was not one of their clique, +but I suppose Verdant revealed the secret by +looking frightened, and the others could not resist +the fun of chasing him. For more than a year and +a half my birdie was a constant pleasure. Whenever +he entered the dining-room my first act was to +open Verdant's cage, when he would always fly to +the bullfinch's cage and greet him with a chirp, +then look to see if his friend had any provender +that he could get at—a piece of lettuce between +the bars, or a spray of millet to which he could help<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">p. 49</a></span> +himself; no matter that Bully remonstrated with +open beak, Verdant calmly feasted on stolen goods +<i>con gusto</i>, and then scouted around for any dainties +on the carpet, where he sometimes found a stray +sunflower seed, always his greatest delight. After +his summer moulting he became wonderfully +vigorous, and would fly round the room with such +velocity that I often felt afraid he might some day +fly against the plate-glass windows and injure +himself.</p> + +<p>That mournful day came at last! He had been +out as usual at breakfast-time, came on my finger +for a seed, had his bath, and went on the little swing +for more seeds, and flew about with all his joyous life +and vigour. We had only left the room for a few +moments, when, on returning, the dear little bird lay +dead beneath the window, against which he had +flown with such force as to break his neck and +cause instant death.</p> + +<p>The sorrow of that moment will never be +forgotten; indeed, I cannot even now think of my +little pet with undimmed eyes—he was a moment +before so full of life and beauty, so fearless, such a +"sonsie" little fellow; and then to hold the little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">p. 50</a></span> +golden green body in my hand and watch the fast-glazing +eye, and think that I should never again +have my cheery little friend to greet me and be +glad at my coming, was one of those sharp pangs +that true lovers of nature alone can understand. +From all such I know I shall have sympathy in the +tragic death of my much-loved little Verdant.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 325px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-011" id="illus-011"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p49.png" alt="" title="" width="325" height="193" /><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">p. 51</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 290px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 3em"> +<a name="illus-012" id="illus-012"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p51.png" alt="WILD DUCK" title="WILD DUCK" width="290" height="220" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center"> +<a name="THE_WILD_DUCKS." id="THE_WILD_DUCKS."></a> +<h2>THE WILD DUCKS.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-w-p51.png" alt="W" title="W" width="87" height="178"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 55px; height: 30px"></div> + <div style="width: 87px; height: 30px"></div> + <div style="width: 94px; height: 115px"></div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='ornate'> +<br /><br /><br /> + HEN our grass was being cut the +mowers came upon a wild duck's +nest containing eight eggs; they +were carried whilst still warm and +placed under a sitting hen; in a +week's time she brought out eight +fluffy little ducklings, which were +placed with her under a coop in the farmyard. I +paid them a visit the next day, but, alas! I saw +four little corpses lying about in the grass, the +remaining four were chirping piteously, and the hen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">p. 52</a></span> +was in despair at being unable to comfort her +uncanny children. Evidently their diet was in +fault; I thought I would take them in hand, and +therefore had the coop brought round to the +garden, and placed under the drooping boughs of a +deodar near the drawing-room window, where I +could watch over them.</p> + +<p>I gave the wee birdies a pan of water, and placed +in it some finely-shred lettuce, with grits and brown +bread crumbs, not forgetting suitable food for the +poor distracted hen. It was charming to hear the +little happy twitterings of the downy babes, how +they gobbled and sputtered and talked to each +other over their repast, swimming to and fro as if +they had been ducks of mature age and experience, +instead of mere yellow fluffs of a day old; and, +finally, they seemed to remember they had a warm, +comfortable mother somewhere, and sought refuge +under her kindly wings, where I left them exchanging +confidences in little drowsy chirps.</p> + +<p>I found it needful to guard my little brood +with fine wire-work, for some carrion crows kept +hovering near, and a weasel was constantly on the +watch to carry them off; but these enemies were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">p. 53</a></span> +successfully baffled, and three of the ducks survived +all dangers and grew to beautiful maturity, the +fourth having died in infancy from an accidental +peck from the hen. In rearing all wild creatures the +great thing is to study and imitate, as nearly as +possible, their natural surroundings, and especially +their diet. Chopped lettuce and worms made a +fair substitute for their natural food, but the +jubilation that went on when a mass of water-weed, +full of insects, water snails, &c., was brought +them, showed that they knew by instinct what +suited them best. With constant care and attention +they grew very tame, and would eat out of one's +hand, and when let out of the coop would follow +me to a certain heap of dead leaves where worms +abounded, and there, with the most amusing eagerness, +they pounced upon their wriggling prey, +snatching the worms out of each other's beak, and +tumbling over one another in their excitement, all +the while making a special chirp of exceeding +happiness.</p> + +<p>They were named Tiny, Sir Francis Drake, and +Luther—I fear the last name had a covert allusion +to the "Diet of Worms."</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">p. 54</a></span></p> + +<p>When the purple feathers began to show in their +wings, and they considered themselves quite too old +to pay any allegiance to their hen-mother, they began +to absent themselves for some hours each afternoon, +and this, too, in a most secret fashion, for I could +never tell how they disappeared, but they returned +in due time, walking quietly in Indian file, and lay +down in their coop. At last I traced them to a +pond a long distance off—it really seemed as if +they had scented the water, for they had to traverse +a lawn and wood, go across a drive, and through a +hedge and field, and then the pond was in a hollow +where they could not possibly have seen it; but +there I found my little friends in high glee, darting +over the surface of the water, splashing, diving, +sending up showers of spray from their wings, and +going on as if they were possessed. I called to +them, and in a moment they quieted down, and +behaved exactly as children would have done when +caught tripping—they came out of the water and +followed me, in the meekest and most penitent +manner, back to their home under the deodar.</p> + +<p>These birds would stay the whole morning with +me in perfect content if they were allowed to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">p. 55</a></span> +nestle into a wool mat placed at the doorstep of +the French window leading out upon the lawn; +there they would plume themselves and sometimes +preen each other, and I could watch the way in +which the feathers were drawn through the apparently +awkward bill, yet I suppose so suited for +its various uses; anyway the feathers came out +from its manipulations as smooth and sleek as +velvet, and when the toilet was over the head found +its rest behind the wing, and profound sleep +followed. Sometimes my friends would make a +spring upon the sofa by my side, I fear with a +view to forthcoming worms, of which they well +knew I was the purveyor; and nothing could +exceed the slyness of their eyes as they looked up +at me and mutely suggested an expedition to that +heap of leaves!</p> + +<p>I must say I derived an immense amount of +amusement from those ducks; they had such +innate character of their own, quite unlike any +other bird I ever came across.</p> + +<p>I had often looked forward to the time when they +would take to their wings and come down upon +the lawn from aerial heights with a grand fuss and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">p. 56</a></span> +fluttering of wings, but that desire they never +gratified. The day came at last when I saw them +circling high up in the air, so high that they were +mere specks in the sky, but where they alighted I +never could find out. They always re-appeared, +walking solemnly (the little hypocrites!) one after +the other, as if they had been doing nothing in +particular, and were now coming in exemplary +fashion to be fed. I believe it is very rarely the +case that wild ducks, however they may appear +domesticated, will remain all the year through with +those who have reared them, and really take their +place in the poultry-yard with the other inmates. +Still it has been known, and I will subjoin an +account given me by a friend, which goes to prove +that such a state of things is possible. My friend +gave me in substance the following account of her +wild ducks:—</p> + +<p>"There are different kinds of wild ducks; these +are mallards. The first we had were hatched by +hens. They feed with the other ducks, but show a +decided preference for Indian corn. They are very +troublesome about laying, often leaving their eggs +exposed, where the crows find them and carry them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">p. 57</a></span> +off. We gather most of them we find, to take care +of them (though the ducks lay in different places +each time their nest is robbed) until there are +preparations for sitting, when, if we have been +fortunate enough to discover the fact, we add a +number of the previously gathered eggs.</p> + +<p>"The sitting duck comes for food every two or +three days, and that is all we see of her for some +time, until at length she may be seen coming +through the meadow, the half-grown mowing grass +behind her trembling and waving in an unusual +manner: by-and-by, the road or shorter grass is +reached, when it is found the proud mother is +bringing home her little fluffy family of perhaps +eight to eleven darkie ducklings—quick, active, tiny +things that refuse at first all friendly advances, but +becoming accustomed to their surroundings soon +behave much in the manner of their elders. There +are dreadful fights on the pond when two or more +little families arrive about the same time, the +mother of one flock tyrannizing over the members +of another, and thus causing many deaths. They +often fly away, but they always come back again. +All through the winter they go under cover with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">p. 58</a></span> +the other ducks, but when spring comes they are +not to be found at night; nevertheless they are +sure to be ready for breakfast next morning."</p> + +<p>I confess I always had a faint hope that my +ducks might stay with me, or at any rate return +from time to time, but their wild nature prevailed, +and they finally left; only Luther reappeared +alone one day and took his last "diet" from my +hand; but there was a look in his pretty blue eye +which said plainly, "You will never see me again," +and he had his final caress and departed "to fresh +woods and pastures new."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 312px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-013" id="illus-013"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p58.png" alt="TINY, SIR FRANCIS DRAKE AND LUTHER" title="TINY, SIR FRANCIS DRAKE AND LUTHER" width="312" height="194" /><br /> + +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">p. 59</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 345px; padding-top: 1em"> +<a name="illus-014" id="illus-014"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p59.png" alt="JAY" title="JAY" width="345" height="325" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="THE_JAY." id="THE_JAY."></a> +<h2>THE JAY.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-m-p59.png" alt="M" title="M" width="76" height="102"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 75px"></div> + <div style="width: 98px"></div> + <div style="width: 75px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 48px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + Y Jay was taken from the parent +nest, built on the stem of an ivy-covered +tree which had been blown +down in the winter. A young jay +is a curious-looking creature: the exquisite +blue wing feathers begin to show before +the others are more than quills; the eyes are +large and bright blue, and when the great +beak opens it shows a large throat of deepest +carmine, so that it possesses the beauty of colour<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">p. 60</a></span> +from its earliest days, and when full grown and in +fine plumage it is one of the handsomest of our +birds. In its babyhood my jay was much like +other young things of his kind, always clamouring +for food, and seeming to care for little else, but as +he grew up he attached himself to me with a +wonderful strength of affection which entirely +reversed this order of things, for whenever I came +into the room he was restless and unhappy until I +came near enough for him to feed me, he would +look carefully into his food-trough, and at last +select what he thought the most tempting morsel, +and then put it through the bars of his cage into +my mouth. He would sometimes feed other +people, but as a rule he disliked strangers, and I +have known him even take water in his beak and +squirt it at those who displeased him. On the +whole, a jay is not a very desirable pet; he is +restless in a cage, and too large to be quite +convenient when loose in a room; again, his great +timidity is a drawback—the least noise, the sight +of a cat or dog, puts him in a nervous fright, and he +flutters about with anxious notes of alarm. He is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">p. 61</a></span> +seen to best advantage hopping about on a lawn,</p></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">p. 62</a></span></p> +<p><br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">p. 63</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-015" id="illus-015"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p61.png" alt="ANOTHER JAY" title="ANOTHER JAY" width="550" height="311" /><br /> +<span class="caption">THE JAY.</span> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">where he may be attracted by acorns being strewn +in winter and spring. It is a pity that his marauding +habits in game preserves lead to his being so +ruthlessly shot by gamekeepers till it is almost a +rare sight to see the handsome bird and hear his +note of alarm in the woods. One morning I saw +a jay on the lawn near the house, and rather +wondering as to what he was seeking, in a +minute or two I saw him pounce upon a young +half-fledged bird and carry it off in his beak, a +helpless little baby wing fluttering in the air as he +flew away. Their sight is wonderfully keen, and +their cunning is amusing to watch as they steal by +careful steps nearer and nearer to their prey, and +at last by a sudden dart secure it and make off in +rapid flight.</p> + +<p>After a year or two my poor jay met with a +very sad fate. A garden-party was to take place, +and knowing the jay's terror of any unusual noise +or upstir, I carried his cage to a quiet room where +I hoped he would be quite happy and hear nothing.</p> + +<p>I, however, did not happen to notice that, later +on, the band had established their quarters near +this room, and I suppose the unwonted sounds<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">p. 64</a></span> +drove the poor bird into a wild state of terror, and +that in his flutterings he had caught his leg in the +bars of the cage; anyway, I went up about the +middle of the party to see how my pet was faring, +when I found him in utter misery clinging to the +bars, his thigh dislocated and his leg hopelessly +broken. It was a mournful duty to carry him +away to merciful hands that would end his torture +by an instant death. For many a day I missed +that bright, handsome birdie who had always a +welcome for me and the offer of such hospitality +as his cage afforded.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">p. 65</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 291px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-016" id="illus-016"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p64.png" alt="" title="" width="291" height="194" /><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="minor" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">p. 66</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 587px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-017" id="illus-017"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p66.png" alt="A YOUNG CUCKOO" title="A YOUNG CUCKOO" width="587" height="220" /><br /> +<span class="caption">A YOUNG CUCKOO.</span> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">p. 67</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 305px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-018" id="illus-018"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p67.png" alt="BUTTERFLY AND CATERPILLAR" title="BUTTERFLY AND CATERPILLAR" width="305" height="204" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="A_YOUNG_CUCKOO." id="A_YOUNG_CUCKOO."></a> +<h2>A YOUNG CUCKOO.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-l-p67.png" alt="L" title="L" width="76" height="96"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 74px;height:19px"></div> + <div style="width: 82px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 58px"></div> + <div style="width: 45px;height:17px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + OOKING out of my window before six +o'clock one bright morning in early +summer, I chanced to see a large bird +sitting quietly on the gravel walk. Its +feathers were ruffled as if it felt cold and +miserable, and its drooping head told a tale of +unhappiness from some cause or other. Whilst I +was watching it, a little bird darted with all its +force against the larger one, and made it roll over +on the path; it slowly rose up again, but in another +minute a bird from the other side flew against it +and again rolled it over. Such conduct could not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">p. 68</a></span> +be tolerated, so, dressing quickly, I went out, and +picking up the strange bird I found it was a young +cuckoo nearly starved to death, having, as I +supposed, lost its foster-parents. The bird was in +beautiful plumage, except down the front of its +throat, where the repeated attacks of the small +birds in showing their usual enmity towards the +cuckoo, had stripped off the feathers. The poor bird +was only skin and bone, nearly dying from lack of +food and persecution, and made no resistance when +I brought him in to see if I could act the part of +foster-mother. Finely-mixed raw meat and brown +bread seemed to me the best substitute for his +insect diet—but he <i>was</i> an awkward baby to feed—though +sinking for want of nourishment he +would not open his great beak, and every half-hour +he had to be fed sorely against his will with +many flapping of his wings and other protests of +his bird nature. He would not stay quiet in any +sort of cage, but when allowed to perch on the rim +of a large basket quite free, he remained happily +enough by the hour together. After a few days +he grew into a vigorous, active bird, flying round +the room, and too wild to be retained with safety<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">p. 69</a></span> +He was therefore let loose, and soon flew quite out +of sight. I should hope he was quite able to +support himself by his own exertions. I must say +he showed no gratitude for my benevolent succour +in his time of need.</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 339px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-019" id="illus-019"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p69.png" alt="YOUNG CUCKOO ATTACKED BY BIRDS" title="YOUNG CUCKOO ATTACKED BY BIRDS" width="339" height="349" /><br /> +<span class="caption">YOUNG CUCKOO ATTACKED BY BIRDS</span> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">p. 70</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 628px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-020" id="illus-020"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p70.png" alt="" title="" width="628" height="356" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="THE_TAMING_OF_OUR_PETS." id="THE_TAMING_OF_OUR_PETS."></a> +<h2>THE TAMING OF OUR PETS.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-s-p70.png" alt="" title="" width="66" height="117"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 55px"></div> + <div style="width: 35px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + INCE the love of animal and bird pets +seems so universal, both amongst rich +and poor, it is well that the desire to +keep creatures in captivity should be +wisely directed, and that young people +especially should be led to think of the things that +are requisite to make their pets live and prosper in +some degree of happiness.</p></div> + +<p>I have often been consulted by some sweet, +impulsive child about its "pet robin" or "dear +little swallow," as to why it did not seem to eat or +feel happy? and have found the poor victims +quietly starving to death on a diet of oats, canarys<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">p. 71</a></span> +seed, or even green leaves, the infant mind not +feeling quite sure what the "pretty birdies" lived +upon.</p> + +<p>It is needless to say we might as well try to keep +a bird on pebbles as give hard grain to a soft-billed +insect-eating bird; but this kind of cruelty is constantly +practised simply from ignorance. I would +therefore endeavour to give a few general rules for +the guidance of those who have a new pet of some +kind, which they wish to domesticate and tame.</p> + +<p>To begin with animals; suitable food, a comfortable +home, means of cleanliness, and exercise are +essential to their health and comfort. These four +requisites are seldom fully attended to. Often +a large dog is kept in a back yard in London +chained up week after week—kept alive, it is true, +by food and water, but without exercise, and with +no means of ridding himself of dirt and insects +by a plunge now and then into a pond or river. +No wonder his piteous howls disturb the neighbours, +and he is spoken of as "that horrid dog!" +as if it was his fault poor fellow! that he feels +miserable and uses his only language of complaint.</p> + +<p>One would suggest, it is better not to keep such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">p. 72</a></span> +a dog in a confined space in town, but if he is to be +retained he should have one or two daily scampers +for exercise, the opportunity of bathing, if he is a +water-dog, plenty of fresh water, dog-biscuits, and +a few bones twice a day, and a clean house and +straw for bedding.</p> + +<p>I would call attention to the piece of solid brimstone +so persistently put into dogs' water pans. It +is placed there with the best intention, but is +utterly useless, seeing it is a perfectly insoluble +substance, but a small teaspoonful of powdered +brimstone mixed now and then with the water +would be lapped up when the animal drinks, and +would tend to keep his skin and coat in good +condition.</p> + +<p>Different animals need treating according to +their nature and requirements, and surely it is well +to try and find out from some of the many +charming books on natural history all the information +which is needed to make the new pet happy +in its captivity. It is both useless and cruel to try +to keep and tame newly caught, full-grown English +birds. After being used to their joyous life +amongst tree branches, in happy fellowship with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">p. 73</a></span> +others of their own kind, living on food of their +own selection, it is hardly likely they can be +reconciled to the narrow limits of a cage and the +dreariness of a solitary life; it is far better not to +attempt keeping them, for what pleasure can there +be in seeing the incessant flutterings of a miserable +little creature that we know is breaking its heart in +longings for liberty, and though it may linger a +while is sure to die at last of starvation and sorrow. +No, the only way to enjoy friendships with full-grown +birds is to tame them by food and kindness, +till such a tie of love is formed that they will come +into our houses and give us their sweet company +willingly.</p> + +<p>No cruelty of any kind whatever should be +tolerated for a moment in our treatment of the +tender dumb creatures our Heavenly Father has +given us to be a solace and joy during our life on +earth.</p> + +<p>The taming of pets requires a good many different +qualities—much patience, a very quiet manner, +and a cheery way of talking to the little creatures +we desire to win into friendship with us; it is +wonderful how that prevents needless terrors.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">p. 74</a></span></p> + +<p>There are no secrets that I am aware of in +taming anything, but love and gentleness. Directly +a bird flutters, one must stop and speak kindly; +the human voice has wonderful power over all +animated nature, and then try to see what is the +cause of alarm, and remove it if possible. In +entering a room where your pet is, always speak to +it, and by the time you have led it to give an +answering chirp, the taming will go on rapidly, +because there is an understanding between you, +and the little lonely bird feels it has a friend, and +takes you instead of its feathered companions, and +begins to delight in your company.</p> + +<p>A person going silently to a cage and dragging +out the bottom tray will frighten any bird into +flutterings of alarm, which effectually hinders any +taming going on; but approach gently, talking to +the bird by name, pull the tray quietly a little way, +and then stop and speak, and so draw it out by +degrees and the thing is done, and no fright +experienced. A better way still is to have a +second cage, and let birdie hop into that while you +clean the other, and then it is amusing to see the +pleasure and curiosity shown on his return when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">p. 75</a></span> +he finds fresh seed, pure water, and some dainty +green food supplied; the loud chirpings tell of +great delight and satisfaction, and the dreaded +process is at last looked forward to as a time of +recreation. It is much best that one person only +should attend to the needs of a pet; indeed, I +doubt if taming can ever go on satisfactorily +unless this rule is observed; a bird is perplexed +and scared if plans are changed, and, not knowing +what is required of him, he grows flurried, and the +training of weeks past may be undone in a single +day.</p> + +<p>Only those who have tried to educate birds can +have any idea of the way in which their little minds +will respond to affectionate treatment shown in a +sensible way. They have a language of their own +which we must set ourselves to learn if we would +be <i>en rapport</i> with them. Their different chirpings +each mean something, and a little observation will +soon show what it is; for instance, my canary +fairly shrieks when she sees lettuce on the breakfast-table, +and her grateful note of thanks when it +is bestowed upon her is of quite a different +character. So also is her tender little sound of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">p. 76</a></span> +rejoicing when I give her some broken egg-shell; +she seems to value it immensely, and chirps to me +with a great piece of it in her bill, quite regardless +of good manners. I often think with pain how +much birds must suffer when hour after hour they +call and chirp and entreat for something they want, +which they can see and long for, and yet the dull-minded +human beings they live with pay no heed +to them, food and water are given, but, in many +cases, nothing more all day long, not even a little +chickweed or groundsel, or the much-needed egg-shell +to supply strength to their little bones. A +bright word or two for birdie now and then, and a +few friendly chirps as we enter the room, would do +much to cheer the little prisoner's life, and would +soon bring a charming response in fluttering wings +and evident pleasure at our return.</p> + +<p>This state of things cannot be attained in a day +or a month; it is only by persistent kindness, +exercised patiently, until the little heart is won to +a perfect trust in you as a true friend.</p> + +<p>Birds can easily be trained to come out for +their daily bath, and then go back to their cage +of their own accord, but it needs patience at first.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">p. 77</a></span> +The bird must never be caught by the hand or +driven about, but if the cage is put on the floor +with some nice food in it, and the bird is called +and gently guided to it, though it may take an +hour to do it the first time, it will at last hop in, +and then the door may be very quietly shut. +Next time he will know what you wish and will +be much more amenable, until at last it will be +the regular thing to go home when the bath is +over.</p> + +<p>I would condemn the practice of making birds +draw up their own water; they are never free to +satisfy their thirst without toilsome effort, and are +much more liable to accident when chained to an +open board than when kept in a cage. It is also +sad to know that dozens of birds are starved to +death or die of thirst whilst being taught this +trick—frequently but one out of many is found to +have the aptitude to learn it.</p> + +<p>It is a great help if some specially favourite food +can be discovered by which the pet creature can +be rewarded for good conduct. I <i>never</i> take away +food or water to induce obedience by privation—a +practice which I fear is often resorted to in training<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">p. 78</a></span> +creatures for public exhibition—but an additional +dainty I much enjoy to bestow, as a means of +winning what is at first, it is true, merely +cupboard love, but it soon grows into something +far deeper, a lifelong friendship, quite apart from +the food question.</p> + +<p>Cleanliness is a <i>very</i> important item in a bird's +happiness. Whilst kept in a cage with but little +sand and an outside water-glass which affords no +means of washing its feathers, a bird is apt to +become infested with insects; it is tormented by +them day and night, and having no means of +ridding itself of them, it grows thin and mopy, +and at last dies a miserable death.</p> + +<p>There should be a bath supplied daily, suited +to the size of the bird, and so planned that the +cage itself may not get wet, else it may give the +bird cramp to have to sit on a damp perch or floor. +When its feathers are dry, some insect powder may +be carefully dusted under the bird's wings, at the +back of his head, where parasites are especially apt +to congregate, and all over the body, only taking +care that the powder may not get into the bird's +eyes. The cage itself should be well washed with +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">p. 79</a></span> +carbolic soap and water, +all the corners scrubbed +with a small +brush; and, when +dry, it might be +sponged with carbolic +lotion over the +wire-work to kill any +insects which may yet +remain.</p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 391px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-021" id="illus-021"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p79.png" alt="ARABESQUE" title="ARABESQUE" width="391" height="577" /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">p. 80</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 318px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-022" id="illus-022"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p80.png" alt="" title="" width="318" height="212" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="BIRDIE." id="BIRDIE."></a> +<h2>BIRDIE.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-a-p80.png" alt="A" title="A" width="71" height="104"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 75px;height: 14px"></div> + <div style="width: 82px"></div> + <div style="width: 80px"></div> + <div style="width: 62px"></div> + <div style="width: 48px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + MONGST all the different birds which +are kept in cages, either for their +beauty or song, there is one which to +my mind far excels all others, not only +in its vocal powers, which are remarkable, +but for its very unusual intelligence. I refer to +the Virginian nightingale. It is a handsome, +crimson plumaged bird, rather smaller than a +starling, not unfrequently seen in bird-sellers' +collections, but seen there to the worst possible +advantage, for, being extremely shy and +sensitive, and taking keen notice of everything<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">p. 81</a></span> +around, the slightest voice or movement in the +shop will make it flutter against the bars of its +cage in an agony of fright, and it therefore looks +a most unlikely bird to become an interesting pet; +but I will try to show what may be done by gentle +kindness to overcome this natural timidity. This +will be seen in the history of Birdie, my first +Virginian nightingale, my daily companion for +fourteen years.</p></div> + +<p>He had belonged to a relative, and there was no +way of tracing the age of the bird when first obtained; +I can therefore only speak of those years +in which he was in my possession. Birdie had +been accustomed to live in a cage on a high shelf +in the kitchen, well cared for, no doubt, but, untamed +and unnoticed, he led a lonely life, and was +one of the wildest birds I ever met with. For +many months his flutterings, when any one came +near his cage, could not be calmed, but by always +speaking to him when entering the room, and if +possible giving him a few hemp-seeds or any little +dainty, he grew to endure one's presence; then, +later on, he would begin to greet one with a little +clicking note, though still retreating to the furthest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">p. 82</a></span> +corner of the cage, and a year or two passed by +before he would take anything out of my hand, but +this was attained by offering him his one irresistible +temptation, <i>i.e.</i>, a lively spider; this he +would seize and hold in his beak while he hopped +about the cage, clicking loudly with delight. After +a time I began to let him out for an hour or +two, first releasing him when he was moulting +and could not fly very easily. He learned to go +back to his cage of his own accord, and was rewarded +by always finding some favourite morsel +there. Thus, by slow degrees, he lost all fear, and +attached himself to me with a strength of affection +that expressed itself in many endearing little ways. +When called by name he would always answer +with a special chirp and look up expectantly, +either to receive something or to be let out. His +song was very similar to the English nightingale, +extremely liquid and melodious, with the same +"jug-jug," but more powerful and sustained. On +my return to the room after a short absence he +would greet me with delight, fluttering his outspread +wings and singing his sweetest song, looking +intently at me, swaying his head from side to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">p. 83</a></span> +side, and whilst this ecstasy of song lasted he +would even refuse to notice his most favourite food, +as if he must express his joy before appetite could +be gratified. After a few years he seemed to adopt +me as a kind of mate! for as spring came round +he endeavoured to construct a nest by stealing little +twigs out of the grate and flying with them to a +chosen retreat behind an ornamental scroll at the top +of the looking-glass. He spent a great deal of time +fussing about this nest, which never came to anything, +but he very obligingly attended to my supposed +wants by picking up an occasional fly, or +piece of sugar, and, hovering before me on the +wing, would endeavour to put it into my mouth; +or, if he was in his cage, would mince up a spider +or caterpillar with water, and then, with his beak +full of the delicious compound, would call and +chirp unceasingly until I came near and "made +believe" to taste it, and not till then would he be +content to enjoy it himself.</p> + +<p>During an absence from home, Birdie once escaped +out of doors, and was seen on the roof +of the house singing in high glee; the servants +called him, the cage was put out, but all to no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">p. 84</a></span> +purpose, he evidently meant to have "a real good +time," and kept flying from one tree to another +until he was a quarter of a mile from home. A +faithful servant kept him in sight for three hours, +by which time hunger made him return to our +garden, where he feasted on some raspberries, took +a leisurely bath in a tub of water, and at length +flew in at a bedroom window, where he was safely +caged. I never knew a bird with so much intelligence, +one might almost say reasoning power. He +was once very thirsty after being out of his cage +for many hours, and at luncheon he went to an +empty silver spoon and time after time pretended +to drink, looking fixedly at me as if he felt sure I +should know what he meant, and waited quietly +until I put water into the spoon. Another curious +trait was his sense of humour. Whilst I was +writing one day he went up to a rose, which was +at the far end of the table, and began pecking at +the leaves. I told him not to do it, when, to my +surprise, he immediately ran the whole length of +the table and made a scolding noise up in my face, +and then, just like a naughty child, went back and +did it again. He would sometimes try to tease<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">p. 85</a></span> +me away from my writing by taking hold of my +pen and tugging at a corner of the paper, and +whenever the terrible operation of cutting his +claws had to be gone through, he quietly curled up +his toes and held the scissors with his beak, so that +it needed two people to circumvent his clever resistance. +He had wonderfully acute vision, and +would let me know directly a hawk was in sight, +though it might be but the merest speck in the sky. +He once had a narrow escape, for a sparrow-hawk +made a swoop at him in his cage just outside the +drawing-room window, and had no one been at +hand would probably have dragged him through +the bars. Whenever he saw a jay or magpie, a +jackdaw or cat, his clicking note always told +me of some enemy in sight. For many years +Birdie was my cherished pet, never was there a +closer friendship. As I passed his cage each night +I put my hand in to stroke his feathers, and was +always greeted with a low, murmuring note of +affection never heard in the daytime.</p> + +<p>It was with deep concern that I watched Birdie's +declining strength; there was no disease, only +weakness, and at last appetite failed, but even then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">p. 86</a></span> +he would take whatever I offered him and hold it +in his beak as if to show that even to the last he +would try to please me as far as he could, but he +wanted nothing but the quiet rest which came at +length, and dear little Birdie is now only a cherished +memory of true friendship.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 309px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-023" id="illus-023"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p86.png" alt="" title="" width="309" height="194" /><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">p. 87</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 309px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-024" id="illus-024"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p87.png" alt="ZÖE, THE NUTHATCH" title="ZÖE, THE NUTHATCH" width="309" height="150" /><br /> +<span class="caption">ZÖE, THE NUTHATCH.</span> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="ZOE_THE_NUTHATCH." id="ZOE_THE_NUTHATCH."></a> +<h2>ZÖE, THE NUTHATCH.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-a-p87.png" alt="A" title="A" width="71" height="104"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 75px;height: 14px"></div> + <div style="width: 82px"></div> + <div style="width: 80px"></div> + <div style="width: 62px"></div> + <div style="width: 48px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + VISIT to a bird-dealer's shop always +awakens a deep feeling of pity in my +mind as I look at the unhappy, flutter-little +captives, and think of the breezy +hill-sides and pleasant lanes from which +they came, to be shut up in cages a few inches +square, with but little light, a stifling atmosphere, +strange diet, and no means of washing their +ruffled feathers or stretching their wings in flight. +Truly, they are in evil case, and no wonder so +many die off within a few days of their capture! +In some places they are better cared for than in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">p. 88</a></span> +others, but in most bird-shops dirt and misery +seem to prevail amongst the tenants of the cages.</p></div> + +<p>One such place I have often visited for the sake +of meeting with live curios. The owner was a +kind-hearted woman, and did not intentionally ill-treat +her live-stock; but the shop was very dark +and dirty, and one could but wonder how anything +contrived to live in such close, stivy air. On +going in one day, I nearly walked over a large, pensive-looking +duckling which stood in the middle of +the shop. His brother had been considered suitable +for the adornment of a table-lamp with a looking-glass +stand, on which a bright yellow duckling was +placed, as if swimming on water; this bird, having +some darker markings, was of no use for that purpose +and had been allowed to live. He had a +strange, old-fashioned look, and gave one the impression +that he was already tired of life and felt +bored. A lark on its little piece of turf, fluttering +and looking up for a glimpse of blue sky; a dejected +robin, with no tail to speak of, and sundry +other sad-looking specimens met my pitying gaze, +and I suppose I had caught their sorrowful expression, +for I was startled by a sharp voice near me,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">p. 89</a></span> +saying, "What's the matter?" I turned to +reply, and found the inquiry was made by a grey +parrot, who introduced himself as "Pretty Poll," +and was ready to make friends to any extent. +But my attention had been caught by seeing what +looked like a nuthatch: only it was moping and +ill, with eyes shut and feathers ruffled. I asked +about it, and was told it had some injury to its +foot, and was unsaleable, as the woman feared it +would not live. I made a bid for it, and it was +accepted. I confess I was not sorry to leave the +stilling air of the shop and bring my new pet +home. I fitted up a large cage with pieces of +wood and tree-bark, a pan for bathing, sand, and +fine gravel; a bone with a little meat upon it hung +from the roof of the cage, and other suitable food +was placed in a tin. The poor birdie was a pitiable +object for some days; she ate now and then, +but remained for the most part quite still, with +closed eyes, from morning till night. Then she +began to creep up and down the small tree-stem I +had placed in the cage. She took a bath and +plumed herself, and in less than a fortnight she +became quite well and vigorous, and very amusing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">p. 90</a></span> +in a variety of ways. Never was there a more +active, busy little creature.</p> + +<p>Her characteristic was life, so she was named +"Zöe," and before long she seemed to recognize +her name, and would give an answering chirp. +The pieces of bark appeared to afford a never-failing +interest. They were examined and investigated +in every crevice. Like a little woodpecker +hanging head downwards, Zöe would hammer at a +nut fixed in the cracks of the bark, and would +hide away unfortunate mealworms not required for +immediate use.</p> + +<p>Zöe regularly honeycombed the little tree-stem +with her incessant hammering, and in the numerous +holes thus made she kept her supply of food. No +sooner was her tin filled with small pieces of raw +meat than she began stowing them all away for +future use. She seemed to exercise a good deal +of thought about the matter; a morsel would be +put in and out of a hole half a dozen times before +it was considered settled and suitable, and then +it had to be well rammed in and fixed, and off +went the busy little creature to fetch another +piece, and so on, till all was disposed of, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">p. 91</a></span> +the tin left empty. Zöe was greatly exercised +by a half-opened Brazil nut: it was too large to +fix into the bark, it would not keep steady while +she pecked at it, and yet there were good things +inside which must be obtained. I watched her +various devices with great amusement. She hung +head downwards from the tree-stem and hammered +at it on the ground, but it shifted about, and she +made no way; then she carried it in her beak and +tried fitting it into various places. I hope she did +not swear at it, but she seemed to think the thing +was possessed, for it was not like the ordinary +nuts: she could manage them; they would go +into holes in the bark; this wouldn't fit anywhere, +and yet she could not give it up. At last, by a +bright inspiration, she got it fixed into a space +between the tree-stem and the side of the cage. +Now she was in high glee, and all the household +might have heard the rapping that went on while +she scooped out the inside and chipped off pieces +to be hidden carefully away in some secret place.</p> + +<p>Zöe had a cosy nook under a sloping piece of +bark, to which she would retire at times, and +sitting down on the bottom of her cage in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">p. 92</a></span> +shadow, looked like a little grey mouse. When +appetite brought her out again, she would go to +her tree-larder and pick out the choice hidden +morsels, as if they were the insects which would +have been her food if her lot had been cast +amongst tree-branches instead of in a cage.</p> + +<p>When winter began, Zöe was placed in the +conservatory, where a tame robin often came +for a few hours to enjoy his daily crumbs and +the pleasant warmth of the air. Bobby was +greatly puzzled at the nuthatch, watched her +hammerings from the top of the cage, walked +round it, surveying the provisions inside, and at +last he made up his mind to get in somehow +and partake of the longed-for dainties. I could +see quite plainly the attraction, the hesitation, +the pros and cons, and then, finally, the resolve, +and felt very curious as to how the birdish mind +would carry out its intention. There was only +one place, where the bars were rather widely +apart, so that the nuthatch could have got out +if she had possessed half the wits of the robin. +After a quiet survey and a few flights backwards +and forwards, Bobby saw this place, and made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">p. 93</a></span> +towards it, sat and considered for a few seconds, +and finally went in. The nuthatch was sitting +quietly under her piece of bark, and did not see +him; so he picked up the desired morsels, and, +after a few minutes, went out where it came in. +These visits he repeated frequently through the +day, but once I was amused to see that he forgot +"the way out," and put himself in a great fuss, +realized that a cage was a prison, and flew up +and down in a fright, until by chance he saw the +opening, and glided out. At last Zöe caught him +in the act of purloining her goodies, and was +most indignant. A rush at the thief, with an +angry chirp, sent Bobby flying away in ignominious +haste, a wiser, but not a repentant bird; +for he continued his robberies, only with care to +avoid being caught; he ventured only a little +way into the cage, ready to go out at a moment's +notice.</p> + +<p>Zöe had a good deal of quiet humour, and was +a character in her way. She considered me very +attentively one day, with a roguish look in her +black eyes, and then, going to her tree-stem +larder, she pulled out a hidden mealworm and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">p. 94</a></span> +held it up for me to see, with an evident wish +that I should know about it, and possibly with +a little birdish triumph that she possessed such +delights; and then it was put back again and +well rammed into its crevice until the hungry +moment should arrive. After a few months Zöe +became tame enough to be let out of her cage, +and would hop quietly about the room, and, like +a small, grey-coated detective, would peer about +stealthily under tables and chairs in search of +live dainties; and extremely pretty she looked +as she crept up the curtains with jerky motions, +evidently thinking they were tree-stems where, by +careful search, delightful centipedes and beetles +might be found.</p> + +<p>I do not know if naturalists have remarked that +the nuthatch has a very limited range of vision. +Zöe could see nothing beyond twelve or fourteen +inches; the most tempting mealworm might lie +on the floor of the cage unnoticed if she happened +to be on her tree-stem; and I have tried +bringing the insect nearer by degrees, and found +that only when within a foot of her eyes could +she see it, and I fancy then only indistinctly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">p. 95</a></span> +as she would peer about excitedly, as if uncertain +what it was, until near enough to be in the focus +of clear vision, and then, by a sudden dart, she +would seize and flit away with it.</p> + +<p>At first Zöe's roosting-place was under the +curved piece of bark lying on the floor of her +cage, but after a time she took up her nightly +quarters in a small box which hooked on to the +side of her cage. It was a very cramped and +uncomfortable lodging, and I wondered how she +contrived to squeeze into such a small space. It +occurred to me that a little cocoa-nut with a hole +at one end would be the sort of sleeping-chamber +she would prefer, as being most like a hole in a +tree-stem, in which, probably, nuthatches roost.</p> + +<p>An empty cocoa-nut was, therefore, provided. +With birdish distrust and caution Zöe only eyed +it for some days, then perched on it; but finally +she went in, and it was amusing to see her evident +delight: how she went incessantly in and out, +and turned round and round inside, and finally +sat down and remained in it for an hour or more, +quite still and happy, peering out at any one +passing by, her sleek head and neck looking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">p. 96</a></span> +remarkably like a snake, and her furtive black +eye observantly watching all that went on around +her.</p> + +<p>Her cage, when not in the conservatory, was +placed on a table in the drawing-room, close to +where I was sitting, and thus she was frequently +spoken to and noticed, which is one great secret +in taming birds and animals. They soon learn +to greet one with some token of recognition, +and their often solitary lives are brightened and +cheered by such companionship.</p> + +<p>An amusing thing occurred one day while I +was away from home for a few hours. Zöe's +cage had been placed in the sun, and a friend +of mine, glancing at the bird, saw her in an +apparently dying state, her head hanging on one +side, the beak wide open, all the feathers ruffled, +and the whole aspect of the bird indicating the +near approach of death. The bell was rung, the +servants came in, and whispered consultations +were held as to what could be done, and "What +would mistress say?" seemed the uppermost +thought. All at once, Zöe jumped down and +began a vigorous hammering at her tree-stem, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">p. 97</a></span> +full of life as ever, and she was at once voted +"a little impostor." When I returned and heard +the account, it was easy to explain that my +birdie had been enjoying a sun bath, which +always gives rise to most lackadaisical positions +while the state of dreamy absorption lasts.</p> + +<p>The mealworms which Zöe mainly lived upon +were kept in a tin biscuit-box, which she knew +well by sight, and one day, being too busy to +spare time to feed her with them, I opened her +cage-door and put the box down a little way +from the cage on the floor, and placed a small +log of wood for her to descend by. Down she +came, perched on the edge of the box, looked at +the layers of flannel which covered her delightful +worms, and tugged at one corner after another +till she obtained her prey. After swallowing two +or three, she thought a little store might be useful, +and began taking them in her beak, and +searching for some convenient hiding-places, but +as I did not desire to have the drawing-room +neatly ornamented with mealworms, I had to +prevent that little design being carried out. My +tiny pet lived happily for about a year, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">p. 98</a></span> +when the moulting time came she grew weak +and ill, and did not seem to have strength to +produce her new plumage; for, in spite of all +possible care, she drooped and died. She lives +in my memory as one of the most gentle, innocent +birdies I have ever had, absolutely without +temper, contented and cheerful, a perfect pattern +of industry, chipping out holes in her log of wood, +and flitting about with a happy little chirp from +morning till night, a bright example of what a +cheery life may be lived, even by a caged bird, +when kindly treated and cared for thoughtfully.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 305px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-025" id="illus-025"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p98.png" alt="NUTHATCH IN A COCOANUT" title="NUTHATCH IN A COCOANUT" width="305" height="183" /><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">p. 99</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 392px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-026" id="illus-026"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p99.png" alt="TITMICE IN PURSUIT OF BEES" title="TITMICE IN PURSUIT OF BEES" width="392" height="628" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="TITMICE." id="TITMICE."></a> +TITMICE. +</div> + +<p> +<img style="float: left;" src="images/illus-i-p98.png" alt="" title="" width="26" height="29"></img> +MUST own my strong +liking for these active, +saucy little birds. For eighteen +years I have always had a basket +hung just outside the dining-room +window containing their favourite +food, <i>.e.</i>, fat of any kind, cooked +or uncooked; and most amusing it +is to watch their little odd ways and +tempers whilst frequenting the said +basket. Four species thus studied +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">p. 100</a></span> +showed distinct characteristics. Directly I put +out a fresh supply of fat, the Cole Tit would +spend all his time and energies in carrying it +away, piece by piece, to lay by in store for the +future, in crevices in the bark of trees, and this +work he would carry on with misplaced energy +until the basket was emptied. The Greater Tit +and Marsh Tit came quietly for the supply of +their own personal needs, and to feed their young +in nesting time, but the Blue Tit was by far the +most amusing. His attitudes were quite a study; +he seemed rather to prefer being upside down; +clinging to the basket and hammering away at +the hard fat, head downwards, was a favourite +pose; then, when any one else desired a share, +he would make a stand with open beak and +outspread wings and enact "king of the castle" +in the most impertinent manner, considering his +tiny dimensions. A guerilla warfare seems always +going on amongst these Blue Tits. If one was +in the basket and remaining perfectly still, I knew +two or three others were meditating a sudden +combined assault, but it seemed as if the steady +gaze of the titmouse in possession kept them at</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">p. 101</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 371px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-027" id="illus-027"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p100.png" alt="TITMICE" title="TITMICE" width="371" height="500" /><br /> +<span class="caption">TITMICE.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">p. 102</a></span></p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">p. 103</a></span></p> +<p class="noindent">bay for a time. At length a twittering scrimmage +ensued, and the combatants disappeared. I once +coaxed a Blue Tit to live in the dining-room for +a few days, and he made himself very happy, +constantly flitting about in search of insects, running +up and down the curtains like a veritable +mouse, alighting on any joint of cold meat which +happened to be on the sideboard, and making an +excellent dinner in Bohemian fashion. Of course +his fearless curiosity led him into difficulties. He +would sit on the edge of a jug and peer down to +see what it might contain, and his plumage was +not improved by the baths of milk or cocoa which +he met with in the pursuit of knowledge of this +kind. Some years ago an empty cocoa-husk with +a hole at one end, furnished with nesting materials, +was hung up just above the basket of fat. A large +tit began to build in it, but unhappily for him a +Blue Tit had also been house-hunting, and determined +to settle in it. I saw the matter decided +by a pitched battle between the two; they fought +desperately, rolling over and over on the lawn, +pecking, chirping, beating each other with their +wings, like little feathered furies as they were.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">p. 104</a></span> +</p> + +<p>At last it was ended, and Blue Tit was victor. +It was pretty to see the tiny pair building their +nest, with little happy twitterings and confabulations +over each piece of moss or dried leaf, +and so fearless were they that a large blind was +often let down close to and over the husk without +disturbing the inmates. When the hen bird was +sitting, the cock would bring a green caterpillar +for her every four or five minutes, and sometimes +take her place on the nest. I often took the husk +down from its nail to show the brave little bird +sitting on her eggs. If touched she would hiss +and set up her feathers, but did not leave her nest. +When the young birds were hatched, the parents +were incessantly at work from early morning till +late at night bringing small caterpillars about +every two minutes to supply the wants of the +tiny brood. One can judge of the usefulness of +these birds in ridding our gardens of insect pests +by the amount consumed by this one pair. By a +moderate calculation, and judging by what I saw +one afternoon, I believe they must have brought +3,570 in the course of one week. At last the day +came when five little blue heads peeped out of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">p. 105</a></span> +entrance to the husk. One after another the little +ones flew into branches near by; the last one I +held in my hand for a while that I might draw its +portrait. Fearing it might be hungry if I kept it +too long, I placed it in a cage on the lawn, where +the old birds found it and fed it for me through +the bars. I then brought it in again, and having +finished its likeness, had the pleasure of restoring +it to its parents. The Blue and Cole Tit often +choose the inside of a disused pump as their +nesting-place. A Cole Tit built in an old pump +in our grounds for many years, the curved spout +being its mode of ingress and egress. I could +open a small door and look at the pretty little hen +on her nest, and then at her numerous family, and +watch their growth till old enough to fly. Certainly +young birds show a grand lesson of obedience, +for creeping out into the world through +a dark, curved pipe, must have seemed a rather +perilous mode of exit. Another less fortunate +Cole Tit built in a post-box placed by a garden +gate, and seemed in no way disconcerted when +letters came in suddenly around and upon her. She +usually laid eighteen eggs in a deep, soft nest of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">p. 106</a></span> +moss and hair. As boys were apt to take this +nest year after year, a lock was placed to the box +to protect the little bird; but the genus boy has +no pity, and through the slit for the letters, some +cruel urchin, vexed at not being able to take the +nest, put in a stick and killed the poor little +mother and broke the eggs. For several years a +Blue Tit chose to build her nest in the lower part +of a stone vase in the garden. There was a hole +for drainage in the bottom, and through this hole +the little bird found a circular space just suited +for her nest. That particular vase could not be +filled with plants till long after all the rest were +gay with flowers. We were obliged to wait till +the domestic affairs of the Tit family were ended, +else their fate would have been sad indeed. There +is no doubt that these birds do contrive to secure +their share of peas and other things in the kitchen +garden, and are by no means favourites with the +gardeners, but I still maintain that the good they +do in destroying insects counterbalances their evil +doings in other respects. However, they sometimes +commit other misdemeanours. My head +gardener came to me one day looking very serious,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">p. 107</a></span> +and began by asking what he was to do about +"those Blue Tits." "Why, what have they been +doing?" I asked. "Two of them have been +sitting at the entrance of one of the hives, and +they have picked off and killed every bee as it +came out, and now they have begun upon a second +hive." "Well, you had better hang up some +potatoes stuck over with feathers, and that will +frighten them away." "I've done that, ma'am, +and they sit on the potatoes and look at me!" +It was a trying case of utter contumacy, and at +last I was obliged, for the sake of saving my bees, +to let one little victim be shot and hung up as "an +awful example" to the rest, and it proved an +effectual remedy. My basket of fat used to prove +very attractive all through the cold weather, when, +I suppose, these tiny birds need the caloric it +supplies; they always left off coming as soon as +the days were warm and insects plentiful.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 239px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-028" id="illus-028"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p107.png" alt="" title="" width="239" height="78" /><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">p. 108</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 347px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-029" id="illus-029"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p108.png" alt="BLANCHE THE PIGEON" title="BLANCHE THE PIGEON" width="347" height="215" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="BLANCHE_THE_PIGEON." id="BLANCHE_THE_PIGEON."></a> +<h2>BLANCHE, THE PIGEON.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-p-p108.png" alt="P" title="P" width="72" height="103"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 74px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 60px"></div> + <div style="width: 50px"></div> + <div style="width: 35px;height: 12px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> +IGEONS possess a great deal more +individuality of character than any one +would suppose who has only seen them +in flocks picking up grain in a farmyard, +like domestic fowls.</p></div> + +<p>They show to better advantage when only a few +pairs are kept and fed daily at some settled place; +but to make really interesting pets two are quite +sufficient, and may be made very amusing companions. +Some species may possess more mental +capacity than others. Those I have to speak of +were snow-white trumpeters. A pair was sent to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">p. 109</a></span> +me, but, to my sorrow, I found on opening the +basket that the male bird had escaped on the way; +so I could only put the solitary hen in a cage, and +do all that was possible in the way of plentiful +food and kind care to make her happy; but all +to no purpose. The poor bird pined and grew +weaker every day, till she became unable to get +up to her perch. I used, therefore, to go to her +every evening and place her comfortably for the +night; and she soon grew tame enough to like +being caressed and talked to. When spring returned +I obtained a male pigeon, and hoped +Blanche would accept him for a mate, but she +showed a great deal of temper, and made him so +unhappy that he had to be exchanged for another—a +fine snow-white bird like herself, and, happily, +of such a forbearing disposition as to endure +being considerably "hen-pecked." Now began the +curious part of Blanche's history. The pair built +a nest in a small pigeon-house close to my window, +so that I was able to watch all the family +arrangements with much interest. Blanche liked +to be with me for some hours in the morning, +sitting on the table pluming herself, quite at ease,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">p. 110</a></span> +and when that operation was ended she generally +seated herself on a large Bible which lay at one +end of the dining-table, and there she usually +went to sleep; a white dove resting on the Word +suggested to one's mind many a beautiful emblematic +thought. These visits to me were paid +most regularly when a nest was finished and the eggs +were being hatched; she then shared the duties of +incubation by turns with her mate. He would sit +patiently for four hours on the nest, while Blanche +spent that time with me; then, punctually at the +right moment, she would wake up, and, lazily +stretching her wings, would fly out at the open +window to see how affairs were getting on at +home, and take her place on the nest for her +appointed four hours.</p> + +<p>She was a most eccentric bird in the matter of +laying eggs. I sometimes found she had made +me a present of one, neatly placed amongst my +working materials! In fact, wherever she happened +to be upon the table would be deemed by +her a suitable place for laying; and, as I always +conveyed the eggs to her nest, her little freaks did +not much matter. But at last she took it into her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">p. 111</a></span> +wilful little head to lay her eggs in the coal-scoop, +an arrangement which by no means improved +her snowy plumage. She had a pretty crest, +which curved over her head, and her feet were +clothed with rather long feathers reaching to the +claws. At our breakfast-time she would often sit +close to my plate, letting me stroke her and draw +out her pretty wings. I must own she was as +conceited as any peacock, throwing herself on her +side and stretching out a feathered foot, little +dreaming how she was being laughed at for her +affected attitudes. If she had a fault, it was her +temper! I have seen her go up to her mate +and give him a most uncalled-for peck, and he—amiable +bird!—would bear all her unkindness so +meekly, only answering by a propitiatory coo. +Blanche reared many sons and daughters, but +none were so interesting as herself. I ascribe +her unusual tameness to the loving care bestowed +upon her in her long illness. When once a bird's +affections are won in that way they generally +remain firm friends for life.</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">p. 112</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 358px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-030" id="illus-030"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p112.png" alt="GERBILLES" title="GERBILLES" width="358" height="250" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="GERBILLES." id="GERBILLES."></a> +<h2>GERBILLES.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-t-p112.png" alt="T" title="T" width="69" height="118"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 68px"></div> + <div style="width: 68px"></div> + <div style="width: 62px"></div> + <div style="width: 55px"></div> + <div style="width: 35px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + HESE curious little animals were +brought to my notice by a scientific +friend who had seen them at the +Zoological Gardens, and heard that they +were to be obtained there by applying to +Mr. Bartlett.</p></div> + +<p>As I always regretted the untimely death of my +pet jerboa, I thought these little rodents would fill +his place, and prove amusing pets. And, accordingly, +I paid a visit to the Zoo, and found a whole +colony of gerbilles of all ages living very amicably +together in a large, strongly-built wooden box, with +bran, oats, and nuts for provender.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">p. 113</a></span></p> +<p>It was no easy matter to secure a pair of suitable +size and age. I could but admire the patience of +the attendant who made persevering attempts to +catch the nimble creatures for me, but they leaped +and sprang about, darted through his fingers, +disappeared into holes, and seemed to enjoy his +discomfiture. At length a lively pair, with sleek +skins and perfect tails, were securely caged.</p> + +<p>Then I was warned to keep them in a tin-lined +cage, as they would "gnaw through anything," even +the solid teak chest in which they were kept was +being rapidly demolished by their powerful incisors.</p> + +<p>The gerbilles were placed in a plant case, four +feet long, with glass sides and top, through which +their gambols could easily be seen. The case had +a glass partition, and on one side lived a pair of +chipmunks, or striped American squirrels. They +were highly incensed at their new neighbours, +springing with all their force against the partition, +with low growlings, casting up the cocoa fibre with +their hind legs, as if to try and hide them from +their view. They soon found a little chink, through +which, I am afraid, some very strong language was +launched at the new-comers.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">p. 114</a></span></p> +<p>Happily the gerbilles did not mind. They found +delightful tree-roots to gnaw at, plenty of food, and +freedom to frisk and frolic to their heart's content, so +their neighbours were free to growl as much as they +liked, and they in their turn raised a hill of fibre +and played at hide-and-seek in their new domain.</p> + +<p>But let me now describe these gerbilles. I believe +there are several species, differing somewhat +in appearance. These were fawn-coloured, with +sleek, soft fur, which, like the chinchilla, was blueish +next to the skin. They were about the size of +small rats, with little ears and long tails, with a +black tuft at the end. The fur was white underneath, +the eyes jet black and very large, and long +black whiskers, which were always in motion. The +hind legs being longer than the front ones, enabled +the creature to spring and leap along the ground +with great rapidity, as I found to my cost one +night, when five of them got out of their case and +gave us an hour's occupation before they could +be recaptured. One managed to get inside an +American organ, and effectually baffled all our +efforts to secure him. There was no help for it +he had to be left there, and I went away with an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">p. 115</a></span> +anxious mind as to what his busy teeth would be +employed upon all night; and, sure enough, next +morning a velvet curtain was found nibbled and +tattered, and being converted into a nest for the +enterprising gerbille! They became very amusing, +tame little creatures, ready to take dandelions, nuts, +or any little dainty, from one's hand.</p> + +<p>As they breed very readily in England, I was +soon presented with a little family of five very +tiny, pinkish-coloured infants, quite blind, and +destitute of hair. They were not attractive, and +so were left to their mother's care till they could +see and were properly clothed, and then they were +extremely pretty, and rapidly developed all the +habits and manners of their parents, gnawing wood, +nibbling nuts, and having merry games of their +own, darting with wonderful quickness in and out +of the tree-roots, and getting up small battles for +some coveted morsel of diet. The first pair were +quiet enough, and agreed happily together, but +when, later on, mother and daughter happened to +have a little brood at the same time, things became +complicated, and it was no uncommon sight tosee +the two mothers careering about, each with an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">p. 116</a></span> +infant in its mouth, and it often fell to my lot to +take care of the unfortunate children and replace +them in the nest whilst the mothers had a "stand-up" +fight, and this is a literally true expression, +for gerbilles sit bolt upright and fight each other +with their front feet; but, though they appear to +be in desperate conflict, I must say I never saw +that any damage was done. As to their gnawing +power, it is almost beyond description. I gave +them a strong wooden box as a nursery for the +young gerbilles, but before long they had eaten +out the back and sides, and a mere skeleton of a +box remained. There was a piece of zinc, which +formed a partition, but they ate a hole right through +the zinc in no time, and when a wire cage, with a +sliding door, was placed in the plant case, they soon +learnt how to lift up the door and get out. We +often watched the formation of the family nest, +which was constructed of wool and hay nibbled +very small, and carried by mouthfuls and woven +together. It generally had two outlets for ingress +and egress. There the entire family would sleep +during the day amicably enough, but towards +evening the nursery disputes would begin, and old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">p. 117</a></span> +animosities led to frequent battles and scrimmages, +because somebody wanted some one else's pieces of +wool for the precious infants. Still they were +very tame, amusing little creatures, liking to be +stroked and fed and rewarded by a run upon the +breakfast-table, where they would examine every +dish and plate in a delicate, inquiring way, not +touching the contents—only trying to add to their +small amount of knowledge of the outside world. +Their food consisted of bran, oats, pea-nuts, wheat, +fresh dandelion and clover-leaves, and on these they +lived in perfect health and beauty.</p> + +<p>As the colony increased, it was needful to make +several homes for the gerbilles, and the original +pair happened to be, for a time, in a cage upstairs +on a landing. One of these found its way out +of the cage, down the stairs, across the hall, and +was discovered next morning in a room where the +younger members of the family were kept. This +would go to prove a keen scent, which, I suppose, +guided the little animal to find its friends, and +also confirms what travellers have written about +gerbilles living in large colonies and always keeping +together.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">p. 118</a></span></p> +<p>One evening I had to read some natural history +papers at a Band of Mercy meeting in a neighbouring +village, where the clergyman's wife took great +interest in promoting kindness to animals, and as +I proposed speaking about the gerbilles, I thought +I would take some of them with me to show the +children. Accordingly a mother and four little +ones, were put into a cage with some food and +bedding for their comfort whilst being exhibited. +I was concerned to see the extreme terror they +seemed to feel at the unusual motion of the carriage, +and in a few minutes one became convulsed +and literally died of fright. I held the cage in +my lap, and talked to the others to reassure them, +fearing more casualties, but after a while they +settled down, and we reached the schoolroom in +due time. I was scarcely prepared for the tremendous +sensation the gerbilles created. Remarks +in broad Hertfordshire greeted their appearance. +"Whoy, here's a lot of moise." "Noa, they ain't; +they's rats!" "Will they boite?" and then such a +cluster of children came round me they had to be +called to order, and the cage was carried round +that all might see the little foreigners, and through<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">p. 119</a></span> +all the after-proceedings many pairs of eyes remained +fixed upon the cage and its inmates. I +fancy that evening will long be remembered by +the children.</p> + +<p>The great difficulty that attends the keeping +of these little animals is their rapid rate of increase. +It is true they can all be kept together, +for, as I have said, though there are squabbles they +do not result in any personal injury, and thus my +colony was allowed to go on till there was no +counting the number of generations that existed. +I very much wished to reduce the numbers, and +give some away, but could never tell which were +the mothers of the small pink infants I was being +presented with continually. I tried putting a little +family of the babies into a cage in the plant case, +hoping the mother who belonged to them would +then appear and take care of them; but no, the +entire colony trooped in and ran riot in the new +place, and if a young gerbille was by chance left +uncovered in the <i>melée</i>, a twentieth cousin would +take it up tenderly as if it was its own mother, and +replace it in the nest—a very emblem of brotherly +kindness and charity. The colony had finally to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">p. 120</a></span> +be dispersed and given away in small detachments +to different friends, and, strange to say, in no other +case did the numbers increase, I imagine because +the requisite conditions of space and quietness +were not realized as in the pleasant home I was +able to provide for them.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 317px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-031" id="illus-031"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p120.png" alt="" title="" width="317" height="247" /><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">p. 121</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-032" id="illus-032"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p121.png" alt="" title="" width="300" height="172" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="WATER_SHREWS." id="WATER_SHREWS."></a> +<h2>WATER SHREWS.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-h-p121.png" alt="H" title="H" width="72" height="104"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> +<div style="width: 75px"></div> +<div style="width: 75px"></div> +<div style="width: 75px;height: 12px"></div> +<div style="width: 55px;height: 16px"></div> +<div style="width: 55px;height: 16px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + EARING that the little patients in a +London hospital had scarcely any toys, +and that they especially desired a very +large doll, I had one dressed for them, +and various other interesting items, such +as an album of pictures, bags of shells, a stamp +snake, &c., were prepared; but a large box was +needed in which to pack all these treasures; and +one which had been for months in the wine-cellar +was brought up for that purpose into the hall.</p></div> + +<p>It was filled with straw, and as I was watching +this being taken out I noticed some small black +animals darting about in it.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">p. 122</a></span></p> +<p>"They must be young rats," I exclaimed, "and +the rare kind, too—the black rat, which has been +almost entirely eradicated by the stronger brown +species." A curious instance, by the way, of a +foreign interloper driving out the native.</p> + +<p>I immediately resolved to secure these animals, +whatever they might prove to be, and, armed with +leather gloves, and an empty glass globe to place +my captures in, I began to search in the straw, +and soon secured the supposed rats, but they +proved to be a pair of water shrews—jet black, +lively little creatures, with sharply-pointed snouts +and teeth, as I soon discovered to my cost. I had +taken off my gloves and was watching the activity +of the shrews, when suddenly they flew upon each +other, biting and screaming with rage, and, thinking +they would kill each other at that rate, I tried to +separate them, but one turned and bit me pretty +severely, and it was with some difficulty they were +parted. One I put into a zinc fern case, and the +other into a large empty aquarium, with shingle at +the bottom, moss and wool for bedding, and a +large pan of water for swimming and bathing.</p> + +<p>They were rather larger than the common mouse,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">p. 123</a></span> +jet black above, and greyish-white beneath—restless, +active creatures, usually found near ponds and +ditches; and how ever these two had found their +way into a dry cellar, and lived in a box of straw +will always remain a mystery. I learnt from books +that they fed on worms and insects, and that diet +was provided, though much to my distress, for it is +a miserable thing to see any living creature tortured +and devoured alive, even though it may be in +obedience to natural instincts. Happily I soon +found a substitute. I was showing one of the +shrews to a fellow-student of natural history, and +with a long feather soon attracted the little animal's +attention; he always came out of his bed and +sprang upon the feather like a little tiger, dragging +it about and holding on with the grip of a bull-dog, +so that one could lift him off the ground and keep +him swinging a minute in the air to see the pretty +white fur underneath. My friend suggested that it +probably fed on small birds and thought the feather +was part of its daily fare.</p> + +<p>I obtained a fowl's head from the larder, and +then it was a sight to see how it was pounced +upon and dragged about until securely hidden<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">p. 124</a></span> +under the moss, when we could hear our little +friend crunching the bones and tearing it to pieces +as if he had not had anything so good for a long +while.</p> + +<p>One shrew died in a few days, but the other +lived three weeks in perfect health, and I believe +it was an accidental failure of sufficient food that +led to the death of the second; their appetite +seems to be, like that of the mole, most voracious, +and unless they obtain a constant and ample supply +of food they quickly die of hunger.</p> + +<p>They are worth studying for a few days, but +their dreadful odour and fierce character make +them anything but pets. I suppose there is hardly +any animal in England so fierce and combative, +and probably that may account for the fact that +one so often comes across a dead shrew lying on +the path in summer.</p> + +<p>When swimming, the shrew's furry coat perfectly +resisted the entrance of moisture; it always came +out absolutely dry. The said coat was most carefully +kept in order; a daily brushing and cleansing +went on, the little tongue was often at work licking +off every little speck of dust; the toes were spread<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">p. 125</a></span> +out and examined; the small amount of tail kept +in order. I could but think how many a lesson +we may learn from the small as well as the great +creations of God's hand—habits such as this little +animal possessed might, in the way of cleanliness, +lead to the prevention of endless diseases, if imitated +by those who never dream of daily cleansings +as being necessary to health and life.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 298px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-033" id="illus-033"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p125.png" alt="WATER SHREW" title="WATER SHREW" width="298" height="196" /><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">p. 126</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 318px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-034" id="illus-034"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p126.png" alt="SQUIRREL" title="SQUIRREL" width="318" height="154" /><br /> +<span class="caption">SQUIRREL.</span> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="SQUIRRELS." id="SQUIRRELS."></a> +<h2>SQUIRRELS.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-i-p126.png" alt="I" title="I" width="63" height="100"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 67px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 63px"></div> + <div style="width: 55px"></div> + <div style="width: 27px; height: 9px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + F one lives in the country where these +graceful little animals exist, it is well +worth while to attract them near the +house so that one may enjoy the sight +their gambols and minister to their +wants by suitable diet. As I have already said, +for many years food was placed in a basket outside +the dining-room window to attract the charming +little titmice, and four species might be seen +feasting on fat of different kinds. I placed +Barcelona nuts for the nuthatches, and they +came and shared the contents of the basket with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">p. 127</a></span> +the tits. The nuts also drew a squirrel to the spot, +and after about a year, the little fellow became +so used to seeing us moving in the room that +he would sit in the basket with his graceful little +tail curved over his back, cracking his nuts, and +nibbling away quite at ease. Then the window +was opened and the nuts put on a table inside +the room, and there little "Frolic" sits whilst +we are at meals and forms one of the family, +holding his nuts cleverly in his paws, whilst +his sharp teeth bite a hole in them, and, regardless +of tidiness, he flings the shells about as he +nibbles at the kernels, looking at us with his +black, beady eyes, perhaps speculating upon what +our breakfast may be. How much more enjoyable +is this sort of pet than a poor caged squirrel +whirling round in his wheel, condemned to a +dreary life, with no freedom or change, no intercourse +with his kind.</p></div> + +<p>In town there is, perhaps, no way to keep a +squirrel but in a cage; even so, by an occasional +release from its captivity, a constant variety in +its food, and its being talked to and noticed, its +life may be made less irksome, and, if young, it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">p. 128</a></span> +may eventually be made quite tame, and become +an interesting daily companion.</p> + +<p>We derived great amusement from our squirrel +visitors; one after another they would leap up +the side of the window and spring in and out +of the basket in quick succession, carrying away +a nut at each visit, playing and skirmishing with +each other in lively fashion. I am sorry to +confess there was great jealousy amongst them. +A second squirrel took to coming into the room, +and Frolic and he had a pitched battle, in which +our favourite, poor little fellow! lost half his ear, +and a sponge and water were needed to efface +the sanguinary stains left by the fight.</p> + +<p>The squirrel's great enemy is the cat. One would +not think she could catch the agile little creature; +but one day we saw a cat watching an unconscious +little squirrel under the tulip-tree: we did not +dream that she could harm it, but in a moment +she made one swift rush at her prey. The squirrel +ran at full speed, but alas! before we could interfere +it was caught and carried away.</p> + +<p>At Dropmore, the gardener told us he had a +cat that kept the Pinetum quite clear of squirrels.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">p. 129</a></span> +They certainly nibble the young shoots of firs and +horse-chestnuts unmercifully in the spring, and +one very dry summer they took very kindly to +our peaches and nectarines; but I freely forgive +their little sins, and should be sorry to miss +them from the lawn where there are often four +or five to be seen at once.</p> + +<p>They chase each other round a tree-stem with +wonderful agility, and express their animosity +with angry grunts and a stamp of the foot like +a rabbit. In autumn I have acorns and beech-mast +collected, and store some bushels of each +to be doled out through the winter and spring; +strewn under the tulip-tree this food, mixed +with corn, attracts an amusing variety of live +creatures. Besides the squirrels which are +constantly there, we see jays, wood-pigeons, +jackdaws, rooks, and flocks of the smaller birds; +if snow should prevail, a whole rookery will +come to see what is to be had. By constantly +watching their movements I have learnt that the +squirrel's tail has quite a language of its own. +It can be curved over its back and so spread +out that on a wet day it forms a complete<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">p. 130</a></span> +shelter from rain. It will take the form of a +note of interrogation or lie flat on the ground, +stand out at an angle or bristle with anger, +according to the mood of the possessor.</p> + +<p>I did not find the American chipmunks, before +alluded to, at all tameable. They were very handsome, +of grey colour with dark brown stripes on +their sides.</p> + +<p>They were extremely wild, and would spring +round their cage in perfect terror when looked +at, so, finding they could not be made happy in +confinement, I let them loose in the garden in +the hope they might burrow under a large rhododendron +clump, but after a day or two they disappeared, +and I suppose they made their escape +to a neighbouring wood, so that I have little hope +of ever seeing them again.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 307px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-035" id="illus-035"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p130.png" alt="" title="" width="307" height="86" /><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">p. 131</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 287px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-036" id="illus-036"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p131.png" alt="MOLE" title="MOLE" width="287" height="212" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="A_MOLE." id="A_MOLE."></a> +<h2>A MOLE.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-a-p131.png" alt="A" title="A" width="71" height="104"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 75px;height: 14px"></div> + <div style="width: 82px"></div> + <div style="width: 80px"></div> + <div style="width: 62px"></div> + <div style="width: 48px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + LIVE mole above-ground is a somewhat +rare sight, for, as a rule, his +habits are altogether subterranean; +but now and then he may be +captured by a sudden grasp as he +scrambles along in his odd, unwieldly fashion, +and a curious fellow he is in many ways.</p></div> + +<p>Strolling quietly along a country lane one +summer's evening, I heard a great rustling in +a dry ditch, the dead leaves were being scattered +right and left, and I stopped to see what could +be the cause. In a minute the black velvet coat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">p. 132</a></span> +of a mole appeared, and I at once resolved to +endeavour to catch it, though with little hope +of success, for the creature is apt to dive into +the ground in an instant when alarmed. However, +watching my opportunity, I managed to seize and +hold him firmly; but I had nothing to put him +in, and he struggled furiously to escape. All I +could do was to roll him up in one end of my +black lace shawl and hurry home with my +capture. Alas! for the unlucky shawl—the mole +soon began rending and tearing it into shreds +with his powerful feet and teeth. I was rapidly +becoming acquainted with the habits of moles, +and in a way that I should not soon forget; still, +that mole must be brought home somehow, and +I next transferred him to my dress pocket, which +I held fast, whilst he scrambled and pushed his +strong little snout in all directions to find some +way of escape. He was soon placed in a zinc +fern case, with glass sides, supplied with earth to +burrow in, and fed with worms. I also gave +him a pan of water, as I remembered seeing a plan +of a mole's burrow which always includes a place +for water. It was a really painful sight to watch<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">p. 133</a></span> +the creature feeding; he pounced upon a worm +with the fury of a tiger, and holding it in his +mouth, tore it to pieces with his sharp claws +and rapidly devoured all the pieces, and snuffing +about to make sure he had quite finished it, he +then darted off to seek another. The mole has +a most voracious appetite and dies very quickly +if unable to obtain food. I was interested to +watch the bustling, active life of the little +creature; his morning toilet when the black +velvet coat was attended to, carefully brushed +and licked by a tiny red tongue (though it +never seemed to pick up dirt or defilement in +its passage through the earth) and finally, after +a few days, I had the pleasure of setting him +free, when he dived into the ground out of +sight in a moment.</p> + +<p>Some years later a live mole was much desired +by a young relative who was giving Natural +History lectures to some school children. It +happened that a mole had found its way into +the conservatory and was doing much damage +there by making its runs close to the surface +and uprooting the plants in its course. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">p. 134</a></span> +gardener and I resolved to catch it; he was +anxious to prevent further mischief to his plants, +and I was wishing to help the lecturer by sending +a lively specimen to illustrate his subject. +The exciting part of the business was the +necessity of making the capture before eleven +o'clock, when the carrier would pass by, and, +taking charge of the animal, would deliver it in +time for the lecture next day. We watched for +the upheaving of the mole's run which came at +last. The gardener made a quick plunge with +his hand into the soft earth, but alas! the mole +escaped. He kept quiet for ten minutes, then +another attempt was made, and failed. The +carrier's bell sounded and he passed by. I still +kept watch, and again saw the earth move—the +third time was successful. I had gone to find +a tin box, and on my return I was greeted with +"Here's the mole, ma'am!" Poor fellow! he was +being ignominiously held up by the scruff of his +neck, and kicking furiously at the indignity. He +was soon packed up in soft grass, with a plentiful +supply of worms to feast upon by the way. +A special messenger overtook the carrier, and a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">p. 135</a></span> +telegram was sent to announce the dispatch of +the precious animal.</p> + +<p>He first reached a London office, where I fear +he tended to hinder business, as it was needful +to transfer him to a cage, and no one seemed +particularly anxious for the honour of catching +him, as his teeth were known to be both sharp and +numerous, and his disposition not of the meekest. +However, he was placed in his cage, travelled +down into Kent, and gave wonderful pleasure +when exhibited to the children.</p> + +<p>One would naturally suppose that in a country +village where boys and girls are daily going to and +from school, they would all have been familiar +with this little creature, but when the question +was asked if they had ever seen a dead mole, +only fifteen children out of ninety had seen one, +and only three had ever seen a live one.</p> + +<p>Next day the mole was let loose upon a +very hard piece of ground, but even there he +very quickly burrowed out of sight.</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">p. 136</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 305px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-037" id="illus-037"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p136.png" alt="" title="" width="305" height="154" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="HARVEST_MICE." id="HARVEST_MICE."></a> +<h2>HARVEST MICE.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-i-p136.png" alt="I" title="I" width="57" height="98"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 67px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 63px"></div> + <div style="width: 55px"></div> + <div style="width: 27px; height: 9px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + HAD often wished to keep these interesting +little animals, but as they are +only found in some parts of England +and are difficult to capture from their +minute size and delicacy, I had to wait +many years before they could be obtained. At +length, through the kindness of a friend, six were +sent to me from Norfolk, and for two years they +lived in captivity and afforded me much pleasure.</p></div> + +<p>They are the smallest English rodents, two of +them only weighing a halfpenny; they are brown +in colour with white underneath, very long<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">p. 137</a></span> +whiskers and prehensile tails. They were made +happy by finding all things needful for their +comfort in a large plant case. A thick layer of +cocoa fibre was spread over the bottom of the +case, dry moss and hay provided, wheat-ears, oats, +and canary seed, and a small cup of water. A +flowerpot in which a number of small branches +were fixed afforded opportunity for exercise in +climbing, and a pleasant resting-place was formed +by a half-cocoanut filled with cotton-wool and +roofed over with dry moss, then slung by three +wires in a tripod of sticks of corky-barked elm, +a little hole for entrance being left at one side. +Into this the mice went the moment they were +turned into the case, and in it they mostly lived. +I fancy its swinging a little as they moved inside +was congenial to their ideas of comfort. As they +live in cornfields and make a pendulous nest +attached to an ear of corn, I supplied them with +a pot of growing wheat, in the hope that they +would incline to make a nest in it; but I could +never induce them to rear a family. They would +sit for hours in the corn-stalks and nibble them +into a heap of shreds, but no nest ever appeared.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">p. 138</a></span> +Their greatest delight was a handful of fresh +moss full of little insects on which they would +feed. The greatest excitement was always shown +when the moss appeared—little heads would peep +out of the cocoa-husk, little noses sniffed in all +directions, and then, with jerky runs, the tiny folk +made their way to the attractive spot, and soon +each would be seen sitting up like a small +kangaroo feasting on a beetle or spider held in +the tiny paws. Sometimes in their great happiness +they made a low, sweet chirping like a company +of wrens conversing cheerily together. When +climbing in their tree-branches it was interesting +to see how the fine wiry tail was always coiled +round the stem as the creature descended, so as +to keep it from falling and injuring itself.</p> + +<p>Canary seed and brown bread seemed a +favourite diet, and if I put a trough of growing +corn into the case the mice made little burrows +through it so as to be able to eat the wheat from +below. I had heard a sad report that my fairy-like +pets had a tendency to eat each other as +spring came round! This I fancied might arise +from lack of animal food, so once or twice a week<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">p. 139</a></span> +I always gave them a small portion of meat and +this seemed to prevent any tendency to cannibalism.</p> + +<p>After keeping them two years several deaths +occurred, so I thought the remainder should have +their liberty, and I had the pleasure of seeing +them enter one of my corn-stacks where I hope +they found all that their little hearts could desire, +and possibly they would stray to a neighbouring +bank and found a colony.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 302px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-038" id="illus-038"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p139.png" alt="" title="" width="302" height="206" /><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">p. 140</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 287px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-039" id="illus-039"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p140.png" alt="MICE" title="MICE" width="287" height="121" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="THE_CALIFORNIAN_MOUSE." id="THE_CALIFORNIAN_MOUSE."></a> +<h2>THE CALIFORNIAN MOUSE.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-a-p140.png" alt="A" title="A" width="71" height="104"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 75px;height: 14px"></div> + <div style="width: 82px"></div> + <div style="width: 80px"></div> + <div style="width: 62px"></div> + <div style="width: 48px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + RATHER strange parcel from California +reached me by post some years +ago. It was marked "Live animals +with care," and consisted of a box, containing +several divisions, each having +fine wire-work to admit air. In one I found a +spiny creature called a Gecko, in another a beautiful +lizard which had not survived the journey, and +in the third a very rare species of mouse known as +<i>Perognathus Pencillatus</i>. It has a soft silky coat +of silver grey and fawn colour, and a long tail +with a little tuft at the end, very large black eyes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">p. 141</a></span> +and white paws. It was alive, but weak and tired +with its journey of ten days and all the jars and +shocks it must have had by the way. I gave it +warm milk and soaked bread, which it seemed to +enjoy, and some hours later it was supplied with +wheat grains, the food upon which it lives in its +native country.</p></div> + +<p>True to his natural instinct, mousie soon began +to fill both his cheek pouches with the corn, and +tried to hide it away as a supply for the future. +In a few days the little creature was in perfect +health, and he has been a great pet now for several +years; perfectly tame and gentle, he will run about +on the table and amuse himself happily wherever +he is placed.</p> + +<p>Being entirely inodorous he is kept in the +drawing-room in a mahogany cage which was +made specially to meet his small requirements. +He is a busy little creature at night, as he likes +daily to make a fresh bed of cotton-wool, and +fusses about with his mouth full of material until +he has arranged his little couch.</p> + +<p>In his own country, where the cold is very +severe in winter, its habit is to become perfectly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">p. 142</a></span> +unconscious, exactly as if dead, and in that state +it can endure the rigour of the climate and wake +up when the temperature rises. It was once left +in a cold room and became in this apparently +lifeless state. I was not alarmed, as I knew of its +peculiarity, but it really was difficult to believe it +ever could revive; there was no trace of warmth, +or any apparent beating of the heart, and so it +lay for some days, but on bringing it into a warm +room it became as bright and active as ever. It +seems a more intense form of hibernation than that +of our squirrel and dormouse.</p> + +<p>The naturalist at San Bernardino, from whom +I obtained this mouse, told me he had kept one +as a pet for many years, and his specimen lived +entirely without water; as there was sufficient +moisture in the wheat grains on which it fed to +supply its need; but I think it is cruel to keep +anything without the means of quenching thirst +which might arise from an artificial mode of life, +so my little pet has always a small jar of water +to which I know it resorts from its requiring to +be refilled from time to time.</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">p. 143</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 325px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-040" id="illus-040"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p143.png" alt="" title="" width="325" height="159" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="SANCHO_THE_TOAD." id="SANCHO_THE_TOAD."></a> +<h2>SANCHO THE TOAD.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-a-p143.png" alt="A" title="A" width="71" height="104"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 75px;height: 14px"></div> + <div style="width: 82px"></div> + <div style="width: 80px"></div> + <div style="width: 62px"></div> + <div style="width: 48px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + BOUT four years ago I began to feed +a toad that had found its way into +the conservatory. He sat daily in +one place expecting his meal-worms, +and when he had snapped them up +with his curious sticky tongue he would retire +to some hidden nook and be invisible until the +next day. Each winter he has hibernated as +soon as cold weather began, and reappeared with +the spring sunshine. Sancho is now a very portly, +and most amusing pet.</p></div> + +<p>Few people would guess how much character<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">p. 144</a></span> +can be shown by even this poor, despised reptile +when treated with real kindness, regularly fed, +and never frightened or abused. I will describe +what happens when Sancho is "shown to the +public."</p> + +<p>Some meal-worms are thrown on the pavement +near him. He sits for a time gazing at them +with his gold-rimmed eyes; then slowly creeps +towards them, fixes his eyes on one of the worms +bends his head a little towards it, then one hears +a snap and the prey is taken. The act is so +rapid that one can never see the tongue that +has picked up the meal-worm—simply it is gone! +The toad's eyes are tightly shut whilst he swallows +the morsel, and then he turns to pick up a second. +Now is the time to approach him from behind +and begin to stroke his leathery, warty skin. In +a few seconds he is in a state of perfect ecstasy, +his front legs are stretched out, he leans first to +one side, then to the other, to guide the hand +where he wishes to be stroked, and at last uplifts +his ponderous body until he is an inch or more +from the ground, supported on the tips of his +toes. No description can do justice to the absurdity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">p. 145</a></span> +of the attitude, and the rapture seems so +intense that food is forgotten, and so long as +Sancho can get any one to stroke him, he is quite +oblivious to all around him, although at other +times he will hop away as soon as any stranger +approaches.</p> + +<p>Sancho will not, as yet, take anything from my +hand, but I hope to bring him to that state of +tameness in course of time.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 299px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-041" id="illus-041"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p145.png" alt="" title="" width="299" height="188" /><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">p. 146</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 309px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-042" id="illus-042"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p146.png" alt="ROMAN SNAILS" title="ROMAN SNAILS" width="309" height="172" /><br /> +<span class="caption">ROMAN SNAILS.</span> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="ROMAN_SNAILS." id="ROMAN_SNAILS."></a> +<h2>ROMAN SNAILS.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-h-p146.png" alt="H" title="H" width="72" height="104"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 75px"></div> + <div style="width: 75px"></div> + <div style="width: 75px;height: 12px"></div> + <div style="width: 55px;height: 16px"></div> + <div style="width: 55px;height: 16px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + OW <i>can</i> you take an interest in snails +and slugs?—horrid, slimy, crawling +things!" More than once have I +heard this kind of remark from youthful +lips when I produced my grand old +Roman snails and gave them a pleasant time for +exercise upon the dewy lawn. Now in my secret +mind I think a snail is a wonderfully curious +creature, neither ugly nor "horrid"—it <i>is</i> slimy, +but about that I shall have something to say +later on.</p></div> + +<p>When staying at Box Hill, near Dorking, I often<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">p. 147</a></span> +saw the great apple snail, <i>Helix Pomatia</i>, which +is only found on chalk soils, and is supposed to +have been introduced by the Romans, from the +quantities of their empty shells found with Roman +remains in all parts of England. They were +kept and fattened in places called "Cochlearia" +and made into various "dainty dishes" which the +Romans thought quite fit to set before their kings. +It is certain that they are very nutritious creatures, +and that in times of famine people have supported +life and kept themselves mysteriously "fat and +well-liking" by resorting to snails and slugs as +articles of diet. Indeed I have heard more than +once that the famous "Pâte de Guimauve" owes +its healing nutritive character to this despised +univalve, which is said to enter largely into its +composition. I brought several apple snails home +with me from Box Hill and kept them for many +years, until I really believe the creatures, in a dim +sort of way, recognized me as their friend, or at +any rate their feeder. I cannot boast, as I believe +an American lady is said to have done, that "her +tame oysters followed her up and down stairs," +but certainly my snails would, when placed upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">p. 148</a></span> +the lawn, very frequently crawl towards me, and +would do so again and again when removed to +a distance. As the weather became cold they +always hibernated, closing the mouth of the shell +with a thin, firm covering, or operculum, of chalk, +which, mixed with their slime, made a substance +like plaster of Paris. Thus enclosed they would +lie as if dead until the warmth of the following +spring made them push the door open and come +out, with excellent appetites, ready to eat +voraciously to make up for their long fast. +These Roman snails were quite five inches long +when fully extended, and therefore were much +larger than our English species; the body was +cream colour and the shell a pale tint of buff +varying somewhat in different specimens.</p> + +<p>These creatures were kept in a fern case with +glass top and sides, and it was singular to observe +the way in which they could suspend themselves +(as shown in the drawing) from the top of the +box.</p> + +<p>The substance which exists in the caterpillar +of the silkworm moth, and which can be drawn +out into fine shreds of silk, is very similar to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">p. 149</a></span> +slime of the snail, only in the latter it is not +filiform, but exudes as a liquid and then hardens +into a thin layer of silk which is strong enough +to support the weight of two of these snails, for, +seeing them one day thus suspended, I put them +in the scales and ascertained that the weight of the +two amounted to 2 ½ ounces.</p> + +<p>This mucus forms the glistening, shiny track +which the snail leaves behind it, enabling it +to glide easily and painlessly over rough substances +which would otherwise lacerate its soft +body.</p> + +<p>One hardly expected to find social feeling and +affection in animals so low down in the scale of +nature, but I do not know what else could have led +my "Romans" to caress each other with their long +horns by the hour together and always keep close +to one another, twisting and curling their yielding +bodies round each other in the most odd contortions. +Our English snails hibernate in whole colonies +for the winter, which also points to their +affectionate and gregarious habits.</p> + +<p>In lifting up some moss I once came upon some +yellow, half-transparent eggs about as large as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">p. 150</a></span> +pearl barley, and wishing to know what they +would prove to be I kept them in damp moss +under a tumbler for about a fortnight, when, to my +dismay, I found a grand colony of yellow slugs! +and not a little was I teased about these interesting +young people. I am afraid I must own +they were given as a <i>bonne bouche</i> to my +Virginian nightingale, who seemed highly to +approve of this addition to his daily fare. Snails' +eggs are nearly white and semi-transparent; the +empty shells of young snails are very lovely +when placed in a good microscope: the polariscope +bringing out their exquisite prismatic tints.</p> + +<p>The gardener one day brought in a testacella, or +shelled slug. It fed upon earth-worms and was +quite unlike the ordinary black or grey slug, of +which we have, alas! countless thousands preying +upon all the green things of the earth. This +shelled slug was yellow, and seemed able to +elongate its body very differently to any other +species. The shell was quite small, a simple +dome-shaped plate upon the anterior part of the +body. I kept it for some weeks on damp moss +under a tumbler, but it was often able to escape<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">p. 151</a></span> +by flattening itself to a mere thread and then +crawling under the rim of the tumbler, and at last +I gave it liberty as a reward for its persevering +efforts to obtain its freedom.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 306px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-043" id="illus-043"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p151.png" alt="" title="" width="306" height="249" /><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">p. 152</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 297px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-044" id="illus-044"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p152.png" alt="" title="" width="297" height="180" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="AN_EARWIG_MOTHER." id="AN_EARWIG_MOTHER."></a> +<h2>AN EARWIG MOTHER.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-i-p152.png" alt="I" title="I" width="63" height="100"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 67px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 63px"></div> + <div style="width: 55px"></div> + <div style="width: 27px; height: 9px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + had often read of the earwig as an +incubating insect, and much wished to +see for myself how she carried out her +motherly instincts. One bright May +morning found me busily turning over +stones, clinkers, and old tree-roots in a fernery, +which, having been long undisturbed, seemed a +likely spot for the nest I wished to find. There +seemed no scarcity of worms, wood-lice, centipedes, +or beetles, but no earwigs could I see; and +I was just about to give up the search when, lifting +a piece of stone, I saw a small cavity, about as +large as would contain a pea, and in it lay about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">p. 153</a></span> +twenty-six round, white eggs, hard-shelled and +shining, of the size of a small pin's head. An +earwig had placed herself over the eggs, and I +was delighted to think at last I had lighted upon +the insect mother I had been searching for. But +what was to be done with her<ins class="transcriber" + title="Transcriber's note: extra '.' removed">?</ins> How could I +watch the process of incubation? The difficulty +was solved by lifting the nest and its mother with +a trowel and placing it in a saucer under a +tumbler, without any displacement of the eggs; +thus the mother's care could be conveniently +watched. The earwig first carefully examined +her new home, touching each morsel of earth and +stone with her antennæ; and, having ascertained +the exact condition of things, she set to work to +make a fresh nest, labouring with great industry +until it was formed to her mind. She then took +up the eggs, one by one, with her mandibles, and +placed them in the new nest, arranging and rearranging +them, until at last she seemed content, +and remained either upon or near them for the +rest of the day, quite motionless.</p></div> + +<p>Every night, and sometimes two or three time +in the day, she would form fresh places in thes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">p. 154</a></span> +earth, and replace the eggs. To prevent the soil +becoming too dry, I used to sprinkle a little +water upon it—a drop here and there—and if by +accident the water fell too near the eggs, the +earwig became much excited, hurrying to and fro +with her eggs, until they were all removed to a +drier spot. On the other hand, if I omitted the +water until the earth became dry, she would +choose the dampest spot that remained in which +to form her nest, and seemed to welcome the +water-drops, drinking herself from them, and +feeling the damp earth with her antennæ. She +remained thus for three weeks, feeding on little +pieces of beef or mutton, or an occasional fly; +I did not then know that earwigs are mostly +vegetable feeders, but it is clear they can eat other +food when needful. The first time I dropped a +newly-killed house-fly near her she looked at it +intently, felt it with her antennæ, and then suddenly +wheeled round and pinched it with her +forceps, and being apparently satisfied that it +could do no harm to her eggs, she began to devour +it, and after an hour or two but little remained +except the wings.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">p. 155</a></span></p> +<p>As it was early in the year, but few insects could +be seen, but by searching in the conservatory I found +a large green aphis, which I gave to the earwig. +To my surprise, instead of devouring it at once, +she applied herself to one of the projecting tubes +of the aphis, and evidently sucked its sweet +secretion, and enjoyed it as much and in the same +way as ants are said to do. She feasted thus for +four or five minutes, but I am sorry to add that, +unlike the humane ants, who care tenderly for +their aphides and preserve their lives by kind +treatment, the earwig ended by munching up the +unfortunate aphis, till not a trace of it was left.</p> + +<p>At the end of three weeks I found one morning +all the eggs were hatched, and tiny, snow-white +earwigs, with forceps and antennæ fully developed, +were creeping about and around their mother. I +placed a slice of pear in the saucer, upon which +the little ones swarmed, and seemed to find it +congenial food. In a few days they increased to +nearly double their size when first hatched, and +turned a light brown colour. Having ascertained +all I wished to know about the maternal instincts +of the earwig, I released the mother and her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">p. 156</a></span> +family, and no doubt she was happy enough to +return to her old haunt in the fernery, and would +greatly prefer tree-roots and stones to my tumbler-and-saucer +arrangement.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 291px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-045" id="illus-045"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p156.png" alt="EARWIG" title="EARWIG" width="291" height="124" /><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">p. 157</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 305px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-046" id="illus-046"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p157.png" alt="EGYPTIAN BEETLES" title="EGYPTIAN BEETLES" width="305" height="140" /><br /> +<span class="caption">EGYPTIAN BEETLES.</span> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="THE_SACRED_BEETLE." id="THE_SACRED_BEETLE."></a> +<h2>THE SACRED BEETLE.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-o-p157.png" alt="O" title="O" width="63" height="107"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 62px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 52px"></div> + <div style="width: 32px; height: 9px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + N reading books on Egypt and the +voyage up the Nile, one is sure to +find some mention of the curious beetle +which is found along the banks of the +river, especially in Nubia, where the +shore is traceried with the footprints of the busy +little creature. Miss Edwards, in her very interesting +book, "A Thousand Miles up the Nile," +thus speaks of it: "Every one knows how this +scarab was adopted by the Egyptians as an +emblem of creative power and the immortality +of the soul; it is to be seen in the wall-sculptures, +on the tombs, cut out in precious stones and worn +as an ornament, buried in the mummy-cases, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">p. 158</a></span> +a figure of the beetle forms a hieroglyph, and +represents a word signifying 'To be and to transform.' +If actual worship was not paid to <i>Scarabœus +Sacer</i>,<a name="FNanchor_1" id="FNanchor_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> it was, at any rate, regarded with the +greatest reverence and a vast amount of symbolism +drawn from its various characteristics."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_1" id="Footnote_1"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Or <i>Ateuchus Sacer</i>.</p></div> + +<p>I had often wished to see this insect alive, and +one day my wish was very unexpectedly gratified +by the arrival of a small tin box in which I found +a specimen of the sacred beetle swathed in wet +linen like a veritable mummy, only, instead of +being an Egyptian specimen, this had come from +a kind friend at the Riviera, who knew that the +same species existed there, and had sent me this +one by post. The scarab was at once named +"Cheops," and treated with all the respect due +to his ancient family traditions.</p> + +<p>His wants were easily supplied: a deep tin +box, with earth and moss slightly damped, gave +him space for exercise; and then for food—alas! +that his tastes should be so degraded—he had to +be supplied with cow-dung! This could be done +in secret, and judiciously hidden by fair, green</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">p. 159</a></span></p> + +<p> +moss; but when exhibiting my cherished pet to +admiring friends the first question was sure to +be, "What does he feed upon?" and one had +to take refuge in vague generalities about organic +substances, &c., which might mean anything, and +then, by diverting attention to some point of +interest apart from the food question, the difficulty +was generally overcome.</p> + +<p>I kept a close watch to see if the beetle would +be led by instinct to form its round pellets of +mud as is its custom on the banks of the Nile, +and having placed its egg in the centre, it begins +to roll it from the margin of the river until it is +above high-water mark. There it digs a hole +and buries the pellet, leaving the sun to hatch +the eggs in due time. Travellers who have +watched the process describe the untiring way +in which both the male and female beetle roll +these pellets, often falling down with their burden +into holes and ridges in the rough ground; but +then their comrades will give them help, and, +picking up the ball, they patiently labour on. +Walking backwards, having the pellet between +their broad hind legs, they push it up and up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">p. 160</a></span> +until it is placed in safety. The persevering +energy of this insect led the Egyptians to adopt +it as an emblem of the labours of their great +deity, Osiris, or the sun; they also traced a resemblance +in the spiny projections on its head +to the rays of the sun.</p> + +<p>Great was my delight to find at length that +Cheops—even in captivity—was true to his native +instincts, that he had formed a pellet about the +size of a marble and was gravely rolling it with +his hind legs backwards and forwards in his box. +Poor captive! he was evidently puzzled what to +do with the precious thing. He had no Nile +bank to surmount, and the sun was hardly warm +enough to encourage any hope for his future +family; but he did the only thing that was +possible—he set to work to scoop out a hole of +sufficient size, then rolled the pellet in and +covered it over with loose earth. Three such +pellets were made at intervals of a few days; +one of them I unearthed and kept as a curio. +The beetle never seemed to miss it, and having +done his duty under difficult circumstances, his +mind seemed to be at rest.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">p. 161</a></span></p> +<p>I often placed Cheops in my hand to show him +to visitors, and there he would lie feigning to be +dead until he was gently stroked over the elytra, +when he would stretch out his antennæ, then his +legs by slow degrees appeared (for he tucked them +close to his body out of sight when frightened), +and at last he would begin to walk in a jerky +manner, as if moved by machinery, often stopping +to look and listen to be sure that it was +safe to move, and even if busily at work in the +earth, if he saw any one coming near he would +stop, draw in his antennæ and limbs and remain +motionless.</p> + +<p>He had a strong and peculiar odour at times, +which became more apparent if he was annoyed. +He was infested with a small mite, and though +these were frequently cleared away with water and +a camel's-hair brush, they always reappeared in a +day or two, clustering under the thorax between the +first pair of legs, and at times they might be seen +racing over his body with great rapidity. Once +Cheops nearly escaped, for I had placed his box +in the sun, and the warmth so excited and waked +him up that he opened his wing-cases, used his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">p. 162</a></span> +gauze-like inner wings, and with a mighty hum +was all but gone in search of his native land, +but fortunately I was near enough to intercept +his flight and place him in safe quarters. After +keeping this curious creature in perfect health +for sixteen months, I was much vexed to find +him one morning lying in a shallow pan of water +in his box, quite dead. He had overbalanced +on to his back, and, being unable to turn over, +had been drowned, though the water was scarcely +half an inch deep. Poor Cheops is enshrined +in a pyramid-shaped box, in which he is often +shown and his life-history told to interested +visitors.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 313px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-047" id="illus-047"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p162.png" alt="FLYING BEETLE" title="FLYING BEETLE" width="313" height="111" /><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">p. 163</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 361px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-048" id="illus-048"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p163.png" alt="TRAP-DOOR SPIDERS" title="TRAP-DOOR SPIDERS" width="361" height="197" /><br /> +<span class="caption">TRAP-DOOR SPIDERS.</span> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="SPIDERS." id="SPIDERS."></a> +<h2>SPIDERS.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-o-p163.png" alt="O" title="O" width="63" height="107"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 62px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 52px"></div> + <div style="width: 32px; height: 9px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + F all the varieties of "creeping things" +spiders seem to be the most universally +disliked. I knew well the kind +of expression I should see on the faces +of my friends when I produced the box +which contained my pet Tegenaria, a large black +spider, long-legged and very swift, a well-known +kind of house-spider.</p></div> + +<p>Happily the box had a glass lid, so the inmate +could be seen in comfort; and when the spider's +history was told there was always an interest +created in even this poor despised creature.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">p. 164</a></span></p> +<p>When first placed in its new home the Tegenaria +began spinning tunnels of white silky web +in various directions across the box. They were +almost as close in texture as fine gauze, and had +openings here and there, so that they formed a +kind of labyrinth.</p> + +<p>The spider always lived in one corner, curled +up, watching for prey, and when a blue-bottle +was put in, and began buzzing, she then rushed +up one tunnel and down another until she could +pounce upon her prey.</p> + +<p>The fly was quickly killed by her poison fangs, +and then carried to the corner to be consumed +at leisure. Unlike the habit of the garden or +diadem spider, no cobweb was rolled round the +victim; only the wings were cut off and the +body carried away. After some months I noticed +the corner seemed filled up with web and fragments +of insects, and when I examined it more +closely there appeared a large round ball of eggs, +over which the spider had spun some web, and +then had collected all the legs and wings of +her prey and stuck them carelessly here and +there in the web so as to conceal her nest, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">p. 165</a></span> +make it look like the remains of an old cobweb. +Over this nest she kept careful watch. One +could not drive her from it; she only left it for +a moment to spring upon a fly, and would +return with her food immediately and resume +her watchful life in the corner. At length the +young spiders were hatched in countless numbers; +they crept about the tunnels, and though so +minute as to be mere specks, they were perfect +in form, active in seeking for prey, and appeared +perfectly able to take care of themselves and +begin life on their own account.</p> + +<p>I had kept the Tegenaria more than a year in +confinement, and having shown such admirable +motherly instincts, I thought she had earned the +reward of liberty. No doubt she welcomed "the +order of release"! At any rate, she scampered +away under some tree-roots, and possibly resides +there with her numerous family to this day.</p> + +<p>Spiders hunt their prey in a variety of ways—some +by spinning their beautiful web, with which +we are all familiar; others, as the Zebra spiders, +catch flies by leaping suddenly upon them, and +these may often be seen on window-sills watching<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">p. 166</a></span> +some coveted insect, drawing slowly nearer to the +victim, till, by a well-directed spring, it can be +secured. There are nearly three hundred species +of spiders in this country, and nearly all spin and +weave their silken threads in some way, but each +in different fashions, according to their mode of +life. The female spider is the spinner, and her +supply is about 150 yards. When she has used +that amount a few days' rest will enable her to +secrete a similar quantity.</p> + +<p>With great pains the spider's silk has been +obtained and woven into a delicate kind of +material; but as each spider only yields one +grain of silk, and 450 were required to produce +one yard, the process was found to be impracticable. +The insect possesses silk of two colours, +silver-grey and yellow; one is used for the +foundation-lines of the web, and the other for +the interlacing threads. The silk is drawn by +the spider from its four spinnerets, and issues +from them in a soft, viscid state, but it hardens +by exposure to the air. If a web is examined +with a magnifying-glass, it will be seen that its +threads are closely studded with minute globules<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">p. 167</a></span> +of gum, which is so sticky that flies caught in +the web are held in this kind of birdlime until +the spider is able to spring upon them.</p> + +<p>Astronomers and microscopists make use of +the strongest lines of the spider's web to form +some of their delicate instruments. The thread is +drawn in parallel lines at right angles across the +field of the eye-piece at equal distances, so as to +make a multitude of fine divisions, scarcely visible +to the naked eye, and so thin as to be no obstacle +to the view of the object. One means of classifying +spiders is by the number of eyes they +possess. These are usually two, six, or eight in +number. The fangs with which the spider seizes +its prey are hollow, and emit a venomous fluid +into the body of the victim, which speedily benumbs +and kills it. In Palestine and other +countries a kind of spider is found which is +entirely nocturnal in its habits, and never either +hunts or feeds in daylight, but makes itself a +little home, where it abides safely till sunset. It +is called the trap-door spider, from the curious +way in which it protects the entrance to its nest. +It bores a hole in the dry earth of a bank a foot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">p. 168</a></span> +or more in depth, lines the hole with silk, and +forms a lid, or trap-door, which secures the spider +from all intruders. I have one of these nests in +which the door is a wonderful piece of mechanism, +quite round and flat, about as large as a threepenny +piece, made of layers of fine earth moistened +and worked together with silk, so that it is tough +and elastic and cannot crumble. The hinge is +made of very tough silk, and is so springy that +when opened it closes directly with a snap. The +outside is disguised with bits of moss, glued on +so that no one can see where the door is. The +only way of opening it is with a pin, and even +then the spider will hold on inside with his claws, +so that it is not easy to overcome his resistance. +Amongst some insects sent to me from Los +Angelos is a huge "Mygale," a hairy monster +of very uninviting aspect. When its legs are +outspread it measures nearly six inches across, +and one can well believe the stories one hears of +its killing small birds if it finds them on their +nests. A gentleman living in Bermuda is said +to have tamed a spider of the species "Mygale," +and made it live upon his bed-curtain and rid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">p. 169</a></span> +him of the flies and mosquitoes which disturbed +his nightly rest. He thus describes this remarkable +pet: "I fed him with flies for a few days, +until he began to find himself in very comfortable +quarters, and thought of spinning a nest +and making his home. This he did by winding +himself round and round, combing out the silk +from the spinnerets at the end of his body till +he had made a nest as large as a wine-glass, in +which he sat motionless until he saw a fly get +inside our gauzy tent; then I could fancy I saw his +eyes twinkle as his victim buzzed about, till, when +it was within a yard or so of him, he took one +spring and the fly was in his forceps, and another +leap took him back to his den, where he soon +finished the savoury morsel. Sometimes he would +bound from side to side of the bed and seize a +mosquito at every spring, resting only a moment +on the net to swallow it. In another corner of +the room was the nest of a female Mygale of the +same species. She spun some beautiful little silk +bags, larger than a thimble, of tough yellow silk, +in each of which she laid more than a dozen +eggs. When these hatched the young spiders<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">p. 170</a></span> +used to live on her back until they were old +enough to hunt for themselves. I kept my useful +friend on my bed for more than a year and +a half, when, unfortunately, a new housemaid +spied his pretty brown house, pulled it down, +and crushed under her black feet my poor companion." +This kind of spider, or an allied species, +captures large butterflies in the tropical woods by +hanging strong silken noozes from branches of +trees, and they have been seen to kill small birds +by this method. One of our British spiders lives +under water in a dome-like cell of silk, which is +filled with air like a diving-bell by the spider +carrying down successive globules of air between +its legs, which it liberates under the dome until +it is filled; and the young are hatched there.</p> + +<p>The spider, on its way through the water, never +gets wet. It is hairy, and is enveloped in a bubble +of air, in which it moves about protected from +wet and well supplied with air to breathe. As +the spider's supply of food is always precarious, +they are able to live a long time without eating. +One is known to have lived eighteen months +corked up in a phial, where it could obtain no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">p. 171</a></span> +food; but though thus able to fast, the spider is +a voracious feeder, and will eat his own kith +and kin when hard pressed by hunger.</p> + +<p>I believe it is now thought that the spider of +the Scriptures was a kind of spiny lizard called +the Gecko. One of this species was sent to me +from California, and lived for a few weeks, but +as nothing would induce it to eat, to my great +regret it pined and died. It was about as large +as an ordinary full-grown toad, of a speckled grey +colour, with rich brown markings, its head something +like a lizard, with large thorny projections +which extended all along the spine. The feet +were very remarkable, each toe being furnished +with a sucker which enabled the Gecko to walk +with perfect ease in any position on a wall or pane +of glass without losing its hold; and travellers +say that it is a frequent inmate of Eastern houses, +and may be seen catching flies as it creeps along +walls and ceilings.</p> + +<p>Many kinds of spiders run with ease upon the +surface of ponds and ditches, and one forms a +kind of raft of a few dead leaves woven together, +on which it sits and is blown by the wind hither<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">p. 172</a></span> +and thither, and thus is enabled to prey upon +various aquatic insects.</p> + +<p>The surface of grass lawns may be seen on +autumnal mornings covered with tiny webs +gemmed with dew. We may therefore estimate +the immense number of flies captured by these +traps so thickly spread over the grass, and see +in them another proof of the adaptation of each +created thing for its special purpose, and how +wonderfully the balance of nature is maintained, +so that one creature keeps another in check, and +all work harmoniously together, according to the +will of our great Creator.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 319px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-049" id="illus-049"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p172.png" alt="" title="" width="319" height="182" /><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">p. 173</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 294px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-050" id="illus-050"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p173.png" alt="BUTTERFLY" title="BUTTERFLY" width="294" height="213" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="TAME_BUTTERFLIES." id="TAME_BUTTERFLIES."></a> +<h2>TAME BUTTERFLIES.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-i-p173.png" alt="I" title="I" width="57" height="98"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 67px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 63px"></div> + <div style="width: 55px"></div> + <div style="width: 27px; height: 9px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + N <i>The Century</i>, for June, 1883, Mr. Gosse +described a monument, in which the +sculptor had carved a child holding out +her hand for butterflies to perch on. He +went on to say that this was criticised +as improbable, even by so exact an observer as +the late Lord Tennyson. It may therefore be of +some interest to record the following facts from +my personal experience.</p></div> + +<p>One summer I watched the larvæ of the swallow-tailed +butterfly through their different stages, and +reserved two chrysalides to develop into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">p. 174</a></span> +perfect insect. In due time one of these fairy-like +creatures came out. I placed it in a small Indian +cage, made of fine threads of bamboo. A carpet +of soft moss and a vase of flowers in the centre +made a pleasant home for my tiny "Psyche."</p> + +<p>I found that she greatly enjoyed a repast of +honey; when some was placed on a leaf within her +reach, she would uncoil her long proboscis and +draw up the sweet food with great apparent enjoyment.</p> + +<p>She was so tame that it became my habit, once +or twice a day, to take her on my finger; and +while I walked in the garden she would take short +flights hither and thither, but was always content +to mount upon my hand again. She would come +on my finger of her own accord, and, if the day +was bright, would remain there as long as I had +patience to carry her, with her wings outspread, +basking in the sunbeams, which appeared to +convey exquisite delight to the delicate little +creature.</p> + +<p>I never touched her beautiful wings. She never +fluttered or showed any wish to escape, but lived +three weeks of tranquil life in her tiny home; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">p. 175</a></span> +then having, as I suppose, reached the limit of +butterfly existence, she quietly ceased to live.</p> + +<p>On the day of her death the other butterfly +emerged, and lived for the same length of time. +Both were equally tame, but the second showed +more intelligence, for she discovered that by folding +her wings together she could easily walk between +the slender bars of the cage; and having done so +she would fly to a window, and remain there +basking in the sun, folding and unfolding her wings +with evident enjoyment, until I presented my +finger, when she would immediately step upon it +and be carried back to her cage.</p> + +<p>The tameness of these butterflies I ascribed in +great measure to the fact of their having been +hatched from chrysalides, and having therefore +never known the sweets of liberty. I often +wondered if really wild specimens could be won by +gentle kindness and made happy in confinement, +and one bright summer's day I resolved to try. A +"Painted Lady" had been seen in the garden the +day before, and I soon caught sight of her making +rapid flights from one bed of flowers to another, +and when resting for a few minutes, folding and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">p. 176</a></span> +unfolding her wings on the gravel path, I crept +slowly up to her with a drop of honey on my finger +to try and make friends; but my "lady" was coy, +"she would and she wouldn't," and after letting me +come within a few inches with my tempting repast, +she floated away, out of sight, and I feared she +would not be willing to give me another chance; +however, I waited quietly, and in a few minutes she +alighted at a little distance. I again drew near +very slowly, and again she sailed away, but the +third time she gained confidence enough to reach +out her proboscis and taste the honey, and finally +crept upon my finger. I very gently placed the +light bamboo cage over her and brought her indoors; +she, all the while, entranced with the sweet +food, remained quietly on my finger, and when +satisfied, crept upon a flower in the middle of the +cage, and after a few flutterings round her cage +seemed content and folded her delicate wings to +rest. Whilst engaged in her capture I had +observed a "Red Admiral" hovering over some +dahlias, and thinking "Cynthia"<a name="FNanchor_2" id="FNanchor_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> might like a +companion, I tried my blandishments upon <ins class="transcriber" + title="Transcriber's note: missing period added.">him.</ins> +</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_2" id="Footnote_2"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> + The former Latin name for the "Painted Lady" butterfly</p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">p. 177</a></span></p> +<p>I had not much hope of success, for though a bold, +fearless fellow, he is very wary, and his powerful +wings bear him away in swift flight when alarmed. +Many a circle did I make around that dahlia bed! +"Admiral" always preferred the opposite side to +where I stood, and calmly crossed over whilst I +went round. At last, by long and patient waiting, +he, too, allowed me to come near and present my +seductive food to his notice—the wiry proboscis was +uncoiled and felt about for the honey; once plunged +into that, all volition seemed to cease, he allowed +me to coax him upon my finger, and he, too, was +safely caged; but he behaved very differently from +"fair Cynthia." The moment his repast was ended +he flapped with desperate force against the bars, +and in a minute he was out and on the window-pane, +fluttering to escape. The cage had to be +secured with fine net, and he was replaced and +soon quieted down. Twice a day these delicate +little pets would come upon my hand to receive +their sweet food, and appeared perfectly content in +captivity.</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">p. 178</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 336px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-051" id="illus-051"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p178.png" alt="ANT-LION" title="ANT-LION" width="336" height="194" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="ANT-LIONS." id="ANT-LIONS."></a> +<h2>ANT-LIONS.</h2> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">(Myrmeleon Formicarius.)</span></p> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-m-p178.png" alt="M" title="M" width="76" height="102"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 75px"></div> + <div style="width: 98px"></div> + <div style="width: 75px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 48px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + ANY years ago a friend sent me +some of these remarkable insects +from the Riviera, and for sixteen +months I fed them as regularly as +possible, but the cold of a remarkably +severe winter killed them, to my great disappointment, +as I had hoped to be rewarded by a +sight of the perfect insect.</p></div> + +<p>Ant-lions are not, I believe, found in any part +of England, so I had to wait till I could again<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">p. 179</a></span> +procure some from the south of France, where +they are frequently met with in dry, sandy places.</p> + +<p>Early in March this year (1890) three specimens +were sent me and were at once placed in a box +of dry silver sand, where they buried themselves +and remained quietly resting for some hours.</p> + +<p>Many of my readers may be interested to know +what the ant-lion is like, and why I thought it +worth while to take great pains to rear it. +These young specimens were flat, grey, six-legged +creatures about the size of a small lady-bird, +covered with hairs, and possessing two strong +forceps projecting from their heads. They are +so formed that they cannot go forward, but move +always backward by a series of jerks. As they +live upon ants and are so strangely formed, they +have to resort to stratagem in order to entrap +their prey, and this they do by means of pits +formed in the sand in which they live; into these +pits the ants fall, and are seized by the forceps +of the ant-lion, who lies in wait at the bottom.</p> + +<p>Many a time have I watched the formation of +these pits, and will try to describe the process. +The insect begins describing a small circle on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">p. 180</a></span> +the surface of the sand by jerking himself backwards +and flinging the sand away with his flat +head and closed forceps, which form a kind of +shovel. Each circle is smaller than the last, until +the pit is like an inverted cone, and the ant-lion +lies buried at the bottom, only his forceps being +visible. When an ant has fallen headlong down +into the pit it makes frantic efforts to escape, and +if the ant-lion sees that it is likely to get beyond +his reach, he then with his forceps flings some sand +at it with such unerring aim the poor victim is sure +to roll over and over until it reaches the jaws of +its captor, who feasts upon it and then flings the +remains of the body out of the pit.</p> + +<p>One difficulty was how to ensure a supply of +ants, but this was overcome by filling a box with +part of an ants' nest, and as these insects settled +down and seemed content with their quarters, +they were ready when wanted, and three times a +day the lions had to be fed! One learns to +sacrifice one's feelings in the cause of science, +but to the last it was a real distress to me to have +to put the poor little ants where they would be +devoured; but Nature is cruel, and from the real<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">p. 181</a></span> +lion to his insect namesake, preying upon one +another seems the prevailing law of her realm.</p> + +<p>As the ant-lions grew, the pits increased in +size. At first they were about as large as a +threepenny-piece, but ended by measuring more +than two inches across.</p> + +<p>I could not tell whether the insect moulted +its skin, as it was always hidden, but in July, +after four months' feeding, the ant-lions changed +into chrysalides, which looked like perfectly round +balls of sand.</p> + +<p>The box was placed in a warm greenhouse, and +in seven weeks' time the perfect insects appeared. +They were like small dragon-flies, with slender +bodies, four black-spotted gauzy wings, two large +black eyes and short antennæ.</p> + +<p>I had read about their being nocturnal insects, +feeding on flies, so they had that diet provided +for them in the glass globe in which they were +kept, but I could never feel sure that they ate the +flies, and fearing they would be starved I tried +giving them a little sweet food, a drop of raspberry +syrup at the end of a twig; it seemed to +be the right thing, for they greedily sucked it in,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">p. 182</a></span> +but in spite of all my care they only lived four +weeks; which, however, is probably the term of +their existence.</p> + +<p>Whilst I was writing this paper a singular +incident occurred. I heard a strange, wild note, +and something brilliant dashed past me to the +end of the room, and there, on a white marble +bust sat a lovely kingfisher—a bird I had hardly +ever seen, even at a distance, and here he had +come to pay me a visit in my drawing-room. +Would that I could have told him how welcome +he was! but, alas! he darted about the room in +wild alarm, flew against the looking-glasses, and +though I tried to guard him from a plate-glass +window, that has often proved fatal to birds, I +was too late; he came with a crash against it and +fell down quite dead, his neck being broken by +the force of the blow.</p> + +<p>I had heard that a kingfisher had been seen at +my lake, and hoped that the bird might build +and become established there; it was, therefore, a +keen regret to me that this bright visitant had met +with such an untimely fate.</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">p. 183</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 326px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-052" id="illus-052"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p183.png" alt="THE ROBIN" title="THE ROBIN" width="326" height="178" /><br /> +<span class="caption">THE ROBIN.</span> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="ROBINS_I_HAVE_KNOWN." id="ROBINS_I_HAVE_KNOWN."></a> +<h2>ROBINS I HAVE KNOWN.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-i-p183.png" alt="I" title="I" width="57" height="98"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 67px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 63px"></div> + <div style="width: 55px"></div> + <div style="width: 27px; height: 9px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + F I once begin to speak about these +winning, confiding little birds, I shall +hardly know when to stop. There can +scarcely be a more delightful pet than +a wild robin which has learnt to love +you, and will come indoors and be your quiet companion +for hours together. One can feel happy +in the thought that he has his liberty and his +natural food out of doors, and that he gives you his +companionship freely because he likes to be with +you, and shows that he does, by singing his sweet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">p. 184</a></span> +songs perched on the looking-glass or some vase of +flowers.</p></div> + +<p>Autumn is the best time to begin taming such a +little friend. When one of those brown-coated +young birds in his first year's plumage (before the +red feathers show) takes to haunting the window-ledge, +or looks up inquiringly from the gravel path +outside, then is the time to throw out a mealworm, +four or five times a day, when the bird appears. +He will soon associate you with his pleasant diet, +and come nearer, and grow daily less fearful, until, +by putting mealworms on a mat just inside the +room, he will come in and take them, and at last +learn to be quite content to remain. The first few +times the window should be left open to let him +retreat, for unless he feels he can come and go at +will he will probably make a dash at a closed +window, not seeing the glass, and be fatally injured, +or else too frightened to return.</p> + +<p>Like all other taming, it must be carried on with +patience.</p> + +<p>One summer, many years ago, we occupied an +old-fashioned house in the country, where, in +perfect quietude, one could make acquaintance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">p. 185</a></span> +with birds and study their habits and manners +without interruption. From the veranda of a +large, low-ceilinged sitting-room one looked out +upon a garden of the olden type, full of moss-grown +apple-trees, golden daffodils, lupines and +sweet herbs, that pleasant mixture of the kitchen +and flower garden which always seems so enjoyable. +It was an ideal home for birds, no cat was +ever visible, and from the numbers of the feathered +folk one could believe that countless generations +had been reared in these apple-trees and lived out +their little lives in perfect happiness. I soon found +a friend amongst the robins; one in particular +began to pay me frequent visits as I sat at work +indoors. At first he ventured in rather timidly, +took a furtive glance and then flew away, but +finding that crumbs were scattered for him, and +while he picked them up a kindly voice encouraged +his advances, he soon became at ease, made his +way into the room and seemed to examine by +turns, with birdish curiosity, all the pieces of +furniture and the various ornaments on the mantelpiece +and tables. Much to my pleasure he began +to sing to me, and very pretty he looked, sitting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">p. 186</a></span> +amongst the flowers in a tall vase, warbling his +charming little ditty, keeping his large black eyes +fixed upon me as if to see if I seemed impressed +by his vocal efforts.</p> + +<p>Once he stopped in the middle of his song, +looked keenly at a corner of the ceiling, and after +a swift flight there, he returned with a spider in his +beak; one can well believe what good helpers the +insect-eating birds must be to the gardener, by +destroying countless hosts of minute caterpillars +and grubs that would otherwise prey upon the +garden produce. Bobbie continued his visits to +me throughout the summer, remaining happy and +content for hours at a time, pluming himself, +singing, and at times investigating the contents of +a little cupboard, where he sometimes discovered +a cake which was much to his taste, on which he +feasted without any leave asked, though truly it +would have been readily given to such a pleasant +little visitor. He soon showed such entire confidence +in me that he would perch on the book I +was reading, and alight on my lap for crumbs +even when many people were in the room.</p> + +<p>When we had to leave this country home I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">p. 187</a></span> +wished that dear Bobbie could have been packed +up to go elsewhere with our other possessions, but +since this could not be, let us hope he still inhabits +the old garden and cheers other home-dwellers +with his confiding manners and morning and +evening songs of praise.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 326px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-053" id="illus-053"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p187.png" alt="" title="" width="326" height="222" /><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">p. 188</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 359px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-054" id="illus-054"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p188.png" alt="" title="" width="359" height="183" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="ROBERT_THE_SECOND." id="ROBERT_THE_SECOND."></a> +<h2>ROBERT THE SECOND.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-a-p188.png" alt="A" title="A" width="71" height="104"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 75px;height: 14px"></div> + <div style="width: 82px"></div> + <div style="width: 80px"></div> + <div style="width: 62px"></div> + <div style="width: 48px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + FTER slight intimacies with various +robins who were visitors to the conservatory +and found their way in and +out at the open windows, I was led to +special friendship with a brown-coated +young bird I used often to see close to the open +French window where I was sitting. He was +coaxed into the room by mealworms being thrown +to him until he made himself quite at home +indoors. By the time he had attained his red +breast the weather had become too cold for open +windows, but Bobbie would sit on the ledge and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">p. 189</a></span> +wait till I let him in, and then he would be my +happy little companion for the whole morning, +flitting all about the room, along the corridor, into +the hall—in fact, he was to be found all over the +house; but when hungry he returned to me as his +best friend, because I was the provider of his +delightsome mealworms. It was always amusing +to visitors to see me feed my small fowl! He +would be on the alert to see where his prey +was to be found, and he would hunt for it perseveringly +if it happened to fall out of sight. He +was often to be seen perched on the Californian +mouse's cage, and I wondered what could be the +attraction; at last I discovered that he coveted +mousie's brown biscuits, and after that he was +allowed one for his own use, kept in a special +corner, where a cup of water was also provided for +his small requirements.</p></div> + +<p>However tame wild birds may seem there will +be times when all at once a sort of intense longing +to get out seems to possess them. When this was +the case Bobbie would fly backwards and forwards +uttering his plaintive cry (one of the six kinds +of notes by which robins express their feelings),<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">p. 190</a></span> +and his distress was so evident that the window +was always opened at once to let him go out.</p> + +<p>I am sorry to have to confess that robins are +most vindictive towards each other! Bobbie maintained +a very angry warfare with a hated rival out-of-doors, +in fact his chief occupation in life seemed +to be watching for his enemy. He might often +be seen sitting under a small palm in a pot on the +window-ledge, and whilst looking the picture of +gentle innocence he was, I fear, cherishing envy, +hatred, and malice in his naughty little heart, for, +all at once, there would be a grand fluttering and +pecking at the window whilst the two little furies, +one inside and the other out, expended their +strength in harmless warfare which only ceased +when they were too exhausted to do more, and +then followed on both sides a triumphant song +of defiance or victory.</p> + +<p>I must now weave into this biography the life-history +of a poor robin which, I suppose, must +have been caught in a trap, for it had lost the +lower mandible of its beak, and had only a little +knob remaining of the upper mandible. It haunted +the windows, and looked so hungry and miserable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">p. 191</a></span> +from its inability to pick up its food, that I thought +it kindest to coax it into a cage where it could +be fed with suitable food. By placing mealworms +in a cage I at last induced it to hop in, and for five +months it had a very happy life indoors, feeding +on soaked brown bread and all the insect diet +I could secure for it. When the cage was cleaned +each morning Bobbie was let out, and would take +a bath in a glass dish, and then fly to the top +of the looking-glass, where he would often remain +all day unless we were quick enough to secure his +cage-door when he went in to feed. By the middle +of May I thought caterpillars would be plentiful +enough for him to find his own living, so one day +he was released, but unhappily Robert the Second +was close by, and the moment he saw the invalid +in his cage on the lawn with the door open, he +rushed in and savagely fought the poor defenceless +bird. Before we could interfere he drove our pet +out of his cage, and terrible was the battle that +went on; the beakless bird was driven far away, +and I was quite unhappy about his fate, for he was +now beyond my loving care, and I never expected +to see him again. Two months passed by, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">p. 192</a></span> +I only once caught a glimpse of the invalid, but at +last he came just as before to the window, looking +thin and ill, with ruffled feathers, and evidently +again at starvation point. Once more he entered +his cage and began his old life, only now he was +hung under the veranda so as to enjoy fresh air +and the songs of his companions. For two months +I endeavoured to keep the dear little creature +happy; we were all so fond of him, and it seems +very touching to think that in his times of extremity +he should have come willingly into captivity +and felt sure that a kind welcome would +be accorded him. But no amount of care could +bring him through the moulting season, the lack +of a beak to plume his feathers and his great difficulty +in picking up even the mealworms made +him weak and sickly. He got out of his cage one +day into the garden, and a few days after we +found his poor little body lying dead close to the +window where he had always found the help he +needed, and yet we could not but be glad that his +sorrowful little life was ended.</p> + +<p>When robins have been thus tamed for years +the families they rear are like pet birds; they are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">p. 193</a></span> +fed by their parents close to the windows, and +then come indoors, as if they knew they would be +welcome everywhere.</p> + +<p>There is one feature in the robin's character +that, as far as I know, is shared by no other bird; +I mean his adopting a certain spot as his district +and always keeping to it, just as the stickle-backs +portion out a pond and jealously defend the +territory they have chosen. Here, there is a +special robin to be found at each of the lodges; +one haunts the Mission Hall and will often sing +vigorously from the reading-stand while classes are +going on. A very tame one lives in the coachman's +house, running about the floor like a little +brown mouse, and sitting inside the fender on +cold days to warm himself. He must have met +with trouble in his early youth, for when first seen +he was very lame, and had lost the sight of one +eye. Through kind care he has become well and +strong, but he is much at the mercy of his enemies, +who often attack him on his blind side. The +conservatory, dining-room, and drawing-rooms +have each their little redbreast visitor; the latter +is so tame he will take meal-worms from my hand,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">p. 194</a></span> +and sits on my inkstand singing a sweet, low song +whilst I write. As long as each bird keeps to his +domain there is peace, but woe to any intruder! +The conflicts are desperate, and I have often to +mediate, and separate two little furies rolling over +and over on the ground. I suppose it is in this +way that the idea has arisen about the young +robins killing the old ones; I cannot ascertain +that it has any foundation—in fact, every robin +fights his neighbour all the year through, except +when paired and busy with domestic duties. As +dead redbreasts are not found specially in autumn, +I do not think there can be any truth in the +superstition.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 306px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-055" id="illus-055"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p194.png" alt="" title="" width="306" height="98" /><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">p. 195</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 327px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-056" id="illus-056"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p195.png" alt="YOUNG BIRDS" title="YOUNG BIRDS" width="327" height="223" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="FEEDING_BIRDS_IN_SUMMER" id="FEEDING_BIRDS_IN_SUMMER"></a> +<h2>FEEDING BIRDS IN SUMMER<br />AND WINTER.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-o-p195.png" alt="O" title="O" width="63" height="107"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 62px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 65px"></div> + <div style="width: 52px"></div> + <div style="width: 32px; height: 9px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + N wintry mornings, when leaf and twig +are decked with hoar-frost and the +ground is hard and dry, affording no +food for the birds, it is a piteous sight +to see them cowering under the evergreens +with ruffled feathers, evidently starving and miserable, +quietly waiting for the death that must overtake +many of them unless we come to their rescue.</p></div> + +<p>It is one of my delights to feed the small +"feathered fowls" through all the winter months, +and I only wish all my readers could enjoy with +me the lovely scenes of happy bird life to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">p. 196</a></span> +witnessed through the French window opposite +my writing-table. These gatherings of birds are +the result of many years of persistent kindness and +thought for the welfare of my bird pets. Their +tameness cannot be attained all at once; it takes +time to establish confidence; it needs thought +about the kinds of food required by various species +of birds, regularity in feeding, and quiet gentleness +of manner to avoid frightening any new and timid +visitors. Doubtless there are very many lovers +of birds who share this pleasure with me, but for +those who may not happen to know how to attract +the feathered tribes I will go a little into detail.</p> + +<p>This being a large garden near game preserves, +and surrounded by a wide, furze-covered common, +I have been able to attract and tame the ordinary +wild pheasants by putting out Indian corn, buckwheat, +and raisins, till now they come to the doorstep +and look up with their brilliant, red-ringed +eyes, and feed calmly whilst I watch them. It is +a really beautiful sight to see three or four cock +birds, with their golden-bronze plumage glistening +like polished metal as the morning sun rests upon +them, and as many of their more sober-coloured<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">p. 197</a></span> +mates feasting on the dainties they find prepared +for them; as a rule, they are very amicable and +feed together like barndoor fowls. When satisfied, +the brown hens run swiftly away to cover, while +the cocks, with greater confidence, walk quietly +away in stately fashion, or remain under the trees.</p> + +<p>Wood-pigeons are usually very shy and wary +birds, yet these also come, six and eight at a time, +and feed at my window, Indian corn and peas +being their specialities. I have large quantities +of beech-nuts and acorns collected every autumn, +and thus I can scatter this food also for pigeons +and squirrels all through the winter. Jays, jackdaws, +rooks, and magpies also approve of acorns +and beech-nuts, so it is doing a real kindness to +tribes of birds to reserve this food for them until +their other stores are exhausted, and we can thus +bring them within our view and study their interesting +ways, their modes of feeding, and, I fear +I must add, their squabbles also, for hungry birds +are very pugnacious.</p> + +<p>Blackbirds and thrushes are very fond of Sultana +raisins; they also like split groats and brown bread +crumbs, as also do starlings and, I believe, most<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">p. 198</a></span> +of the smaller birds. Fat in any shape or form +will attract the various species of titmice to the +window. I always keep a small Normandy basket +full of suet and ham-fat hanging on a nail at +the window. It is a great rendezvous for these +charming little pets, and it is also supplied with +Barcelona nuts for nuthatches, who fully appreciate +them and carry them off to the nearest tree with +rugged bark into which they fix the nuts, and then +hammer at the shell till they can extract the +contents.</p> + +<p>In very hard frosts I used always to put out +a pan of water, as I feared the birds suffered from +thirst and needed this help. One day, however, +I was comforted to see some starlings, after a good +meal of groats, run off to the grass plot and eagerly +peck at the hoar-frost, which, while it exists, thus +supplies the lack of water.</p> + +<p>Bewick says linnets are so named from their +fondness for linseed, and I think most of the +finches like it. The greenfinch is soon attracted +by hemp seed, and all the smaller birds by canary +seed. I hope this paper may induce many kind +hands to minister to the needs of our feathered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">p. 199</a></span> +friends during the winter months. It is sad to +think of their dying for lack of the food we can +so easily afford them, and they will be sure to +repay us by their sweet songs and confiding +tameness when summer days return.</p> + +<p>One is apt to think that winter is the only time +when birds need our help and bounty, but there +is almost as much real distress after a long drought +in summer, especially amongst the insect-eating +birds.</p> + +<p>I was led to think of this by the pathetic +way in which a hen blackbird came to the French +window of my room early in June last and stood +patiently waiting and clicking time after time in +trouble of <i>some</i> kind I knew, and, supposing it +might be food, I threw out a plentiful supply of +soaked brown bread. At once the poor bird went +to it, devouring ravenously for her own needs, and +then, filling her beak as full as it would hold, she +flew off with a supply for her young brood. Then +came thrushes, robins, sparrows, a whole bevy +of feathered folk all doing the same thing—carrying +the provisions in every direction for unseen families +at starvation point, and I began to realize that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">p. 200</a></span> +the month of continued sunshine in which we had +rejoiced had brought great distress upon the birds +by drying up the lawns so that no worms could +be found, and, as it was early in the year, but few +insects were to be had, so that just when each pair +of birds had a clamorous brood to provide for the +food supply had fallen short. Now I understood +the pathos of the hen blackbird's appeal; her dark +eyes and note of distress were trying to say to me, +"I know you care for us; you seemed so kind +last winter; when we were without food you +fed us and saved our lives; but now I am in far +deeper distress—my children are crying for food, +the grass is dried up, and the ground so hard that +I cannot find a single worm, I am thin and worn +with hunger myself; do help me and my little +ones, and we will sing you sweet songs in return +to cheer you when wintry days come back again. +Does she understand? I've said all this several +times before, but I thought I would make one last +appeal before my children die. Yes; she has left +the room! I will wait. Ah! here it is, just the +soft food that will suit my little ones: how they +<i>will</i> rejoice and all want to be fed at once. I hope +my friend can understand that I am thanking her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">p. 201</a></span> +with all my heart." Love has a universal language +and can interpret through varied signs, and thus +I quite believe the mother bird's heart wished +to express itself.</p> + +<p>Ever since that day I have been careful in +nesting time to supply suitable and varied food +for the families of young birds in times of drought, +for it seems mournful to think of their dying from +want, in the season of flowers and green leaves, +when nature is to us so attractive, and rendered all +the more so by their sweet songs.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 306px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-057" id="illus-057"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p201.png" alt="CHILD AND PET BIRD" title="CHILD AND PET BIRD" width="306" height="231" /><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">p. 202</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 285px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-058" id="illus-058"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p202.png" alt="RAB MINOR" title="RAB MINOR" width="285" height="285" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="RAB_MINOR." id="RAB_MINOR."></a> +<h2>RAB, MINOR.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-t-p202.png" alt="T" title="T" width="69" height="118"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 68px"></div> + <div style="width: 68px"></div> + <div style="width: 62px"></div> + <div style="width: 55px"></div> + <div style="width: 35px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + HIS familiar name recalls the delightful +story of "Rab and his Friends" in +"Horæ Subsicivæ," with its naïve description +of a very original "tyke" of a +doggie—a biography which had so lived in +my recollection that when a queer little fluffy +dumpling of a puppy was given me I could not +help giving it the old familiar name, little knowing +how aptly true the name would prove to be in after +years.</p></div> + +<p>Is there anything more comical than a young +Scotch terrier puppy, with its preternatural gravity,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">p. 203</a></span> +its queer, ungainly attempts at play, its tumbles, +and blue-eyed simplicity, and, best of all, its sage +look, with head on one side, trying to consider the +merits of some doggie idea which is puzzling his +infant brain? Rab went through all the stages of +puppyhood, showing the usual amount of mischief +and fun; he might be met carrying about some +unfortunate slipper frayed to pieces by his busy +teeth, or burying a favourite bone under a wool +mat in the drawing-room, or, worse still, it is recorded +in domestic chronicles that he buried a +hymn-book in the garden, whereupon the cook +remarked that she believed he had more religion +in him than half the Christians; but that +reasoning was not apparent to any one but herself.</p> + +<p>Rab's most notable adventures took place after +he had emerged from puppyhood. He had a most +indomitable spirit of disobedience; he would hunt +rabbits or anything else he could find in the woods, +and one day he reached home with a snare tightly +drawn round his neck, and panting distressingly +for breath; the wire was cut only just in time to +save his life.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">p. 204</a></span></p> +<p>Another time he was poisoned by something he +had eaten, and had a long suffering illness.</p> + +<p>His fights with other dogs were fierce and frequent, +and whilst engaged in a scrimmage with a +hated rival, Rab was run over by a passing cart, +and limped home in a very dejected state; no +bones were broken, but he was an invalid for some +months in consequence.</p> + +<p>At last it was thought needful to tie him up, +and he had his appointed house and a long chain, +and with frequent exercise he became quite content. +One morning our brave little friend was +found nearly dead, with two terrible wounds in his +neck, which must have been made by a sharp knife, +driven twice through his throat, but, strangely +enough, had each time just missed severing the +wind-pipe. He had nearly died from loss of blood, +and was scarcely able to breathe; still, our kind +servants did not give him up; warm milk and beef +tea were given him constantly through the day; +and by night he had revived a little, and was +evidently going to live. We could never trace the +origin of this outrage, and could only suppose that +burglars had purposed breaking into our house,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">p. 205</a></span> +and, enraged at Rab's barking, had at last got hold +of, and, as they thought, killed him, and flung the +body into an adjoining field. Poor little doggie! +he suffered grievously for his brave defence, and +for months the wounds were a great distress to him +and to us; but all that loving care could do was done, +and once more his wonderful constitution enabled +him to regain health and strength. We kept at +that time several very large mastiffs, and the next +adventure occurred early one morning, when we +were aroused by a terrific noise in the stable-yard, +and the message brought to us was to the effect +that Rab was quite dead. He had been worried +by one of the mastiffs which had got loose in the +night. I rose quickly and went to see the poor +little victim's body, and looking at it, I saw a little +quiver in the eyelid that led to a gleam of hope. I +had him carried indoors, and again teaspoons of +milk, &c., were given, and actually he began to +revive, and a feeble wag of his tail, seemed to say, +"I'm very bad, but not dead yet." The sad part +was that the shaking and worrying he had received +had reopened the previous wounds, and though +after a time he was able to get about, he was quite<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">p. 206</a></span> +a wreck; one ear was gone, and the other, strange +to say, was but a fragment, like his namesake in +"Rab and his Friends." Still, he lived to be +nearly fifteen, and then rheumatism and loss of +teeth made his life a distress to him, and he was +peacefully dismissed to the rest he had bravely +earned by his life of courageous devotion to what +he thought the path of duty.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 344px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-059" id="illus-059"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p206.png" alt="RAB MINOR RUNNING" title="RAB MINOR RUNNING" width="344" height="192" /><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">p. 207</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 362px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-060" id="illus-060"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p207.png" alt="NESTLINGS" title="NESTLINGS" width="362" height="209" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="A_VISIT_TO_JAMRACH." id="A_VISIT_TO_JAMRACH."></a> +<h2>A VISIT TO JAMRACH.</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-t-p207.png" alt="T" title="T" width="69" height="118"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 68px"></div> + <div style="width: 68px"></div> + <div style="width: 62px"></div> + <div style="width: 55px"></div> + <div style="width: 35px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + HERE is an old and true saying—"Everything +comes to him who +waits." I thought of this saying while +on my way to visit the well-known place +near the London Docks where Mr. Jamrach +is supposed to keep almost every rare animal, bird, +and reptile, ready to supply the wants of all +customers at a moment's notice. For many long +years I had wished to pay him a visit, but ill-health +and other causes had proved a hindrance and I +could hardly believe my wish was going to be +realized when I found myself on the way to his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">p. 208</a></span> +menagerie. After driving through a labyrinth of +narrow, dirty streets, we were at last obliged to get +out and walk till we came to the shop, and then +we did indeed find ourselves in the midst of +"animated nature." We had landed amongst the +cockatoos, macaws, and parrots, and they greeted +our arrival with such a chorus of shrieks, screams, +and hideous cries that my first desire was to rush +away anywhere out of the reach of such ear-piercing +sounds. One had to bear it, however, if the +curious creatures in the various cages were to be +examined, and after a time the uproar grew less, +and I could hear a word or two from Mr. Jamrach, +who called my attention to some armadillos, huge +armour-plated animals, very curious, but somehow +not attractive as pets; one could not fondle a thing +composed of metal plates, shaped like a pig, with a +tendency to roll itself up into a ball on the slightest +provocation, and even Mr. Jamrach's argument +that if I got tired of it as a pet I could have it +cooked, as they were excellent eating, failed to +lead me to a purchase. There was a fine, healthy +toucan, with his marvellous bill, looking sadly out +of place in a small cage in such a dingy place. Did<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">p. 209</a></span> +he ever think of his tropical forest home, I wondered, +and wish himself in happier surroundings? +A long wooden box with wire front contained rows +and rows of Grass Parrakeets: many hundreds +must have been on those perches, one behind the +other, poor little patient birdies, sitting in solemn +silence, never moving an inch, for they were wedged +in as closely as they could sit and how they could +eat and live seemed a mystery. As I was in quest +of some small rodents I was asked to follow Mr. +Jamrach to another place where the animals were +kept. We came to a back yard with dens and +cages containing all kinds of tenants, from fierce +hyenas and wolves to tame deer, monkeys, cats, +and dogs. A chorus of yelps and barks and +growls sounded a little uninviting, and a caution +from Jamrach, to mind the camel did not seize my +young friend's hat, made us aware of a stately form +gazing down upon us from a recess we had not +before noticed. Every nook and corner seemed +occupied, and in order to see a kangaroo rat I was +invited up a rickety ladder into a loft where a +Japanese cat, a large monkey, and sundry other +creatures lived. I did not take to the kangaroo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">p. 210</a></span> +rat, he was too large and formidable to be pleasant, +and was by no means tame, but to be pulled out of +the cage by his long tail was, I confess, enough to +scare the mildest quadruped. At length I was +shown some Peruvian guinea-pigs. Wonderful little +creatures! With hair three or four inches long, +white, yellow and black, set on anyhow, sticking +out in odd tufts, one side of their heads white and +the other black, their eyes just like boot buttons, +they <i>were</i> captivating; and a pair had to be chosen +forthwith, and packed in a basket with a tortoise +and a huge Egyptian lizard, and with these spoils +I was not sorry to leave this place of varied noises +and smells. The lizard was about fourteen inches +long, a really grand creature. He came from the +ruins of ancient Egypt, and looked in his calm +stateliness as though he might have gazed upon +the Pharaohs themselves. When placed in the sun +for a time he would sometimes deign to move a +few inches, his massive, grey, scaly body looking +very like a young crocodile. I was greatly teased +about my fondness for "Rameses," as I called this +new and majestic pet; there was a great fascination +about him, and as I really wished to know more of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">p. 211</a></span> +his ways and habits, I carried the basket in which +he lived everywhere with me indoors and out, and +studied all possible ways of feeding him; but alas! +nothing would induce him to eat. After gazing for +five minutes at the most tempting mealworm, he +would at last raise up his mighty head and appear +to be revolving great ideas to which mealworms +and all sublunary things must give place. Jamrach +told me that the lizard would drink milk, so a +saucerful was placed before him, and once he did +drink a few drops, but generally he walked into +and over the saucer as if it did not exist.</p></div> + +<p>I believe the poor creature had been without +food so long that it had lost the power of taking +nourishment, and to my great regret I found it grew +weaker and thinner, and at last it died, and all I +could do was to send the remains to a naturalist +to be preserved somewhat after the fashion of its +great namesake.</p> + +<p>The odd little guinea-pigs were named Fluff and +Jamrach, and were a source of much amusement. +As they could not agree, and as the fights grew +serious, Jamrach was banished to the stable and +Fluff occupied a cage in the dining-room. When<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">p. 212</a></span> +let out it was curious to see how he would always +keep close to the sides of the room—never would he +venture into the middle, the protection of the +skirting board seemed indispensable, and when let +out under the tulip-tree he ran round the trunk in +the same way, only occasionally making an excursion +to the edge of the branches which rested on +the ground, the space beyond was a <i>terra incognita</i> +which could not be explored by the timid little +beastie.</p> + +<p>There the two little guinea-pigs enjoyed a happy +life on fine days and grew to be friends at last, +grunting little confidences one to the other and +going to sleep side by side. They had to be +watched and their liberty a good deal curtailed +when we found a weasel began to appear upon the +scene, and as it is proverbially difficult to catch a +weasel either awake or asleep, he has not at present +been captured. I much fear if he ever attacked the +little Peruvians they would stand a poor chance of +their lives, for they have no idea of self-defence and +would fall an easy prey to such a fierce, relentless +persecutor. Perhaps the gardener may devise +some way of trapping the wary little creature, so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">p. 213</a></span> +that my little friends may dwell in peace under +the shady tree.</p> + +<p>As the winter came on the cold prevented Fluff +going out-of-doors, and he led a most inactive life. +I don't think he ever had more than two ideas in +his little brain—he just lived to eat and sleep, and +was about as interesting as a stuffed animal would +have been. He is the only instance of any animal I +have ever known who seemed to be literally without +a single habit, apparently without affection, +without a temper good or bad, with no wishes or +desires except to be let alone to doze away his +aimless life.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 318px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-061" id="illus-061"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p213.png" alt="" title="" width="318" height="136" /><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="newchap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">p. 214</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 303px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-062" id="illus-062"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p214.png" alt="NEST OF WASPS" title="NEST OF WASPS" width="303" height="250" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="HOW_TO_OBSERVE_NATURE" id="HOW_TO_OBSERVE_NATURE"></a> +<h2>HOW TO OBSERVE NATURE</h2> +</div> + +<div class="wrap_area"> +<img src="images/illus-t-p214.png" alt="T" title="T" width="69" height="118"></img> + <div class="shape_wrap"> + <div style="width: 68px"></div> + <div style="width: 68px"></div> + <div style="width: 62px"></div> + <div style="width: 55px"></div> + <div style="width: 35px"></div> + </div> +<p class='ornate'> + HERE is all the difference between +taking a walk simply for exercise, for +some special errand, or to enjoy conversation +with one's friends, and the sort +of quiet observant stroll I am going to ask +my kind readers to take with me to-day.</p></div> + +<p>This beautiful world is full of wonders of every +kind, full of evidences of the Great Creator's wisdom +and skill in adapting each created thing to its +special purpose. The whole realm of nature is +meant, I believe, to <i>speak to us</i>, to teach us lessons +in parables—to lead our hearts upward to God who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">p. 215</a></span> +made us and fitted us also for our special place in +creation.</p> + +<p>In the nineteenth Psalm David speaks of the +two great books God has given us for our instruction. +In the first six verses he speaks of the teachings +of the book of nature and the rest of the +Psalm deals with the written Word of God.</p> + +<p>We acknowledge and read the Scriptures as the +book which reveals the will of God and His +wondrous works for the welfare of mankind, but +how many fail to give any time or thought to +reading the book of nature! Thousands may travel +and admire beautiful scenery, and derive a certain +amount of pleasure from nature, just glancing at +each object, but really observing nothing, and +thus failing to learn any of the lessons this world's +beauty is intended to teach, they might almost as +well have stayed at home save for the benefit of +fresh air and change of scene. The habit of minute +and careful observation is seldom taught in childhood, +and is not very likely to be gained in later +life when the mind is filled with other things. Yet +if natural objects are presented attractively to the +young, how quickly they are interested! Question<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">p. 216</a></span> +after question is asked, and unconsciously a vast +amount of information may be conveyed to an +intelligent child's mind by a simple, happy little +chat about some bird or insect. This is <i>admirably</i> +shown in a chapter on Education in the Life of Mrs. +Sewell. I would strongly urge every mother to read +and follow the advice there given.</p> + +<p>We will now start for our garden walk. We +have not taken many steps before we are led to +pause and inquire why there should be little +patches of grey-looking mud in the small angles of +the brickwork of the house. Opening one of the +patches with a penknife we find a hollow cell, and +in it some green caterpillars just alive but not able +to crawl. Now I see that the cell is the work of +one of the solitary mason wasps; she brings the +material, forms the cell, and when nearly finished +lays her egg at the bottom and provides these half-killed +caterpillars as food for the young grub when +it is hatched, and by the time they are eaten the +grub becomes a pupa and then hatches into a young +wasp to begin life on its own account. One day I +saw a bee go into a hole in the brickwork of the +house, and getting my net I waited to capture it;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">p. 217</a></span> +after about five minutes the bee came out and flew +into the net. It proved to be a solitary mason bee, +and was doubtless forming a place to lay its egg, +only, unlike the wasp, she would give the young +grub pollen from the stamens of flowers to feed +upon instead of green caterpillars. I remember +seeing a mass of clay which had been formed into +a wasp's nest by one of the solitary species, under +the flap of a pembroke table in an unused room. +A maid in dusting lifted up the flap, and down fell +a quantity of fine, dry mud with young grubs in it +which would soon have hatched into wasps, and revealed +their rather strange nesting-place. I have in +my collection a very interesting hornet's nest, which +was being constructed in the hollow of an old tree. +I happened to notice a hornet fly into the opening, +and, looking in, there was a small beginning of a +nest. It hung from a kind of stalk and consisted +of only eight cells, each having an egg at the bottom. +I captured the two hornets, and though I watched +for a long time no others ever came, so I imagine +they were the founders of what would have been a +colony in due time.</p> + +<p>But we have been kept a long time engaged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">p. 218</a></span> +with these mason wasps. Let us start for our walk. +As we take our way through the garden we cannot +help noticing the happy songs of the different birds, +all in full activity preparing their nests, carolling +to their mates or seeking food for the little ones. +There is a loud tapping noise as we pass an old +fir-tree, but no bird is to be seen, so we go round to +the other side and trace the noise to a small hole +near which a quantity of congealed turpentine +shows that the bark has been pierced by a woodpecker +and the sap is oozing out. I rap outside +the hole and in a minute the grey head of a nuthatch +appears. He is evidently chiselling out a +"highly desirable residence" for his summer +quarters in this cosy nook, and the hole being so +small he will not need to get clay to reduce the +size of the opening and plaster in his mate, which +is said to be the curious habit of this bird. Do you +see that hole about forty feet up the stem of the +beech opposite? A nuthatch built there six years +ago; I often watched him going in and out, and +heard his peculiar cry as he brought food for his mate +and her young ones. Next year that lodging was +taken by a starling, who reared a brood there. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">p. 219</a></span> +year after the nuthatch had it, and then a jackdaw +built there; and each year I always feel interested +to see who the lodgers are going to be.</p> + +<p>When I was rearing the wild ducks already described, +a weasel used often to be prowling near the +coop, and when frightened retreated in this direction. +It happened one day I was walking softly on +the grass and saw the weasel playing and frisking +at the root of that young tree; one seldom has such +an opportunity of seeing it, for it is very shy and +has wonderfully quick hearing. It was seeking +about in the grass, leaping here and there, snuffing +the wind, with its snake-like, wicked-looking head +raised to see over the grass stems, and thus at last +it caught sight of me, and in a second it darted into +the hole you see there, and I thus learnt where he +lived, but I have not been able to trace his history +any further at present.</p> + +<p>Did you see that snake? We have many of them +on the common, and they often cross my path in +the garden. Happily there are not many of the +venomous kind: they are smaller than this one, and +have a <b>V</b>-shaped mark on the head. One day in +August I was sitting by the open French window<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">p. 220</a></span> +in the drawing-room when one of these harmless +snakes came close to me, looked up at me, +putting its quivering little tongue in and out. I +suppose it decided that I could be trusted, for it +glided in and coiled itself round upon my dress +skirt and seemed to go to sleep. I let it stay +a good while, but fearing some one might be +frightened at seeing it there, I reached my parasol +and with the hooked handle softly took up the +snake and laid it on the grass-plat outside thinking +it would go away—but no, it only turned round +and came back and coiled itself up in the same +place. I found it did not mind being touched, so I +stroked it and made it creep all its length through +my hand—not a very pleasant sensation, but a +curious experience rarely to be met with. When +the cold, clammy creature had passed out of my +hand it threw out a most disgusting odour, of which +I had often read. I imagine it was offended at +my touching it and did this in self-defence. I had +at last to carry it a long distance to ensure it should +not return to the room again.</p> + +<p>Some years ago I was witness to the mode in +which a snake pursues its victim. A large frog<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">p. 221</a></span> +leaped upon the gravel walk before the windows, +crying piteously like a child and taking rapid leaps; +a moment after a large snake appeared swiftly +pursuing the frog. At last it reached it, and gave +it a bite which broke its back, and then, being +alarmed, it darted away amongst some rock-work, +leaving the frog in a dying state.</p> + +<p>This bank we are passing is a favourite winter +retreat for female humble bees. Early in the +autumn they begin to scoop out a little tunnel in +this grassy slope, and when it is deep enough to +protect them from the frost they retire into it, and +pushing up the earth behind them close up the +entrance of the hole, and there lie dormant until the +warmth of spring tempts them to come out. Then +they may be found in great numbers on the early +sallow, and other tree-blossoms, recruiting their +strength, while they seek a place in some hedge-bank +wherein to found a new colony.</p> + +<p>The Carder bee forms its nest on the ground +and makes a roof of interwoven moss, from which +it takes its name. I once gathered the moss from +such a nest by chance and saw the little mass of +cells with honey in them. I went away, meaning to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">p. 222</a></span> +examine it more closely on my return, but a crow +in the apple-tree overhead chanced to spy the +nest and made off with it in his beak before I +could rescue the honey store of the poor little bees +I had so unwittingly injured.</p> + +<p>That old tree-stump is being gradually carried +away by wasps. The wood is just sufficiently +decayed to afford the material of which they make +their nests. You see there are several wasps busily +rasping pieces of the rotten wood into convenient-sized +morsels, which they can carry to the nest, +there to be masticated into the papery layers of +which the outer walls of the nest are formed. +This walk used to have a row of grand old silver +firs of great height, but each winter some of them +have been blown down till only a few are left.</p> + +<p>Some years since I noticed at the root of one +of them a pile of fine sawdust more than a foot +high, and found that some wood wasps were +busily engaged in excavating the interior of the +tree and forming tunnels in which to lay their +eggs. I watched them for half an hour and found +that every half-minute a wasp went in at the +aperture carrying a blue-bottle or some kind of fly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">p. 223</a></span> +in its mandibles. Next day I took a friend to see +the wasps, and while watching them the wind caused +the immense tree-stem to sway to and fro from its +base as if in the act of falling, and on examination +we found it was only held in its place by a small portion +of root, and though the branches were green, it +must have been hollow and dead inside, which appears +to be the way in which silver firs decay, and the +wasps had found it out and made a delightful home +in the rotten wood. With some difficulty the great +tree was safely taken down, and then it was a most +curious sight to see the endless chambers and +galleries made in the stem, all tenanted by young +wasp-grubs and half-dead flies; and all the summer +they were being hatched in countless numbers. +The view over our common is lovely from this +point; it is golden with rich yellow gorse, giving +cover to innumerable rabbits, which find their way +into our garden in spite of wire fences and all that +the gardener can do to keep them out. One clever +little mother rabbit made her burrow deep down in a +heap of sawdust close to the stable. My coachman +put his arm down to the bottom of the hole and +brought out a little grey furred creature, kicking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">p. 224</a></span> +and screaming with wonderful vigour in spite of +its tender years. The nest was allowed to remain, +and in a few days the mother removed her brood +to a hole at the root of a bushy stone-pine, where +the little ones frisked in and out and looked so +pretty that I was won over to allow them to stay, +and, by netting round the tree, we formed a +miniature warren for the young family; but I fear +that in course of time we may bitterly repent this +step, and the numbers may increase to such an +extent that pinks and lobelia may become things +of the past and the rabbit warren may have to be +abolished.</p> + +<p>A fox is sometimes seen and hunted in these +parts. One surprised me by leaping upon the +window-sill and looking into the drawing-room. +At first I could not think what it was. It had been +dug out of its hole; its fur was muddy and torn, its +eyes piteous in their expression, and when it ran +slowly on I saw it was very lame. I ran to the +window to let it in, but though it leaped up to each +window in succession, they all happened to be shut, +and I was quite grieved to think the poor, weary +creature could find no shelter. I am no admirer of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">p. 225</a></span> +field-sports. I think they give rise to the utmost +cruelty to the creatures hunted and shot, to the +horses and dogs employed; and to witness torture +inflicted on unoffending animals cannot but have a +debasing effect on the human mind. When once +any one has seen the anguish of a deer, a fox, +or hare, at the end of the race, there can be no +question about the cruelty of the proceeding, +and to one who loves every created thing as I +do, it gives the keenest pain to know how much +suffering of this kind goes on during the hunting +season.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> I cannot resist quoting and strongly endorsing the following +lament by Mr. H. Stacy Marks, R.A., as to the way in +which birds are too frequently treated by the public at large: +"Many people regarding birds in but three aspects—as +things to be either eaten, shot, or worn.... No natural +history of a bird is complete without recording where the +last specimen was shot; and should a rare bird visit our +shores, the hospitality which we accord to the foreign +refugee is denied, and it is bound to be the victim of powder +and shot. The fashion of wearing birds or their plumage +as part of ladies' attire, threatens to exterminate many +beautiful species, such as the humming-birds of South +America, the glossy starlings of Africa, and the glorious +Impeyan pheasant of the Himalayas, with many other +species."</p></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">p. 226</a></span></p> +<p>There goes a cuckoo, with quite a flight of small +birds pursuing him wherever he goes.</p> + +<p>Small birds seem to have an intense hatred of +jays and cuckoos, and will often fly at them in the +nesting season, giving them no peace till they drive +them out of the garden, knowing full well that +their own broods are often devoured by the jay, +and that the cuckoo has designs upon the nests.</p> + +<p>Although we are some distance from home, I +can show you one of my own bees on this furze +blossom. I have a hive of Swiss, or Ligurian bees, +which are said to be in some respects superior to +the English species. The honey is of excellent +flavour, and the first year I had far more honey +from the Ligurian hive. I do not think any other +hives of Ligurians are kept within five miles, and, +as you see, they have a band of bright yellow on +the abdomen. I can always tell my own bees when +I meet with them in my walks on the common or +in the lanes. I had a rather trying adventure with +these bees last May. One Sunday evening we +were just starting for church, about half-past six, +when my little niece ran in exclaiming that there +was a great bunch of bees hanging on a branch<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">p. 227</a></span> +near the hives. I knew what had happened—my +very irreverent bees had swarmed on this quiet +Sunday evening, and they must be hived if +possible.</p> + +<p>My bonnet was soon off and the bee-dress put +on, and in five minutes the bees were secured and +settled into a hive. We went to church and were +not even late, but—during the first prayer I heard +ominous sounds of a furious bee under my dress; it +was, fortunately, a partly transparent material, and +glancing furtively about I saw my little friend +under the skirt going up and down with an angry +biz-z-z. Only the pocket-hole could release him, +so I held that safely in my hand all through the +service, lest the congregation might suffer the +wrath of a furious bee, which in truth is no light +matter, for in blind fury it will rush at the first +person it meets and leave its sting in the face or +hand. Happily I succeeded in bringing the bee +home again, and resolved to avoid hiving swarms +before church-time in future.</p> + +<p>You see under the drooping boughs of the fir-tree +yonder an old stone basin, well known to all +the birds in the neighbourhood, for there they always<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">p. 228</a></span> +find a supply of fresh water and food of various +kinds to suit all tastes. As it is opposite the +dining-room window, it is very interesting to see +a tame jay and sundry squirrels enjoying the acorns +which were collected for them last autumn and +stored up so as to keep the basin well supplied all +through the winter and spring, until other food +should be plentiful. Finches, robins, and sparrows +find wheat and crumbs to their taste, and take their +daily bath not without some squabbling as to who +shall have it first—a difficulty which is sometimes +settled by a portly blackbird appearing on the +scene and scattering the smaller folk, whilst he takes +his early tubbing and sends up showers of spray +in the process. Very pretty are the scenes on that +same stone basin when in early summer a mother +bird brings her little tribe of downy, chirping babes, +and feeds each little gaping mouth with some +suitable morsels from the store she finds there.</p> + +<p>A sheaf of corn in winter is also a great boon +to the starved-out birdies, when snow has long +deprived them of their natural food, and the water +supply has to be often renewed on freezing days, +for many a bird dies in winter from lack of water,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">p. 229</a></span> +all its usual supplies being frozen. The tameness +of birds in severe weather is a touching sign of their +distress, and a mute appeal to us to help them.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The fowls of heaven</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Tam'd by the cruel season, crowd around</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The winnowing store, and claim the little boon</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Which Providence assigns them."</span><br /> +</div></div> + +<p>It is pleasant to think that they seldom appeal +in vain. "Crumbs for the birds" are scattered by +kindly little hands everywhere in winter, and in +many a house a pet sonsie little robin is a +cherished visitor, always welcome to his small +share of the good things of this life.</p> + +<p>Our ramble might be indefinitely prolonged and +still be full of interest and instruction, but in +these simple remarks enough has been shown, +I trust, to lead many to <i>think</i> and <i>observe</i> closely +every, even the minutest, thing that catches their +attention whilst out for a ramble in lanes and +fields, even a microscopic moss upon an old wall +has been suggestive of many lovely thoughts, with +which I will conclude our ramble and this chapter.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">p. 230</a></span></p> + +<table border="0" width="375" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"It was not all a tale of eld,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">That fairies, who their revels held</span><br /> +<span class="i0">By moonlight, in the greenwood shade</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Their beakers of the moss-cups made.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The wondrous light which science burns</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Reveals those lovely jewelled urns!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Fair lace-work spreads from roughest stems</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And shows each tuft a mine of gems.</span><br /> +<span class="i2">Voices from the silent sod,</span><br /> +<span class="i2">Speaking of the Perfect God.</span><br /> +</div> +<div class="stanza"><br /> +<span class="i0">Fringeless, or fringed, and fringed again,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">No single leaflet formed in vain;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">What wealth of heavenly wisdom lies</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Within one moss-cup's mysteries!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And few may know what silvery net,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Down in its mimic depths is set</span><br /> +<span class="i0">To catch the rarest dews that fall</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Upon the dry and barren wall.</span><br /> +<span class="i2">Voices from the silent sod,</span><br /> +<span class="i2">Speaking of the Perfect God."</span><br /> +</div> +<p class="right">L. N. R.</p> +</div> +</td></tr></table> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 226px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-063" id="illus-063"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p230.png" alt="SNAKE IN A CIRCLE" title="SNAKE IN A CIRCLE, End." width="226" height="237" /><br /> +</div> +<hr class="major" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">p. 231</a></span></p> + +<p>BOOKS FOR</p> +<p>RECREATION</p> +<p><span class="smcap">And</span> STUDY</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 38px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-064" id="illus-064"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p231.png" alt="" title="" width="38" height="32" /><br /> +</div> + +<p class="right"> + PUBLISHED BY<br /> + T. FISHER UNWIN,<br /> + 11, PATERNOSTER<br /> + BUILDINGS, LONDON,<br /> + E.C. ....<br /> +</p> + +<hr class="minor" /> +<h2>SIX-SHILLING NOVELS</h2> +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub"><i>In uniform green cloth, large crown 8vo., gilt tops</i>, <b>6s.</b></p> +</div> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 41px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-065" id="illus-065"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p232.png" alt="" title="" width="41" height="25" /><br /> +</div> + +<p class="pub"><b>Effie Hetherington.</b> By <span class="smcap">Robert Buchanan</span>. Second Edition.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>An Outcast of the Islands.</b> By <span class="smcap">Joseph Conrad</span>. Second Edition.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>Almayer's Folly.</b> By <span class="smcap">Joseph Conrad</span>. Second Edition.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>The Ebbing of the Tide.</b> By <span class="smcap">Louis Becke</span>. Second Edition.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>A First Fleet Family.</b> By <span class="smcap">Louis Becke</span> and <span class="smcap">Walter Jeffery</span>.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>Paddy's Woman,</b> and Other Stories. By <span class="smcap">Humphrey James</span>.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>Clara Hopgood.</b> By <span class="smcap">Mark Rutherford</span>. Second Edition.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>The Tales of John Oliver Hobbes.</b> Portrait of the Author. Second +Edition.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>The Stickit Minister</b> By <span class="smcap">S. R. Crockett</span>. Eleventh Edition.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>The Lilac Sunbonnet</b> By <span class="smcap">S. R. Crockett</span>. Sixth Edition.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>The Raiders.</b> By <span class="smcap">S. R. Crockett</span>. Eighth Edition.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>The Grey Man.</b> By <span class="smcap">S. R. Crockett</span>.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>In a Man's Mind.</b> By <span class="smcap">J. R. Watson</span>.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>A Daughter of the Fen.</b> By <span class="smcap">J. T. Bealby</span>. Second Edition.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>The Herb-Moon.</b> By <span class="smcap">John Oliver Hobbes</span>. Third Edition.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>Nancy Noon.</b> By <span class="smcap">Benjamin Swift</span>. Second Edition. With New +Preface.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>Mr. Magnus.</b> By <span class="smcap">F. Reginald Statham</span>. Second Edition.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland.</b> By <span class="smcap">Olive Schreiner</span>. +Frontispiece.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>Pacific Tales.</b> By <span class="smcap">Louis Becke</span>. With Frontispiece Portrait of +the Author. Second Edition.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>Mrs. Keith's Crime.</b> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">W. K. Clifford</span>. Sixth Edition. +With Portrait of Mrs. Keith by the Hon. <span class="smcap">John Collier</span>, and a New Preface by +the Author.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>Hugh Wynne.</b> By Dr. S. <span class="smcap">Weir Mitchell</span>. With Frontispiece +Illustration.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>The Tormentor.</b> By <span class="smcap">Benjamin Swift</span>, Author of "Nancy Noon."</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>Prisoners of Conscience.</b> By <span class="smcap">Amelia E. Barr</span>, Author of "Jan +Vedder's Wife." With 12 Illustrations.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>The Gods, some Mortals and Lord Wickenham.</b> New Edition. +By <span class="smcap">John Oliver Hobbes</span>.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>The Outlaws of the Marches.</b> By Lord <span class="smcap">Ernest Hamilton.</span> +Fully illustrated.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>The School for Saints</b>: Part of the History of the Right Honourable +Robert Orange, M.P. By <span class="smcap">John Oliver Hobbes</span>, Author of "Sinner's Comedy," +"Some Emotions and a Moral," "The Herb Moon," &c.</p> + +<p class="pub"><b>The People of Clopton.</b> By <span class="smcap">George Bartram</span>.</p> + +<hr class="minor" /> +<h2>EFFIE HETHERINGTON</h2> + +<p class="pub"> +<span style="margin-left: 75%">BY</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 60%">ROBERT BUCHANAN</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub"><i>Second Edition. Crown 8vo., cloth,</i> <b>6s.</b></p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 50px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-066" id="illus-066"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p233.png" alt="" title="" width="50" height="34" /><br /> +</div> + +<p class="pub">"Mr. Robert Buchanan has written several +novels ... but among those which we know, +there is not one so nearly redeemed by its +ability and interest.... The girl is simply +odious; but Mr. Buchanan is a poet—it would +seem sometimes <i>malgré lui</i>, in this instance it is +<i>quand même</i>—and he dowers the worthless +Effie with a rugged, half-misanthropic, steadfast +lover, whose love, never rewarded, is proved by +as great a sacrifice as fact or fiction has ever +known, and who is almost as striking a figure as +Heathcliff in 'Wuthering Heights.'"—<i>World</i>.</p> + +<hr class="minor" /> +<h2>WORKS BY JOSEPH CONRAD</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub">I.</p></div> + +<h3>AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS</h3> + +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub"><i>Crown 8vo., cloth</i>, <b>6s.</b></p></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="pub">"Subject to the qualifications thus disposed of (<i>vide</i> first part of notice), +'An Outcast of the Islands' is perhaps the finest piece of fiction that has been +published this year, as 'Almayer's Folly' was one of the finest that was published +in 1895.... Surely this is real romance—the romance that is real. +Space forbids anything but the merest recapitulation of the other living +realities of Mr. Conrad's invention—of Lingard, of the inimitable Almayer, +the one-eyed Babalatchi, the Naturalist, of the pious Abdulla—all novel, all +authentic. Enough has been written to show Mr. Conrad's quality. He +imagines his scenes and their sequence like a master; he knows his individualities +and their hearts; he has a new and wonderful field in this East Indian +Novel of his.... Greatness is deliberately written; the present writer has +read and re-read his two books, and after putting this review aside for some +days to consider the discretion of it, the word still stands."—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p></div> + +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub">II.</p> +</div> + +<h3>ALMAYER'S FOLLY</h3> + +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub"><i>Second Edition. Crown 8vo., cloth</i>, <b>6s.</b></p> +<p class="center"><span style="margin-left: 1em">"<b>This startling, unique, splendid book.</b>"</span></p> +</div> +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="rightpub"><span style="margin-left: 3.5em"><span class="smcap">Mr. T. P. O'Connor</span>, M.P.</span></p> +</div> +<div class="blockquot"><p class="pub">"This is a decidedly powerful story of an uncommon type, and breaks fresh +ground in fiction.... All the leading characters in the book—Almayer, his +wife, his daughter, and Dain, the daughter's native lover—are well drawn, and +the parting between father and daughter has a pathetic naturalness about it, +unspoiled by straining after effect. There are, too, some admirably graphic +passages in the book. The approach of a monsoon is most effectively +described.... The name of Mr. Joseph Conrad is new to us, but it appears +to us as if he might become the Kipling of the Malay Archipelago."—<i><ins class="transcriber" + title="Transcriber's note: missing '.' added.">Spectator.</ins></i></p></div> + +<hr class="minor" /> + +<h3>THE EBBING OF THE TIDE</h3> +<p class="centerpub">BY<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 10em">LOUIS BECKE</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6.5em">Author of "By Reef and Palm"</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub"><i>Second Edition. Crown 8vo., cloth</i>, <b>6s.</b></p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 34px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-067" id="illus-067"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p235.png" alt="" title="" width="34" height="30" /><br /> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="pub">"Mr. Louis Becke wields a powerful pen, with the additional advantage +that he waves it in unfrequented places, and summons up with it the elemental +passions of human nature.... It will be seen that Mr. Becke is somewhat +of the fleshly school, but with a pathos and power not given to the ordinary +professors of that school.... Altogether for those who like stirring stories +cast in strange scenes, this is a book to be read."—<i>National Observer.</i></p></div> + +<h3>PACIFIC TALES</h3> + +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub">BY<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 10em">LOUIS BECKE</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6.5em">With a Portrait of the Author</span><br /> +</p></div> + +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub"><i>Second Edition. Crown 8vo., cloth</i>, <b>6s.</b></p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 34px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-068" id="illus-068"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p235b.png" alt="" title="" width="26" height="25" /><br /> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="pub">"The appearance of a new book by Mr. Becke has become an event of note—and +very justly. No living author, if we except Mr. Kipling, has so amazing +a command of that unhackneyed vitality of phrase that most people call by +the name of realism. Whether it is scenery or character or incident that he +wishes to depict, the touch is ever so dramatic and vivid that the reader is +conscious of a picture and impression that has no parallel save in the records +of actual sight and memory."—<i>Westminster Gazette.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"Another series of sketches of island life in the South Seas, not inferior to +those contained in 'By Reef and Palm.'"—<i>Speaker.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"The book is well worth reading. The author knows what he is talking +about and has a keen eye for the picturesque."—<span class="smcap">G. B. Burgin</span> in <i>To-day</i>.</p> + +<p class="pub">"A notable contribution to the romance of the South Seas."</p> + +<p class="rightpub"><span class="smcap">T. P. O'Connor</span>, M.P., in <i>The Graphic</i>.</p></div> + +<hr class="minor" /> +<h2>PADDY'S WOMAN</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub"><span style="margin-left: 6.5em">BY</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7.5em">HUMPHREY JAMES</span><br /> +</p></div> +<p class="centerpub"><i>Crown 8vo.</i>, <b>6s.</b></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 44px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-069" id="illus-069"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p236.png" alt="" title="" width="44" height="27" /><br /> +</div> + +<p class="pub">"Traits of the Celt of humble circumstances are copied +with keen appreciation and unsparing accuracy." <i>Scotsman.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"... They are full of indescribable charm and +pathos."—<i>Bradford Observer.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"The outstanding merit of this series of stories is that +they are absolutely true to life ... the photographic +accuracy and minuteness displayed are really marvellous."</p> + +<p class="pub"><i>Aberdeen Free Press.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"'Paddy's Woman and Other Stories' by Humphrey +James; a volume written in the familiar diction of the +Ulster people themselves, with <b>perfect realism and very +remarkable ability.... For genuine human nature +and human relations, and humour of an indescribable +kind, we are unable to cite a rival to this volume.</b>"</p> + +<p class="pub"><i>The World.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"For a fine subtle piece of humour we are inclined to +think that '<b>A Glass of Whisky</b>' takes a lot of beating.... +In short Mr. Humphrey James has given us a delightful +book, and one which does as much credit to his heart as to +his head. We shall look forward with a keen anticipation +to the next 'writings' by this shrewd, 'cliver,' and compassionate +young author."—<i>Bookselling.</i></p> + +<hr class="minor" /> +<h2>CLARA HOPGOOD</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub"><span style="margin-left: 6.5em">BY</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7.5em">MARK RUTHERFORD</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6.5em"><i>EDITED</i> BY</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7.5em">REUBEN SHAPCOTT</span><br /> +</p></div> +<p class="centerpub"><i>Second Edition.</i> <i>Crown 8vo., cloth</i>, <b>6s.</b></p> + +<p class="centerpub"> +(<i>The Third and Cheaper Edition is now ready, Crown 8vo.,</i><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em"><i>cloth</i>, <b>3s. 6d.</b><ins class="transcriber" + title="Transcriber's note: printer's bold removed.">)</ins></span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 39px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-070" id="illus-070"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p237.png" alt="" title="" width="39" height="28" /><br /> +</div> + +<p class="pub">"The writer who goes by the name of Mark Rutherford +is not the most popular novelist of his time by any means. +There are writers with names which that recluse genius +has never heard of, probably, whose stories give palpitations +to thousands of gentle souls, while his own are +quietly read by no more than as many hundreds. Yet his +publisher never announces a new story by the Author of +'Mark Rutherford's Autobiography,' and 'The Revolution +in Tanner's Lane,'—which we believe to be one of the +most remarkable bits of writing that these times can boast +of—without strongly exciting the interest of many who +know books as precious stones are known in Hatton +Garden.... 'Clara Hopgood' is entirely out of the +way of all existing schools of novel-writing.... Had +we to select a good illustration of 'Mark's way' as distinguished +from the way of modern storytellers in general, +we should point to the chapter in which Baruch visits his +son Benjamin in this narration. Nothing could be more +simple, nothing more perfect."—<i>Pall Mall Gazette.</i></p> + +<hr class="minor" /> + +<p style="text-indent: 0em; word-spacing: 0.35em; letter-spacing: 0.25em; font-weight: 400"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em">A FIRST FLEET FAMILY</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em">BEING A HITHERTO</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em">UNPUBLISHED NARRATIVE</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em">OF CERTAIN REMARKABLE</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em">ADVENTURES COMPILED</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em">FROM THE PAPERS OF</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em">SERGEANT WILLIAM</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em">DEW, OF THE MARINES</span><br /> +</p> +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub">BY<br /> +LOUIS BECKE and WALTER JEFFERY<br /> +</p> +<p class="centerpub"><i>Second Edition.</i> <i>Crown 8vo., cloth</i>, <b>6s</b>.</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 37px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-071" id="illus-071"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p238.png" alt="" title="" width="37" height="29" /><br /> +</div> + +<p class="pub">"As convincingly real and vivid as a narrative can +be."—<i>Sketch.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"No maker of plots could work out a better story of its +kind, nor balance it more neatly."—<i>Daily Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"A book which describes a set of characters varied and +so attractive as the more prominent figures in this romance +and a book so full of life, vicissitude, and peril, should be +welcomed by every discreet novel reader."—<i>Yorkshire Post.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"A very interesting tale, written in clear and vigorous +English."—<i>Globe.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"The novel is a happy blend of truth and fiction, with a +purpose that will be appreciated by many readers; it has +also the most exciting elements of the tale of adventure."—<i>Morning Post.</i></p> + +<hr class="minor" /> +<h2>THE TALES OF JOHN OLIVER HOBBES</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<p class="rightpub"> +With a Frontispiece Portrait of the Author</p> +<p class="centerpub"> +<i>Second Edition.</i> <i>Crown 8vo., cloth</i>, <b>6s.</b></p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 38px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-072" id="illus-072"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p239a.png" alt="" title="" width="38" height="22" /><br /> +</div> + +<p class="pub">"The cleverness of them all is extraordinary."—<i>Guardian.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"The volume proves how little and how great a thing it is to write a +'Pseudonym.' Four whole 'Pseudonyms' ... are easily contained +within its not extravagant limits, and these four little books have given +John Oliver Hobbes a recognized position as a master of epigram and +narrative comedy."—<i>St. James's Gazette.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"As her star has been sudden in its rise so may it stay long with us! +Some day she may give us something better than these tingling, pulsing, +mocking, epigrammatic morsels."—<i>Times.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"There are several literary ladies, of recent origin, who have tried +to come up to the society ideal; but John Oliver Hobbes is by far the +best writer of them all, by far the most capable artist in fiction.... +She is clever enough for anything."—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p> + +<hr class="mini" /> + +<h2>THE HERB MOON</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub"><span style="margin-left: 6.5em">BY</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7.5em">JOHN OLIVER HOBBES</span> +</p> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>Third Edition, Crown 8vo., cloth</i>, <b>6s.</b></p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 31px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-073" id="illus-073"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p239b.png" alt="" title="" width="31" height="21" /><br /> +</div> + +<p class="pub">"The jaded reader who needs sauce for his literary appetite cannot +do better than buy 'The Herb Moon.'"—<i>Literary World.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"A book to hail with more than common pleasure. The epigrammatic +quality, the power of rapid analysis and brilliant presentation +are there, and added to these a less definable quality, only to be +described as charm.... 'The Herb Moon' is as clever as most of +its predecessors, and far less artificial."—<i>Athenæum.</i></p> + +<h2>THE STICKIT MINISTER AND SOME COMMON MEN<br /></h2> +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub"><span style="margin-left: 6.5em">BY</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7.5em">S. R. CROCKETT</span></p> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>Eleventh Edition.</i> <i>Crown 8vo., cloth</i>, <b>6s.</b></p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 36px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-074" id="illus-074"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p240a.png" alt="" title="" width="36" height="25" /><br /> +</div> + +<p class="pub">"Here is one of the books which are at present coming singly and at long +intervals, like early swallows, to herald, it is to be hoped, a larger flight. +When the larger flight appears, the winter of our discontent will have passed, +and we shall be able to boast that the short story can make a home east as +well as west of the Atlantic. There is plenty of human nature—of the Scottish +variety, which is a very good variety—in 'The Stickit Minister' and its companion +stories; plenty of humour, too, of that dry, pawky kind which is a +monopoly of 'Caledonia, stern and wild'; and, most plentiful of all, a quiet +perception and reticent rendering of that underlying pathos of life which is to +be discovered, not in Scotland alone, but everywhere that a man is found who +can see with the heart and the imagination as well as the brain. Mr. Crockett +has given us a book that is not merely good, it is what his countrymen would +call 'by-ordinar' good,' which, being interpreted into a tongue understanded of +the southern herd, means that it is excellent, with a somewhat exceptional kind +of excellence."—<i>Daily Chronicle.</i></p> + +<hr class="mini" /> + +<h2>THE LILAC SUN-BONNET</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub"><span style="margin-left: 6.5em">BY</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7.5em">S. R. CROCKETT</span></p> + +<p class="centerpub"> +<i>Sixth Edition.</i> <i>Crown 8vo., cloth</i>, <b>6s.</b></p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 32px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-075" id="illus-075"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p240b.png" alt="" title="" width="32" height="23" /><br /> +</div> + +<p class="pub">"Mr. Crockett's 'Lilac Sun-Bonnet' 'needs no bush.' Here is a pretty love +tale, and the landscape and rural descriptions carry the exile back into the +Kingdom of Galloway. Here, indeed, is the scent of bog-myrtle and peat. +After inquiries among the fair, I learn that of all romances, they best love, +not 'sociology,' not 'theology,' still less, open manslaughter, for a motive, but, +just love's young dream, chapter after chapter. From Mr. Crockett they get +what they want, 'hot with,' as Thackeray admits that he liked it."</p> + +<p class="rightpub">Mr. <span class="smcap">Andrew Lang</span> in <i>Longman's Magazine</i>.</p> + +<hr class="minor" /> +<h2>THE RAIDERS</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub"><span style="margin-left: 6.5em">BY</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7.5em">S. R. CROCKETT</span></p> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>Eighth Edition.</i> <i>Crown 8vo., cloth</i>, <b>6s.</b></p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 42px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-076" id="illus-076"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p241.png" alt="" title="" width="42" height="26" /><br /> +</div> + +<p class="pub">"A thoroughly enjoyable novel, full of fresh, original, and +accurate pictures of life long gone by."—<i>Daily News.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"A strikingly realistic romance."—<i>Morning Post.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"A stirring story.... Mr. Crockett's style is charming. My +Baronite never knew how musical and picturesque is Scottish-English +till he read this book."—<i>Punch.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"The youngsters have their Stevenson, their Barrie, and now +a third writer has entered the circle, S. R. Crockett, with a lively +and jolly book of adventures, which the paterfamilias pretends +to buy for his eldest son, but reads greedily himself and won't +let go till he has turned over the last page.... Out of such +historical elements and numberless local traditions the author +has put together an exciting tale of adventures on land and sea." +<i>Frankfurter Zeitung.</i></p> + +<hr class="mini" /> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>SOME SCOTCH NOTICES.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"Galloway folk should be proud to rank 'The Raiders' among +the classics of the district."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"Mr. Crockett's 'The Raiders' is one of the great literary +successes of the season."—<i>Dundee Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"Mr. Crockett has achieved the distinction of having produced +the book of the season."—<i>Dumfries and Galloway Standard.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"The story told in it is, as a story, nearly perfect." +<i>Aberdeen Daily Free Press.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"'The Raiders' is one of the most brilliant efforts of recent +fiction."—<i>Kirkcudbrightshire Advertiser.</i></p> + +<hr class="minor" /> +<h2>THE GREY MAN</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub"><span style="margin-left: 6.5em">BY</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7.5em">S. R. CROCKETT</span></p> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>Crown 8vo., cloth</i>, <b>6s.</b></p> + +<p class="blockquot" style="text-indent: 0em;"> +<i>Also, an Edition de Luxe, with 26 Drawings by</i><br /> +<span class="smcap">Seymour Lucas, R.A.</span>, <i>limited to 250 copies, signed</i><br /> +<i>by Author. Crown 4to., cloth gilt</i>, <b>21s.</b> <i>net</i>.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 42px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-077" id="illus-077"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p242.png" alt="" title="" width="42" height="34" /><br /> +</div> + +<p class="pub">"It has nearly all the qualities which go to make a book +of the first-class. Before you have read twenty pages you +know that you are reading a classic."—<i>Literary World.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"All of that vast and increasing host of readers who +prefer the novel of action to any other form of fiction +should, nay, indeed, must, make a point of reading this +exceedingly fine example of its class."—<i>Daily Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"With such passages as these [referring to quotations], +glowing with tender passion, or murky with horror, +even the most insatiate lover of romance may feel that +Mr. Crockett has given him good measure, well pressed +down and running over."—<i>Daily Telegraph.</i></p> + +<hr class="minor" /> +<h2>A DAUGHTER OF THE<br />FEN</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub"><span style="margin-left: 6.5em">BY</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7.5em">J. T. BEALBY</span><br /> +</p> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>Second Edition.</i> <i>Crown 8vo., cloth</i>, <b>6s.</b></p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 34px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-078" id="illus-078"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p243a.png" alt="" title="" width="34" height="25" /><br /> +</div> + +<p class="pub">"It will deserve notice at the hands of such as are interested in the +ways and manner of living of a curious race that has ceased to be." +<i>Daily Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"For a first book 'A Daughter of the Fen' is full of promise."—<i>Academy.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"This book deserves to be read for its extremely interesting account of +life in the Fens and for its splendid character study of Mme. Dykereave." +<i>Star.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"Deserves high praise."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"It is an able, interesting ... an exciting book, and is well worth +reading. And when once taken up it will be difficult to lay it down." +<i>Westminster Gazette.</i></p> + +<hr class="mini" /> + +<h2>IN A MAN'S MIND</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub"><span style="margin-left: 6.5em">BY</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em">JOHN REAY WATSON</span><br /> +</p> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>Crown 8vo., cloth</i>, <b>6s.</b></p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 38px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-079" id="illus-079"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p243b.png" alt="" title="" width="38" height="25" /><br /> +</div> + +<p class="pub">"We regard the book as well worth the effort of reading."—<i>British +Review.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"The book is clever, very clever."—<i>Dundee Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"The power and pathos of the book are undeniable."—<i>Liverpool Post.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"It is a book of some promise."—<i>Newsagent.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"Mr. Watson has hardly a rival among Australian writers, past or +present. There is real power in the book—power of insight, power of +reflection, power of analysis, power of presentation.... 'Tis a very +well made book—not a set of independent episodes strung on the +thread of a name or two, but closely interwoven to the climax." +<i>Sydney Bulletin.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"There is behind it all a power of drawing human nature that in +time arrests the attention."—<i>Athenæum.</i></p> + +<hr class="minor" /> +<h2>NANCY NOON</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub"><span style="margin-left: 6.5em">BY</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7.5em">BENJAMIN SWIFT</span><br /> +</p> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>Second Edition.</i> <i>Cloth</i>, <b>6s.</b></p> +</div> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 32px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-080" id="illus-080"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p244.png" alt="" title="" width="32" height="29" /><br /> +</div> +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub"><b>Some Reviews on the First Edition.</b></p> +</div> +<p class="pub">"'Nancy Noon' is perhaps the strongest book of the year, certainly by far +the strongest book which has been published by any new writer.... <ins class="transcriber" + title="Transcriber's note: missing period added">Mr.</ins> +Swift contrives to keep his book from end to end real, passionate, even intense.</p> + +<p class="pub">... If Mr. Meredith had never written, one would have predicted, with the +utmost confidence, a great future for Mr. Benjamin Swift, and even as it is I +have hopes."—<i>Sketch.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"Certainly a promising first effort."—<i>Whitehall Review.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"If 'Nancy Noon' be Mr. Swift's first book, it is a success of an uncommon +kind."—<i>Dundee Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"'Nancy Noon' is one of the most remarkable novels of the year, and the +author, avowedly a beginner, has succeeded in gaining a high position in the +ranks of contemporary writers.... All his characters are delightful. In the +heat of sensational incidents or droll scenes we stumble on observations that +set us reflecting, and but for an occasional roughness of style—elliptical, +Carlyle mannerisms—the whole is admirably written."—<i>Westminster Gazette.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"Mr. Swift has the creative touch and a spark of genius."—<i>Manchester +Guardian.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"Mr. Swift has held us interested from the first to the last page of his +novel."—<i>World.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"The writer of 'Nancy Noon' has succeeded in presenting a powerfully +written and thoroughly interesting story."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"We are bound to admit that the story interested us all through, that it +absorbed us towards the end, and that not until the last page had been read +did we find it possible to lay the book down."—<i>Daily Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"It is a very strong book, very vividly coloured, very fascinating in its style, +very compelling in its claim on the attention, and not at all likely to be soon +forgotten."—<i>British Weekly.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"A clever book.... The situations and ensuing complications are dramatic, +and are handled with originality and daring throughout."—<i>Daily News.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"Mr. Benjamin Swift has written a vastly entertaining book."—<i>Academy.</i></p> + +<hr class="minor" /> +<h2>MR. MAGNUS</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub"><span style="margin-left: 6.5em">BY</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5.5em">F. REGINALD STATHAM</span><br /> +</p> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>Second Edition.</i> <i>Crown 8vo., cloth</i>, <b>6s.</b></p> +</div> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 38px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-081" id="illus-081"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p245.png" alt="" title="" width="38" height="29" /><br /> +</div> + +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub"><b>Some Press Opinions on the First Edition.</b></p> +</div> +<p class="pub">"One of the most powerful and vividly written novels of the +day."—<i>Nottingham Guardian.</i><br /> + +"A grim, terrible, and convincing picture."—<i>New Age.</i><br /> + +"Very impressive."—<i>Saturday Review.</i><br /> + +"Distinctly readable."—<i>Speaker.</i><br /> + +"A remarkable book." +<i>Standard.</i><br /> + +"Full of incident."—<i>Liverpool Mercury.</i><br /> + +"One of the most important and timely books ever written." +<i>Newcastle Daily Mercury.</i><br /> + +"A vivid and stirring narrative."—<i>Globe.</i><br /> + +"An exceedingly clever and remarkable production."—<i>World.</i><br /> + +"A book to be read."—<i>Newsagent.</i><br /> + +"A terrible picture."—<i>Sheffield Independent.</i><br /> + +"One of the best stories lately published."—<i>Echo.</i><br /> + +"Worth reading."—<i>Guardian.</i> "A sprightly book."—<i>Punch.</i><br /> + +"The story is very much brought up to date."—<i>Times.</i><br /> + +"Vivid and convincing."—<i>Daily Chronicle.</i><br /> + +"The story is good and well told."—<i>Pall Mall Gazette.</i><br /> + +"Ought to be immensely popular."—<i>Reynolds' Weekly Newspaper.</i><br /> + +"A most readable story."—<i>Glasgow Herald.</i><br /> + +"A brilliant piece of work."—<i>Daily Telegraph.</i><br /> + +"The story should make its mark."—<i>Bookseller.</i><br /> + +"Admirably written."—<i>Sheffield Daily Telegraph.</i><br /> + +"The more widely it is read the better."—<i>Manchester Guardian.</i><br /> + +"Will find many appreciative readers."—<i>Aberdeen Free Press.</i><br /> + +"Exciting reading."—<i>Daily Mail.</i><br /> + +"Can be heartily recommended."—<i>Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper.</i><br /> + +"A well-written and capable story."—<i>People.</i><br /> + +"Well written."—<i>Literary World.</i></p> + +<hr class="minor" /> +<h2>TROOPER PETER HALKET<br />OF MASHONALAND</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub"><span style="margin-left: 6.5em">BY</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7em">OLIVE SCHREINER</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7em">Author of "Dreams,"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7em">"Real Life and Dream Life," &c.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>Crown 8vo., cloth</i>, <b>6s.</b></p> +</div> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 40px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-082" id="illus-082"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p246.png" alt="" title="" width="40" height="33" /><br /> +</div> + +<p class="pub">"We advise our readers to purchase and read Olive +Schreiner's new book 'Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland.' +Miss Schreiner is one of the few magicians of +modern English literature, and she has used the great +moral, as well as the great literary, force of her style to +great effect."—<i>Daily Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"The story is one that is certain to be widely read, and +it is well that it should be so, especially at this moment; +it grips the heart and haunts the imagination. To have +written such a book is to render a supreme service, for +it is as well to know what the rough work means of +subjugating inferior races."—<i>Daily News.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"Some of the imaginative passages are very fine.... +The book is powerfully written."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"Is well and impressively written."—<i>Pall Mall Gazette.</i></p> + +<hr class="minor" /> +<h2>MRS. KEITH'S CRIME</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<p class="centerpub"><span style="margin-left: 6.5em">BY</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6.5em">MRS. W. K. CLIFFORD</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6.5em">With a Portrait of Mrs. Keith by the</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6.5em">Hon. John Collier.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>Sixth Edition.</i> <i>Crown 8vo., cloth</i>, <b>6s.</b></p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 39px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-083" id="illus-083"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p247.png" alt="" title="" width="39" height="28" /><br /> +</div> + +<p class="pub">"Is certainly the strongest book that Mrs. W. K. +Clifford has given to the public. It is probably too the +most popular."—<i>World.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"It is charmingly told."—<i>Literary World.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"A novel of extraordinary dramatic force, and it will +doubtless be widely read in its present very cheap and +attractive form."—<i>Star.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"Mrs. Clifford's remarkable tale."—<i>Athenæum.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"Will prove a healthy tonic to readers who have +recently been taking a course of shilling shocker mental +medicine.... There are many beautiful womanly +touches throughout the pages of this interesting volume, +and it can be safely recommended to readers old and +young."—<i>Aberdeen Free Press.</i></p> + +<hr class="minor" /> +<h2>SOME 3/6 NOVELS</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 64px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-084" id="illus-084"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p248.png" alt="" title="" width="64" height="26" /><br /> +</div> + +<p class="centerpub">Uniform Edition of <span class="smcap">Mark Rutherford's</span> works. Edited by <span class="smcap">Reuben +Shapcott</span>. Crown 8vo., cloth.</p> + +<table width="80%" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<col style="width:50%;" /> +<col style="width:50%;" /> +<tbody valign="top"> +<tr><td><b>The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford</b>. Fifth Edition.</td><td><b>The Revolution in Tanner's Lane</b></td> +</tr> +<tr><td><b>Mark Rutherford's Deliverance.</b> New Edition.</td><td><b>Catharine Furze:</b> A Novel. By <span class="smcap">Mark Rutherford</span>. Fourth Edition.</td></tr> + +<tr><td><b>Miriam's Schooling,</b> and other Papers. By <span class="smcap">Mark Rutherford</span>. +<span style="margin-left: 1em">With Frontispiece by <span class="smcap">Walter Crane</span>. Second Edition.</span> +</td><td><b>Clara Hopgood.</b> By <span class="smcap">Mark Rutherford</span>.</td></tr> +</tbody> +</table> + +<p class="pub">"These writings are certainly not to be lightly dismissed, bearing as they do the +impress of a mind which, although limited in range and sympathies, is decidedly +original."—<i>Times.</i></p> + +<p class="pub"><b>The Statement of Stella Maberly.</b> By <span class="smcap">F. Anstey</span>, Author of +"Vice Versâ." Crown 8vo, cloth.<br /> +"It is certainly a strange and striking story."—<i>Athenæum.</i></p> + +<p class="pub"><b>Ginette's Happiness.</b> Being a translation by <span class="smcap">Ralph Derechef</span> of +"Le Bonheur de Ginette." Crown 8vo, cloth.<br /> + +"Pretty and gracefully told."—<i>Pall Mall Gazette.</i></p> + +<p class="pub"><b>Silent Gods and Sun-Steeped Lands.</b> By <span class="smcap">R. W. Frazer</span> +Second Edition. With 4 full-page Illustrations by <span class="smcap">A. D. McCormick</span> and a Photogravure +Frontispiece. Small crown 8vo., cloth.<br /> + +"Mr. Frazer writes powerfully and well, and seems to have an intimate acquaintance +with the sun-steeped land, and the strange beings who people it."—<i>Glasgow Herald.</i></p> + +<p class="pub"><b>Paul Heinsius.</b> By <span class="smcap">Cora Lyster</span>. Crown 8vo., cloth..<br /> +"This is an extremely clever and altogether admirable, but not altogether unkind +anatomisation of Teutonic character."—<i>Daily Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p class="pub"><b>My Bagdad.</b> By <span class="smcap">Elliott Dickson</span>. Illustrated. 8vo., cloth..<br /> +"Related with a refreshing simplicity that is certain to approve itself to readers."—<i>Bookseller.</i></p> + +<p class="pub"><b>Silk of the Kine.</b> By <span class="smcap">L. McManus</span> (C. MacGuire), Author of +"Amabel: A Military Romance." Crown 8vo., cloth..<br /> +"We have read 'The Silk of the Kine,' from the first page to the last, without +missing a single word, and we sighed regretfully when Mr. McManus brought the +adventures of Margery Ny Guire and Piers Ottley to a close."—<i>Literary World.</i></p> + +<p class="pub"><b>A Pot of Honey.</b> By <span class="smcap">Susan Christian</span>. Crown 8vo., cloth.<br /> +"The book is the outcome of a clever mind."—<i>Athenæum.</i></p> + +<p class="pub"><b>Liza of Lambeth.</b> By <span class="smcap">W. Somerset Maugham</span>. Crown 8vo., cloth.<br /> +"An interesting story of life and character in the Surrey-side slums, presented with +a great deal of sympathetic humour."—<i>Daily Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p class="pub"><b>The Twilight Reef</b>, and other Stories. By <span class="smcap">Herbert C. McIlwain</span>. +Crown 8vo., cloth.</p> + +<hr class="minor" /> +<h2>THE HALF-CROWN SERIES</h2> + +<p class="centerpub"> + + + </p> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>Each Demy 12mo., cloth.</i></p> + +<table width="75%" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<col style="width:50%;" /> +<col style="width:50%;" /> +<tbody valign="top"> +<tr><td>1. <b>A Gender in Satan.</b> By <span class="smcap">Rita</span>.</td><td>5. <b>Dreams.</b> By <span class="smcap">Olive Schreiner.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td>2. <b>The Making of Mary.</b> By <span class="smcap">Jean M. McIlwraith</span>.</td><td>6. <b>The Honour of the Flag.</b> By <span class="smcap">Clark Russell</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td>3. <b>Diana's Hunting.</b> By <span class="smcap">Robert Buchanan</span>.</td><td>7. <b>Le Selve.</b> By <span class="smcap">Ouida</span>. 2nd Edition.</td></tr> +<tr><td>4. <b>Sir Quixote of the Moors.</b> By <span class="smcap">John Buchan</span>.</td><td>8. <b>An Altruist.</b> By <span class="smcap">Ouida</span>. 2nd Edition.</td></tr> +</tbody> +</table> + +<hr class="mini" /> + +<h2>THE CAMEO SERIES</h2> + +<p class="centerpub"> + + + </p> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>Demy 12mo., half-bound, paper boards, price</i> <b>3s. 6d.</b></p> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>Vols. 14-17</i>, <b>3s. 6d.</b> <i>net</i>.</p> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>Also, an Edition de Luxe, limited to 30 copies, printed on Japan paper.</i></p> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>Prices on application.</i></p> + +<table width="80%" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<col style="width:50%;" /> +<col style="width:50%;" /> +<tbody valign="top"> +<tr><td>1. <b>The Lady from the Sea.</b> By +<span class="smcap">Henrik Ibsen</span>. Translated by <span class="smcap">Eleanor +Marx Aveling</span>. Second Edition. +Portrait.</td> +<td>11. <b>The Love Songs of Robert Burns.</b> +Selected and Edited, with Introduction, +by Sir <span class="smcap">George Douglas</span>, Bart. +With Front. Portrait.</td></tr> +<tr><td>4. <b>Iphigenia in Delphi</b>, with some +Translations from the Greek. By +<span class="smcap">Richard Garnett</span>, LL.D. Frontispiece.</td> + +<td>12. <b>Love Songs of Ireland.</b> Collected +and Edited by <span class="smcap">Katherine Tynan</span>.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>5. <b>Mireio</b>: A Provençal Poem. +By <span class="smcap">Frederic Mistral</span>. Translated +by <span class="smcap">H. W. Preston</span>. Frontispiece by +<span class="smcap">Joseph Pennell</span>.</td> +<td>13. <b>Retrospect</b>, and other Poems. +By <span class="smcap">A. Mary F. Robinson</span> (Mme. +<span class="smcap">Darmesteter</span>), Author of "An Italian +Garden," &c.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>6. <b>Lyrics.</b> Selected from the +Works of A. <span class="smcap">Mary F. Robinson</span> +(Mme. <span class="smcap">James Darmesteter</span>). Frontispiece.</td> +<td>14. <b>Brand</b>: A Dramatic Poem. +By <span class="smcap">Henrik Ibsen</span>. Translated by <span class="smcap">F. +Edmund Garrett</span>.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>7. <b>A Minor Poet.</b> By <span class="smcap">Amy Levy</span>. +With Portrait. Second Edition.</td> +<td>15. <b>The Son of Don Juan.</b> By +<span class="smcap">Don José Echegaray</span>. Translated +into English, with biographical introduction, +by <span class="smcap">James Graham</span>. With +Etched Portrait of the Author by <span class="smcap">Don +B. Maura</span>.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>8. <b>Concerning Cats</b>: A Book of +Verses by many Authors. Edited by +<span class="smcap">Graham R. Thompson</span>. Illustrated.</td> +<td>16. <b>Mariana.</b> By <span class="smcap">Don José +Echegaray</span>. Translated into English +by <span class="smcap">James Graham</span>. With a Photogravure +of a recent Portrait of the +Author.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>9. <b>A Chaplet from the Greek Anthology.</b> +By <span class="smcap">Richard Garnett</span>, LL.D.</td> +<td>17. <b>Flamma Vestalis</b>, and other +Poems. By <span class="smcap">Eugene Mason</span>. Frontispiece +after Sir <span class="smcap">Edward Burne-Jones</span>.</td></tr> +</tbody> +</table> + +<hr class="minor" /> +<h2>THE MERMAID SERIES</h2> + +<p class="rightpub"><b>The Best Plays of the Old Dramatists. +Literal Reproductions of the Old Testament.</b></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 29px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-085" id="illus-085"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p250.png" alt="" title="" width="29" height="21" /><br /> +</div> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>Post 8vo., each Volume containing about 500 pages, and an etched +Frontispiece, cloth</i>, <b>3s. 6d.</b> <i>each</i>.</p> + +<table width="80%" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<col style="width:50%;" /> +<col style="width:50%;" /> +<tbody valign="top"> +<tr><td> +1. <b>The Best Plays of Christopher +Marlowe.</b> Edited by <span class="smcap">Havelock +Ellis</span>, and containing a General +Introduction to the Series by <span class="smcap">John +Addington Symonds</span>.</td><td> +12. <b>The Best Plays of Webster +Tourneur.</b> Introduction by <span class="smcap">J. +Addington Symonds</span>. +</td></tr> +<tr><td> +2. <b>The Best Plays of Thomas Otway.</b> +Introduction by the Hon. +<span class="smcap">Roden Noel</span>.</td><td> +13 and 14. <b>The Best Plays of +Thomas Hiddleton.</b> Introduction +by <span class="smcap">Algernon Charles Swinburn</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td> +3. <b>The Best Plays of John Ford.</b>—Edited +by <span class="smcap">Havelock Ellis</span>.</td><td> +15. <b>The Best Plays of James Stanley.</b> +Introduction by <span class="smcap">Edward +Gosse</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td> +4 and 5. <b>The Best Plays of Thomas +Massinger.</b> Essay and Notes by +<span class="smcap">Arthur Symons</span>.</td><td> +16. <b>The Best Plays of Thomas +Dekker.</b> Notes by <span class="smcap">Ernest Rhys</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td> +6. <b>The Best Plays of Thomas Heywood.</b> +Edited by <span class="smcap">A. W. Verity</span>. +Introduction by <span class="smcap">J. A. Symonds</span>.</td><td> +17, 19, and 20. <b>The Best Plays of +Ben Jonson,</b> Vol. I. edited, with +Introduction and Notes, by <span class="smcap">Brinsley +Nicholson</span> and <span class="smcap">C. H. Hereford</span>.</td></tr> + +<tr><td> +7. <b>The Complete Plays of William +Wycherley.</b> Edited by <span class="smcap">W. C. +Ward</span>.</td><td> +18. <b>The Complete Plays of Richard +Steele.</b> Edited, with Introduction +and Notes, by <span class="smcap">G. A. Aitkeen</span>.</td></tr> + +<tr><td> +8. <b>Nero</b>, and other Plays. Edited +by <span class="smcap">H. P. Horne, Arthur Symons, +A. W. Verity</span>, and <span class="smcap">H. Ellis</span>.</td><td> +21. <b>The Best Plays of George Chapman.</b> +Edited by <span class="smcap">William Lyon +Phelps</span>, Instructor of English Literature +at Yale College.</td></tr> + +<tr><td> +9 and 10. <b>The Best Plays of Beaumont +and Fletcher.</b> Introduction +by <span class="smcap">J. St. Loe Strachey</span>.</td><td> +22. <b>The Select Plays of Sir John +Vanbrugh.</b> Edited, with an introduction +and Notes, by <span class="smcap">A. E. H. +Swaen</span>.</td></tr> + +<tr><td> +11. <b>The Complete Plays of William +Congreve.</b> Edited by <span class="smcap">Alex. C. +Ewald</span>.</td><td> </td></tr> +</tbody> +</table> + +<hr class="mini" /> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>PRESS OPINIONS.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"Even the professed scholar with a good library at his command will find +texts here not otherwise easily accessible; while the humbler student of slender +resources, who knows the bitterness of not being able to possess himself of the treasure +stored in expensive folios or quartos long out of print, will assuredly rise up and thank +Mr. Unwin."—<i>St. James's Gazette.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"Resumed under good auspices."—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"The issue is as good as it could be."—<i>British Weekly.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"At once scholarly and interesting."—<i>Leeds Mercury.</i></p> + +<hr class="minor" /> +<h2>LITTLE NOVELS</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 68px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-086" id="illus-086"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p251.png" alt="" title="" width="68" height="27" /><br /> +</div> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>Demy 8vo., printed in bold type, paper covers,</i> <b>6d.</b>; <i>cloth</i>, <b>1s.</b></p> + +<p class="pub"> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em">1. <b>The World is Round.</b> By <span class="smcap">Louise Mack</span>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em">2. <b>No Place for Repentance.</b> By <span class="smcap">Ellen F. Pinsent</span>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em">3. <b>The Problem of Prejudice.</b> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Vere Campbell</span>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em">4. <b>Margaret Grey.</b> By <span class="smcap">H. Barton Baker</span>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em">5. <b>A Painter's Honeymoon.</b> By <span class="smcap">Mildred Shenstone</span>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em">6. <b>The Bond of Blood.</b> By <span class="smcap">R. E. Forrest</span>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em">7. <b>A Slight Indiscretion.</b> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Edward Cartwright</span>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em">8. <b>A Comedy of Three.</b> By <span class="smcap">Newton Sanders</span>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em">9. <b>Passports.</b> By <span class="smcap">I. J. Armstrong</span>.</span><br /> +10. <b>A Noble Haul.</b> By <span class="smcap">W. Clark Russell</span>.<br /> +11. <b>On the Gogmagogs.</b> By <span class="smcap">Alice Dumillo</span>.<br /> +</p> + +<hr class="mini" /> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>PRESS NOTICES.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"Novel sets are many, but Mr. Fisher Unwin has begun a new one that for prettiness, +type and cheapness will take front rank.... These little novels, which are very +prettily bound for a shilling, and in paper at sixpence each, will—if we mistake not—equal +the 'Pseudonyms' in popularity."—<i>Vanity Fair.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"Mr. Unwin's newest series of 'Little Novels,' printed in strong black type on +pleasant paper.... promises to be as good, if not better than any of the preceding +ones.... The first book in the series is an extremely clever and original story of +Australian society."—<i>Guardian.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"Are readable.... They promise well for the success of the series they begin." +<i>Scotsman.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"The 'Little Novels' series starts well with this Australian story ('The World is +Round').... Miss Mack's account of Sydney life is vivacious.... The two +women she describes are brought before us with ability. Much of the dialogue, and +certainly a letter from the Bush, deserves praise."—<i>Glasgow Herald.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"If Mr. Fisher Unwin's 'Little Novels' series produces many works of the quintessential +power of 'No Place for Repentance,' it will outweigh in all but bulk whole shelves of +Mudie's fiction."—<i>Illustrated London News.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"We do not apologise for telling the story of this little book, 'The Bond of Blood,' +and giving long extracts from it. It is worth reading even when one knows all that is +coming; for it is excellently told, with concentrated force, great simplicity, and a very +remarkable attention to illustrative detail."—<i>Spectator.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"A cheap and excellent series."—<i>St. James's Budget.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"Well bound, well printed, and exceptionally low in price."—<i>Glasgow Herald.</i></p> + +<hr class="minor" /> +<h2>The CHILDREN'S LIBRARY</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 56px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-087" id="illus-087"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p252.png" alt="" title="" width="56" height="15" /><br /> +</div> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>Illustrated. Post 8vo., pinafore cloth binding, floral edges</i>, +<b>2s 6d.</b> <i>each</i>.</p> + +<table width="80%" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<col style="width:50%;" /> +<col style="width:50%;" /> +<tbody valign="top"> +<tr><td> +1. <b>The Brown Owl.</b> By <span class="smcap">Ford H. +Hueffer</span>. Illustrated by <span class="smcap">Madox +Brown</span>.</td><td> +12. <b>Nutcracker and Mouse King</b> +and other Stories. By <span class="smcap">E. T. A. +Hoffmann</span>. Translated from the +German by <span class="smcap">Ascott R. Hope</span>.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>2. <b>The China Cup.</b> By <span class="smcap">Felix +Volkhovsky</span>. Illustrated by +<span class="smcap">Malischeff</span>.</td><td> +13. <b>Once upon a Time</b>: Fairy +Tales. Translated from the Italian +by <span class="smcap">Luigi Capuana</span>. With Illustrations +by <span class="smcap">C. Mazzanti</span>.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>3. <b>Stories from Fairyland.</b> By +<span class="smcap">Georges Drosines</span>. Illustrated by +<span class="smcap">Thos. Riley</span>.</td><td> +14. <b>The Pentamerone</b>; or, The +Story of Stories. By <span class="smcap">Giambattista +Basile</span>. Translated from the Neapolitan +by <span class="smcap">John Edward Taylor</span>. +</td></tr> + +<tr><td>4. <b>The Story of a Puppet.</b> By +<span class="smcap">C. Cullodi</span>. Translated from the +Italian by <span class="smcap">M. A. Murray</span>. Illustrated +by <span class="smcap">G. Mazzanti</span>.</td><td> +New Edition, revised and edited by +<span class="smcap">Helen Zimmern</span>. Illustrated by +<span class="smcap">George Cruikshank</span>. +</td></tr> + +<tr><td>5. <b>The Little Princess.</b> By <span class="smcap">Lina +Eckenstein</span>. Illustrated by <span class="smcap">Dudley +Heath</span>.</td><td> +15. <b>Finnish Legends.</b> Adapted by +<span class="smcap">R. Eivind</span>. Illustrated from the +Finnish Text.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>6. <b>Tales from the Mabinogier.</b> +By <span class="smcap">Meta Williams</span>.</td><td> +16. <b>The Pope's Mule</b>, and other +Stories. By <span class="smcap">Alphonse Daudet</span>. +Translated by <span class="smcap">A. D. Beavington-Atkinson</span> +and <span class="smcap">D. Havers</span>. Illustrated +by <span class="smcap">Ethel K. Martyn</span>.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>7. <b>Irish Fairy Tales.</b> Edited by +<span class="smcap">W. B. Yeats</span>. Illustrated by <span class="smcap">Jack B. +Yeats</span>.</td><td> + </td></tr> + +<tr><td>8. <b>An Enchanted Garden.</b> By +Mrs. <span class="smcap">Molesworth</span>. Illustrated by +<span class="smcap">J. W. Henessey</span>.</td><td> +17. <b>The Little Glass Man</b>, and +other Stories. Translated from the +German of <span class="smcap">Wilhelm Hauffman</span>. +Illustrated by <span class="smcap">James Pryde</span>.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>9. <b>La Belle Nivernaise.</b> By +<span class="smcap">Alphonse Daudet</span>. Illustrated by +<span class="smcap">Montegut</span>.</td><td> +18. <b>Robinson Crusoe.</b> By <span class="smcap">Daniel +Defoe</span>.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>10. <b>The Feather.</b> By <span class="smcap">Ford H. +Hueffer</span>. Frontispiece by <span class="smcap">Madox +Brown</span>.</td><td> +19. <b>The Magic Oak Tree</b>, and +other Fairy Stories. By <span class="smcap">Knatchbull +Hugessen</span> (Lord <span class="smcap">Brabourne</span>) +Author of "Prince Mangold," +"Queer Folk," &c.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>11. <b>Finn and His Companions.</b> By +<span class="smcap">Standish O'Grady</span>, Author of +"Red Hugh's Captivity," &c., Illustrated +by <span class="smcap">J. B. Yeats</span>.</td><td> +20. <b>Pax and Carlino.</b> By <span class="smcap">Ernest +Beckman</span>.</td></tr> +</tbody> +</table> + +<hr class="mini" /> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>SOME PRESS NOTICES.</i></p> +<p class="pub"> +"Happy children who are to own books as pretty and portable as this is." <i>Saturday Review.</i><br /> + +"The delightful 'Children's Library.'"—<i>National Observer.</i><br /> + +"The binding and printing are simply exquisite."—<i>Vanity Fair.</i><br /> + +"What a dainty little blue book!"—<i>Whitehall Review.</i><br /> + +"Prettily got up."—<i>Times.</i><br /> + +"Fascinating in appearance."—<i>Athenæum.</i><br /> + +"Very daintily printed and bound."—<i>Daily Chronicle.</i><br /> + +"One of the prettiest books ever trusted to a child's hand."—<i>Queen.</i><br /> + +"Altogether agreeable to the eye."—<i>Globe.</i><br /> + +"Exquisite and dainty."—<i>British Weekly.</i><br /> + +"Very dainty and unique."—<i>Review of Reviews.</i><br /> + +"All the books are delightfully illustrated."—<i>Bookseller.</i><br /> + +"With every advantage that a dainty binding excellent paper, and admirable printing +can bestow."—<i>Guardian.</i></p> + +<hr class="minor" /> +<h2><span class="smcap">The</span> AUTONYM LIBRARY</h2> + +<p class="centerpub">(Uniform in style and price with the "Pseudonym Library.")</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 31px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="illus-088" id="illus-088"></a> +<img src="images/illus-p253.png" alt="" title="" width="31" height="24" /><br /> +</div> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>Paper</i>, <b>1s. 6d.</b> <i>each</i>; <i>cloth</i>, <b>2s.</b> <i>each</i>.</p> + +<p class="pub"> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em">1. <b>The Upper Berth.</b> By <span class="smcap">F. Marion Crawford</span>. Fourth Edition.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em">2. <b>Mad Sir Uchtred of the Hills.</b> By <span class="smcap">S. R. Crockett</span>. Third Edition.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em">3. <b>By Reef and Palm.</b> By <span class="smcap">Louis Becke</span>. Third Edition.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em">4. <b>The Play-Actress.</b> By <span class="smcap">S. R. Crockett</span>. Fifth Edition.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em">5. <b>A Bachelor Maid.</b> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Burton Harrison</span>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em">6. <b>Miserrima.</b> By <span class="smcap">G. W. T. Omond</span>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em">7. <b>The Two Strangers.</b> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Oliphant</span>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em">8. <b>Another Wicked Woman.</b> By <span class="smcap">G. S. Grant-Forbes</span>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em">9. <b>The Spectre of Strathannan.</b> By <span class="smcap">W. E. Norris</span>.</span><br /> +10. <b>Kafir Stories.</b> By <span class="smcap">W. C. Scully</span>.<br /> +11. <b>Molly Darling!</b> And other Stories. By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Hungerford</span>.<br /> +12. <b>A Game of Consequences.</b> By <span class="smcap">Albert Kinross</span>.<br /> +13. <b>Sleeping Fires.</b> By <span class="smcap">George Gissing</span>.<br /> +14. <b>The Red Star.</b> By <span class="smcap">L. McManus</span>.<br /> +15. <b>A Marriage by Capture.</b> By <span class="smcap">Robert Buchanan</span>.<br /> +16. <b>Leaves from the Life of an Eminent Fossil.</b> By <span class="smcap">W. Dutton Burrard</span>.<br /> +17. <b>An Impossible Person.</b> By <span class="smcap">Constance Cotterell</span>.<br /> +18. <b>Which is Absurd.</b> By <span class="smcap">Cosmo Hamilton</span>.<br /> +</p> +<hr class="mini" /> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>PRESS NOTICES.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"Very dainty and pleasing in appearance."—<i>Glasgow Herald.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"Well printed and nicely got up."—<i>Queen.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"The volumes promise to be as handy in shape and size as those of the +original series; the printing is excellent, the paper is good, and the external +appearance is neat and attractive."—<i>Athenæum.</i></p> + +<p class="pub">"If 'The Autonym Library' keeps up to the pitch of excellence attained by +the first volume its success is assured."—<i>Speaker.</i></p> + +<hr class="minor" /> + +<h2>THE STORY OF<br />THE NATIONS<br /></h2> + +<p class="centerpub">A SERIES OF POPULAR HISTORIES.</p> + +<p class="pub"><i>Each Volume is furnished with Maps, Illustrations, and Index. Large +Crown 8vo., fancy cloth, gold lettered, or Library Edition, dark cloth, burnished +red top,</i> <b>5s.</b> <i>each.—Or may be had in half Persian, cloth sides, gilt tops;</i></p> + +<p class="centerpub"><i>Price on Application.</i></p> + +<table width="80%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<col style="width:50%;" /> +<col style="width:50%;" /> +<tbody valign="top"> +<tr><td> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em">1. <b>Rome.</b> By <span class="smcap">Arthur Gilman</span>, M.A.</span></td><td> +25. <b>Scotland,</b> By <span class="smcap">John Mackintosh</span>, LL.D.</td></tr> + +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 0.5em">2. <b>The Jews.</b> By Professor <span class="smcap">J. K. Hosmer</span>.</span></td><td> +26. <b>Switzerland.</b> By <span class="smcap">R. Stead</span> and <span class="smcap">Lina Hug</span>.</td></tr> + +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 0.5em">3. <b>Germany.</b> By the Rev. <span class="smcap">S. Baring-Gould</span>.</span></td><td> +27. <b>Mexico.</b> By <span class="smcap">Susan Hale</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 0.5em">4. <b>Carthage.</b> By Professor <span class="smcap">Alfred J. Church</span>.</span></td><td> +28. <b>Portugal.</b> By <span class="smcap">H. Morse Stephens</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 0.5em">5. <b>Alexander's Empire.</b> By Prof. <span class="smcap">J. P. Mahaffy</span>.</span></td><td> +29. <b>The Normans.</b> By <span class="smcap">Sarah Orne Jewett</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 0.5em">6. <b>The Moors In Spain.</b> By <span class="smcap">Stanley Lane-Poole</span>.</span></td><td> +30. <b>The Byzantine Empire.</b> By <span class="smcap">C. W. C. Oman</span>, M.A.</td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 0.5em">7. <b>Ancient Egypt.</b> By Prof. <span class="smcap">George Rawlinson</span>.</span></td><td> +31. <b>Sicily: Phoenician, Greek and Roman.</b> By the late <span class="smcap">E. A. Freeman</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 0.5em">8. <b>Hungary.</b> By Prof. <span class="smcap">Arminius Vambery</span>.</span></td><td> +32. <b>The Tuscan and Genoa Republics.</b> By <span class="smcap">Bella Duffy</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 0.5em">9. <b>The Saracens.</b> By <span class="smcap">Arthur Gilman</span>, M.A.</span></td><td> +33. <b>Poland.</b> By <span class="smcap">W. R. Morfill</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td>10. <b>Ireland.</b> By the Hon. <span class="smcap">Emily Lawless</span>.</td><td> +34. <b>Parthia.</b> By Prof. <span class="smcap">George Rawlinson</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td>11. <b>Chaldea.</b> By <span class="smcap">Zenaide A. Ragozin</span>.</td><td> +35. <b>The Australian Commonwealth.</b> By <span class="smcap">Greville Tregarthen</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td>12. <b>The Goths.</b> By <span class="smcap">Henry Bradley</span>.</td><td> +36. <b>Spain.</b> By <span class="smcap">H. E. Watts</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td>13. <b>Assyria.</b> By <span class="smcap">Zenaide A. Ragozin</span>.</td><td> +37. <b>Japan.</b> By <span class="smcap">David Murray</span>, Ph.D.</td></tr> +<tr><td>14. <b>Turkey.</b> By <span class="smcap">Stanley Lane-Poole</span>.</td><td> +38. <b>South Africa.</b> By <span class="smcap">George M. Theal</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td>15. <b>Holland.</b> By Professor <span class="smcap">J. E. Thorold Rogers</span>.</td><td> +39. <b>Venice.</b> By the Hon. <span class="smcap">Alethea Wiel</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td>16. <b>Mediæval France.</b> By <span class="smcap">Gustave Masson</span>.</td><td> +40. <b>The Crusades</b>: The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. By <span class="smcap">T. A. Archer</span> and <span class="smcap">Charles L. Kingsford</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td>17. <b>Persia.</b> By <span class="smcap">S. G. W. Benjamin</span>.</td><td> +41. <b>Vedic India.</b> By <span class="smcap">Zenaide A. Ragozin</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td>18. <b>Phoenicia.</b> By Prof. <span class="smcap">George Rawlinson</span>.</td><td> +42. <b>The West Indies and the Spanish Main.</b> By <span class="smcap">James Rodway</span>, F.L.S.</td></tr> +<tr><td>19. <b>Media.</b> By <span class="smcap">Zenaide A. Ragozin</span>.</td><td> +43. <b>Bohemia.</b> By <span class="smcap">C. E. Maurice</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td>20. <b>The Hansa Towns.</b> By <span class="smcap">Helen Zimmern</span>.</td><td> +44. <b>The Balkans.</b> By <span class="smcap">W. Miller</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td>21. <b>Early Britain.</b> By Professor <span class="smcap">Alfred J. Church</span>.</td><td> +45. <b>Canada.</b> By Dr. <span class="smcap">Bourinot</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td>22. <b>The Barbary Corsairs.</b> By <span class="smcap">Stanley Lane-Poole</span>.</td><td> +46. <b>British India.</b> By <span class="smcap">R. W. Frazer</span>, LL.B.</td></tr> +<tr><td>23. <b>Russia.</b> By <span class="smcap">W. R. Morfill</span>.</td><td> +47. <b>Modern France.</b> By <span class="smcap">André le Bon</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td>24. <b>The Jews under the Roman Empire.</b> By <span class="smcap">W. D. Morrison</span>.</td><td> +<b><ins class="transcriber" + title="Transcriber's note: '48.' missing from original text."> </ins>The Franks.</b> By <span class="smcap">Lewis Sergeant</span>, B.A.</td></tr> +</tbody> +</table> + +<p class="pub">"Such a universal history as the series will present us with in its completion will be a +possession such as no country but our own can boast of.... Its success on the whole +has been very remarkable."—<i>Daily Chronicle.</i></p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<div class="tnote"> +<h3>Transcriber’s Notes:</h3> + +<p>Obvious spelling/typographical and punctuation +errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other +occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources.</p> + +<p>Transcriber’s notes in text—mostly detailing corrections—are +indicated by faint dotted underlining. +Scroll the mouse over the word and the note will <ins class="transcriber" + title="Transcriber’s note: original reads ‘zephyr’">appear</ins>.</p> + +<p>The text is a compilation of previously published articles.</p> + +<p>Inconsistent spelling and inline hyphenation occurs across +chapters and is retained:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p> +* “meal-worm[s]” occurs four times, “mealworm[s]” thirteen times<br /> +* “re-appeared” occurs once and “reappeared” occurs three times +</p> +</div> +<p>Page 3: The signature date 1800 is clear error, 1898 is likely correct.</p> +<p>Page 28, 29: “I used still to to”, extra “to” removed.</p> +<p>Last Pub. Page: Last entry “The Franks” unnumbered, retained.</p> +<p>This handwritten note appears on the first page of the transcriber's copy of the book.</p> +<div class='center'> +<p style="font-size: small;"> +<span style="margin-left: 4em"><i>Wm. Lambert.</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em"><i>Prize for regular attendance.</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 9em"><i>Moulton School,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 11em"><i>Xmas, 1900.</i></span> +</p> +</div> +</div> + +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Wild Nature Won By Kindness, by Elizabeth Brightwen + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILD NATURE WON BY KINDNESS *** + +***** This file should be named 21111-h.htm or 21111-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/1/1/21111/ + +Produced by Joe Longo and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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