when the female has laid her eggs for the second time. Then the male takes, good-naturedly, the place of the female, when she feeds the young ones; and feeds them in his turn, when she sits in the nest. They are very easily tamed, when brought up with attention and kindness; they take their food out of the hand, and often perching on the shoulder of their mistress, feed out of her mouth. The Canary-bird is sometimes, and with success, matched with the Linnet or the Goldfinch; and the produce is a beautiful bird, called Mule, who, partaking of the talents and plumage of both, makes a mixed and pleasing character, and a temporary species of itself; for nature's laws have doomed them to sterility, lest a new race, not inserted in the original order of things, should take place by the ingenuity of man. They live twelve or thirteen years in our climate, and sing well to the end of their life.

The method of rearing the young ones of the Canary-bird has been often given by authors, who have written upon this subject, but Buffon is the best ornithologist to whom we can refer our readers. Suffice it to say, that eggs boiled hard, with a little plain cake, made into a soft paste, have been esteemed the food, which agrees best with the young Canaries. When adult, they feed upon rape and hempseed, and the seed to which the vulgar have given, from that circumstance, the name, of Canary.

Is a large bird, sometimes weighing ten pounds, which frequents marshy places, and lives upon small fish and water-insects. Their long beaks enable them to search the water and mud for their prey, and their long necks prevent the necessity of stooping to pick up from between their feet the smallest objects of their search. The top of the head is black, destitute of feathers, and covered with a kind of hairs or bristles; the throat and sides of the neck are of a black hue; the back and coverings of the feathers and the belly are ash-coloured. They are common in the

fen-countries, in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire but it is not yet ascertained, whether they breed here or not. These birds, in their flight, mount high in the air, and although the bird ceases to be perceptible to the eye, yet his voice can be heard; and it is said that their sight is so keen, that they discover at a great distance any field of corn, or other food, which they are fond of, and presently alight and enjoy it. These depredations they generally commit during the night, and they trample down the ground as if it had been marched over by an army. It has been observed, that they place centinels to give an alarm at the least appearance of danger. They generally form themselves in the air into the shape of a wedge, in order to cut the adverse winds with greater facility. Milton expresses this circumstance with his usual superiority.

part more wise

In common, rang'd in figure, wedge their way,
Intelligent of seasons, and set forth

Their airy caravan high over seas

Flying, and over lands, with mutual wing
Easing their flight. So steers the prudent Crane
Hør annual voyage, borne on the winds. The air
Floats as they pass, fann'd by unnumber'd wings.

PARAD. LOST, vii, 425.

This bird lives to a great age; and as he is easily tamed, it has been ascertained, that the Crane often reaches his fortieth year.

The ancient fable of the battles between the Cranes and the Pigmies, a supposed nation of dwarfs, inhabiting India, Thracia, and Æthiopia, though consecrated by the lore of the best poets, has long been exploded. Homer, Ovid, and several others, men

I

tion these ridiculous fights with more elegance than truth; and Juvenal derides them with his usual sarcastic sneer. See Sat. XIII, 270.

Is originally, as the name expresses, a native of Majorca and Minorca, in the Mediterranean sea, but is chiefly found now in the Cape Verd Islands. He is not unlike the common Crane as to the shape of the body, but has a principal and distinctive mark on his head; that is, a tuft of hairs, or rather strong greyish bristles, which are a peculiarity belonging to

this species. They roost in the manner of the peacocks, and feed like them.

The Numidian Crane is well known for his antic gestures, when he perceives himself noticed by any body.

THE neck, head, breast, and belly of this bird are white, the rump and exterior feathers of the wings black; the eye-lids naked; the tail white; and the legs long, slender, and of a reddish colour. Storks are birds of passage, as it is supposed, although we cannot yet ascertain whither they migrate. When leaving Europe, they assemble together on some particular day, and all take their flight at night. This is a fact; but what remains to be explained is, by what instinct, or means, they are convoked together