very troublesome, perhaps you will say; no doubt it is, but remember that all pets are kept for the pleasure or profit of the keeper, and it is pure selfishness to grudge any pains or expense which may help to render their lives happy and comfortable; besides, if the pets are really loved, this necessary attention to their wants and comforts will not seem a trouble; if not, they had better not be kept.

Canaries, like all shut-up birds, are subject to a variety of diseases, which probably do not affect them in a wild state, where they have plenty of air and exercise, and the food which exactly suits them. We cannot enumerate all the ailments to which they are subject, but may just lay down two or three simple rules by which they may be kept in health.

First, as to suitable food, without which no bird or other creature will keep well. Rape and canary-seed mixed in about equal proportions, with now and then a little linseed added, is best under ordinary circumstances, and green meat, such as water-cresses or groundsel, of which all finches are especially fond; but this should not be allowed to remain in the cage over twenty-four hours. A little piece of sugar may be placed between the bars for the bird to peck now and then, but not often; nor should sweet cake, or rich food of any kind, be frequently given, as it is likely to produce surfeit. When breeding or moulting, hard-boiled eggs, chopped small and mixed with crumbs of stale bread or bun, with a little maw-seed; fresh clear water, changed every day, and a scrupulous attention to cleanliness. Attend to these simple rules, and your bird will be brisk and blithe, and well repay your care and attention by his sweet song and pretty engaging actions. If he can be let out to fly about the room occasionally, so much the better, and better still if he can have the range of an aviary.

The claws of canaries, like those of other cage birds, often get uncomfortably long. when wild they keep them short by scratching. When they require cutting, it should be done with a sharp pair of scissors: the bird to be operated on should be taken gently, yet firmly, and the toes turned up to the light, so that you can see how far it is safe to cut. When moulting-time is coming on, which is generally in the autumn, the bird loses its liveliness, and becomes silent; then the cage will be strewn with feathers, and then is the time for extra care and nourishing food, such as chopped egg and maw-seed, with a little saffron in the water.

We need but mention one more troublesome visitation, which one is indeed often a legion: if you see your pet canary moping about, moving restlessly from side to side of his perch--which should always be of a good size and round, so that the bird's claws can grasp it tightly-and seeming generally very uncomfortable, take him out of the cage, blow open the feathers beneath his wings and other under parts, and you will, no doubt, see a number of little crimson dots, which are the insect pests called red mites. It is extremely difficult to get rid of these when once they take possession of a cage: the best plan to rid the bird of them is to put about ten grains of white precipitate powder into a wine-glassful of warm water, and with this solution wash the bird carefully wherever the mites are likely to be, taking care that none of the solution gets into your pet's eyes, nose, or mouth; then wash him well with clean warm water, wrap him in flannel, and put him in a warm place to dry. The cage should also be well washed in precipitate-water of about three times the above strength; if a wooden cage, with many holes and crevices, it had better be destroyed. These mites, which are a small kind of bug, often

infest breeding-cages, and so torment the sitting hens that they leave their nests, and so render the hopes of the breeder futile.

Cross-breeds between the canary and other finches are called "mule birds." Some of them are highly valued for their beauty and powers of song; none of them more so, perhaps, than that between the canary and

And what a beautiful bird is Master Goldie!-the "Goldspink," as he is called by some-the "Thistle-finch," by others, from his love of the downy seeds of the thistle. Naturalists name him Elegans, which means elegant, and the term is well applied, for he is so, both in shape and arrangement of colours on his plumage of buff and brown, that melts away into white in the under

parts, and is ornamented with gold and crimson. He is a docile and affectionate bird; has a good natural song, capable of great cultivation; and is not so liable to diseases as many other feathered pets. Several varieties are known to fanciers under the names of "Whitethroats," or "Cheverals," which

have a white streak entirely down the throat; "Bastard Whitethroats," with the streak half-way down; "speckled birds," with one or two white spots only. All these fetch high prices, not because they are more beautiful than the others, but because they are more rare; and a thing generally is valued more on account of its rarity than for its beauty or utility.

Canary and rape, with maw and poppy now and then, and hemp in the breeding season, are the best seeds for the goldfinch, with thistle and groundsel, in seed, when they can be had.

This, as well as several other pet birds, can be taught to draw its own food or water, as shown in the illustration.

is another highly valued cage bird, very handsome, and gentle, and teachable. Like his near relative Goldie, he may be taught all sorts of tricks, such as drawing up a bucket from an imaginary well. But we should not care to give him much of this sort of work to do: it is amusing and pretty to see, but the bird never really likes it, and we should not punish any creature for our pleasure.

This bird has a rich and flexible voice, and may be taught to pipe any simple tune when young. Piping bullfinches fetch high prices. The Germans take great pains in teaching them, and have regular schools for their instruction, in which they are divided into classes, with a teacher to each. The birds are kept very much in the dark at first, so that their attention may not be diverted from the tune which they have to learn; this is sometimes whistled to them, at others played on a hand-organ or flute. The teaching has to be continued for about three-quarters of a year, and as with children so it is with these feathered pupils, some are much quicker at learning than others. There are bullfinches that whistle or pipe three distinct airs, and these will fetch several pounds; but generally they have but a single simple air.

There are curious varieties of this species, such as white, black, and speckled, and these are highly valued on account of their rarity; but they are nothing like so beautiful as Bully in his natural plumage, with his black velvet cap, and coat of soft grey, deepening at places into blue, with a fine vermilion tinge, like the reflection of fire, over the breast and under parts.

"Peck-a-bud" the gardeners call him, and no doubt he is mischievous among the fruit trees; but he pecks off the green buds chiefly because he knows there is a little green maggot under, which would prevent its coming to perfection; and he likes a few ripe cherries, just as payment for this service. So don't shoot him, Mr. Gardener, he is so beautiful and such a sweet songster.

In confinement he should have rape, poppy, and millet-seeds, with now and then a little sprouting wheat, barley, or oats; lettuce, water-cresses, ripe fruit, and, as a great treat, cracked nuts-which he can eat, having a strong bill. Hemp-seed should not be given, or he will become too fat, and liable to apoplexy. Moreover, it is apt to dull the rich colours of the plumage.

Young bullfinches should be reared upon rape, bread and milk, with a little soaked hemp-seed bruised in a mortar, or buckwheat-meal.

OTHER FINCHES.

The CHAFFINCH, the HAWFINCH, the GREENFINCH, the SERIN FINCH, and the SISKIN or ABERDEVINE, are all birds of this family, which are sometimes kept in confinement, and valued on account of their beauty of plumage and singing powers.

Most of the finches are very neat nest-builders, and the first-named of the above is the neatest of all; its natural song is not much, but it is a bird which may be easily taught, so that it often becomes a very good songster indeed. It is a pretty creature too, and so brisk and cheerful that the French have a proverb-"as gay as a chaffinch;" while to show the high value set upon it by the German fanciers, we may quote their saying, that "a chaffinch is worth a cow." The treatment of this bird in confinement should be pretty much the same as that of the other finches; but it mav haye more hemp-seed than Bully.

The Hawfinch is large and handsome, but not a good bird for the cage or aviary, as it has no vocal powers. The Greenfinch is pretty and vivacious, and a fair songster: it is properly a linnet, but is generally called a finch. The Siskin has good powers of imitation, and is a pleasing, lively bird. The

Serin finch is an intelligent foreigner, but seldom seen in this country, never in a wild state.

There are also many other finches, brought from various countries, and very beautiful some of them are, but we have not space to describe them, nor is it necessary for our present purpose. Let us now take a glance at

THE LINNETS,

one of which, we may remember, bore the torch at the burial of poor Cock Robin, after he had been shot by that wicked Sparrow.

"Who 'll bear the link?

I,' said the Linnet,
'I'll fetch it in a minute:
I'll bear the link.'"

Bechstein, the great German writer on cage birds, says that the linnet has a very agreeable, loud, and flute-like song, and that it utters some highsounding notes, which are called its crowing, on account of their resemblance to the crowing of a cock, and that it will not only learn the song of any bird that it hears, but also imitate melodies of airs and dances which are piped to it, and it will even learn to repeat some words.

The linnet is a plain brown bird generally, with black marks and shadings. At some periods of its growth, the forehead becomes of a blood red, and a reddish tinge prevails at other parts of the plumage, and then it is commonly called the "Redpole." It is in the male bird of about three years old that the change of colour is most noticeable.

The term "linnet" comes from the Latin linium, flax, and originates in the marked fondness of the members of this family for the flax, or linseed, as it is usually called.

Linnets, like larks, are gregarious birds, that is, they go in flocks in the winter; and then the net and the gun play sad havoc among them. The lesser redpole, spoken of by some writers as a distinct species, seems to be but a smaller variety of this bird, whose proper food, in confinement, is rape or linseed and canary. For the young, soak crumbs of bread and bruised rape-seed, squeeze tolerably dry, and mash together.

THRUSHES.

These are large birds, and require more ample space than those we have hitherto spoken of. A thrush's cage should be of wood, at least two feet long, by one and a half wide, and about the same height, with a shelving roof like that of a house, and solid back and sides. The water and food-vessels should be large, and placed outside the cage, for the bird is a gross, untidy feeder, and makes a sad mess if he has a chance of doing so. Barley-meal moistened with water is a good general food, with a little hemp-seed, and now and then a worm, or snails with shells just cracked: when at liberty the thrush, which is a great snail-eater, manages this himself by taking it in his strong bill and knocking it against a stone or other hard substance. Keep the bottom of the cage well cleaned.

Thrushes are not good birds for the aviary, as they are greedy and dirty; but they are fine songsters, and therefore often kept in confinement; a little too loud, perhaps, for most people, and too constant: a caged thrush will begin to tune up as soon as it is light, and keep on, with but short intervals, until it