Etherial songster, soaring merrily! Thy wings keep time to thy rich music's flow, Which rolls along the sky celestially; And echoes o'er the hill's wood-waving brow Along the flood that back reflects the sky, And thee, thou warbling speck, deep mirror'd from on high. In this our opening Gossip on the Months, we have merely peeped at the coming prospects of the season. Every day will now usher in some pleasing novelty, and introduce us to some old friend returned from abroad to spend his summer amongst us. These arrivals our good friends should by all means anticipate. There will be the swallow, the nightingale, the black-cap, the wry-neck, the cuckoo, and a host of others. Of these, it will be our pleasant duty to speak from week to week. As for the flower gardens,-how many pages of our JOURNAL could we not fill with even "thoughts" upon their beauties! How much enjoyment do they lose who live in cities at this season! Confined in an unwholesome, badly-ventilated apartment, they slumber till a late hour; and rise with a feverish tongue to breakfast: whilst we, some hours a-head, have enjoyed a sight worth a kingdom, and purchased health for a song. Oh, ladies fair! Did you but know, when bath'd in dew, Your pillow you'd forsake. Would we could tempt you to make but one single trial of our remedy against fashionable ailments! The honor of your company would be an ample recompense for the cure we should effect; and we would cast such a spell around you, that you should never again speak lightly of the pleasures of A Country Life. The orchards have yet to put on their glorious attire. What a sight awaits you here! Even now the blackthorn is putting forth its flowers; next we shall have the ash, the ground ivy, the box-tree, the pear tree, the apricot, the nectarine, the plum, the hawthorn, the apple tree, and the sycamore. What a world of beautiful blossoms have yet to appear! The peach trees are now in all their beauty; the almond trees too, are bashfully blushing. Nor must we fail to notice the wild cherry, and the garden cherry, the loveliness of whose blossoms cannot be depicted in words. Yes, lovely creatures, Ye may simper, blush, and smile, Then, ah then! where is your grace, Let us hope that our fugitive thoughts to-day, may win some at least of our fair friends (whom we cannot help associating with our love of flowers-both being so amiable), to come and share with us in the joys of A COUNTRY LIFE! ANIMALS AND THEIR YOUNG. sion of [Concluded from page 182.] The maternal feelings both of the lioness and tigress are very strong, and while attending on their cubs they will brave every danger, and seem scarcely susceptible of fear, either in their defence or in hunting for their prey. Captain Williamson relates, that when he was in an Indian district, two tiger cubs were given to him, which had been brought from a considerable distance by some natives who obtained possestigress. The Captain secured them in a stable, them during the absence of the where they made a considerable noise, notwithstanding their being supplied with abundance of food. After having been thus secured for several days, the bereaved tigress arrived during the night, attracted apparently by their cries, to which she replied with the most fearful howlings; and such was the violence of her fury, that the cubs had at length to be let loose, under the apprehension that the tigress would break in and glut her wrath on the robbers of her young. In the morning, it was found that she had carried both the cubs back into the jungle. The parental instincts are peculiarly conspicuous in the largest carnivorous quadrupeds. Among birds in general, the male performs a part in the rearing of the young not greatly inferior to that of the female. He largely aids in building the nest, frequently shares the duties of the hen-bird during incubation, and performs his part in feeding and defending the young, with a zeal little inferior to that of the mother. Among quadrupeds in general, no such paternal care is needed. The milk of the mother supplies all that is needful for the sustenance of the young, and accordingly, in the great majority of cases, and especially among gregarious animals, all parental affection is confined to the female, the males being apparently totally unconscious of any feeling of interest in the welfare of their offspring. It is otherwise, however, with beasts of prey, and for obvious reasons. With herbivorous animals, the food of the mother, and of the young animal, so soon as it is able to graze, is at hand; and no exertions of the male could contribute any additional facilities to its rearing. The habits also of gregarious animals sufficiently provide for the safety of the herd without the special attention of the males to any particular female. But beasts of prey almost invariably live in solitude, their food has to be sought uncertainly and at a distance. Frequently it requires long watching to secure their prey, and when discovered, it is not obtained without both danger and toil. The male, accordingly, among carnivorous animals, is generally found constant to one female, and continues with her until their offspring are reared. Even in captivity, the lioness becomes very fierce and savage, so soon as she has cubs; and in a state of nature, both parents guard their young with the greatest jealousy. In ordinary cases, unless when pressed by hunger, the lion does not readily attack man, when unassailed by him; but when watching their young, all such fear ceases, and the suddenness of their attack is terrible. Mr. Bennet relates that in the com. mencement of the year 1823, General Watson, while on service in Bengal, was out one morning on horseback, armed with a double-barrelled rifle, in search of sport. While riding along, he was suddenly surprised by a large lion, which bounded out upon him from the thick jungle, at the distance of a few yards. Fortunately, he retained his presence of mind, and firing with a steady aim, the shot took complete effect, and the monster fell dead at his feet. But no sooner had the lion fallen, than the lioness sprang out from the same jungle, and bounded towards the assailants. A second shot from the General's welldirected rifle, wounded her severely, and she retreated into the thicket. It was concluded from the appearance of both together, that the den could not be far distant, and the party accordingly followed on the track of the lioness, and traced her to her retreat, where she was speedily despatched, Here they found two beautiful little cubs, a male and a female, apparently only a few days old, which they brought away with them. They were suckled by a goat, and afterwards sent by the General to England, as a present to George IV., by whose command they were lodged in the Tower. When the young begin to share in the spoils of the chase, the lioness becomes devoid of all fear she attacks indiscriminately whoever comes within her reach, and fights with peculiar fury in their defence. Many stories have been told about the generosity and fidelity of the lion; but though he appears to exhibit the parental instincts with considerable force, the nobility of disposition otherwise ascribed to him, has no just foundation, and the tiger only surpasses him in fierceness from superior courage, and also frequently from greater strength. The strength however of the lion, is not greatly inferior to that even of the great Bengal tiger, and but for the immense advantage which the rifle supplies, it would scarcely be possible to venture on a direct attack. To carry off a man, is a feat which he accomplishes apparently with the utmost ease; and a Cape lion has been known to seize a heifer in his mouth, and though the legs dragged on the ground, it seemed to carry off its prey with as much ease as a cat does a rat, leaping over a broad dyke with it, without the least difficulty. In one case, where a lion was pursued when thus loaded with a heifer, the mounted hunters continued the chase for five hours, and during the whole period the carcass appeared only twice to have been laid down. The great fecundity of the rabbit, the sow, and other animals, which form the prey of the carnivora, and the immense herds of the buffalo, wild horse, antelope, and other herbivorous animals which furnish the like supplies to the largest of the savage tribe above described, show how strikingly the defencelessness of their nature is compensated for by other means, and thus what may be termed the balance of creation, is uniformly preserved. The peccaries, for example, which abound in the extensive forests of South America, and subsist on roots and other vegetable food, which they obtain by burrowing in the ground, congregate in numerous bands. The white-tipped peccaries, especially, are said to roam about in herds exceeding a thousand in number; and should an unfortunate huntsman venture to attack them when thus congregated, he is sure to be surrounded by the whole herd, and torn to pieces with their tusks, unless he succeeds in getting up a tree out of their reach. Hunters have sometimes been kept prisoners for many hours, surrounded in this manner by the infuriated herd, the members of which seem to require courage from their numbers, as small bands of peccaries exhibit no such daring or pertinacity, but are readily put to flight by very slight resistance. The American bison, in like manner, occupies the vast uninhabited parts of North America; extending from Hudson's Bay to Louisiana and the frontiers of Mexico, and forms an abundant source of supply both to the wild hunter and to the beasts of prey. Modern travellers concur in bearing testimony to the almost incredible numbers of the herds of the bison which assemble on the banks of the Misssouri. Captain Lewis remarks: "Such was the multitude of these animals, that although the river, including an island over which they passed, was a mile in length, the herd stretched, as thick as they could swim, completely from one side to the other ;" and he estimates the moving multitude on another occasion, at not less than twenty thousand. Dr. James, another intelligent observer, tells us that "in the middle of the day, countless thousands of them were seen coming in from every quarter to the stagnant pools." The spring-bok, the nylghau, the Indian antelope, and numerous other herbivorous animals, including the elephants of the Asiatic and African continents, are found always in numerous herds, and roam in social freedom over the vast unoccupied regions of the old world. Such is the remarkable contrast everywhere seen between the most powerful carnivorous and herbivorous animals. In the present economy of THE average duration of a canary's life, in the hands of a kind master, is from sixteen to twenty years. With us, the "oldest inhabitant" lived fifteen and a half years. Not long since, there was one to be seen, at the house of William Spooner, Esq.,* Woodlane, Shepherd's Bush, strong and vigorous in his eighteenth year. He was even then rich in song; but about the middle of that year, his legs were getting gouty, and his sight was beginning to fail. He died before he had attained the age of twenty. We never remember to have seen a finer bird, in every respect. His affection towards his master and mistress was, as is usual with these birds, firm to the last. They sorely mourned his loss. In order to secure longevity for your birds, be careful in the selection of your cages Herein lies the grand secret. The cages generally in use, are altogether ill-adapted to comfort; being open to the air at every point, and admitting a succession of draughts from morning till night. Hence the cause of so much sickness and of so many deaths. Birds so attended to, speedily become asthmatic, and seldom live more than three or four years, as daily experience shows.† This gentleman is now the right worthy publisher of KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. † A "Naturalist" asks us, why we consider the canary, when first brought over to this country, was "tender and difficult to rear?" In addition to its being recorded as an "historical fact," we imagine that though these birds love hot climates, the cause might proceed, in no small degree, from the ignorance and want of skill ex hibited in his care and culture. It is of late years more particularly, that he has been fully studied, and that his inherent excellencies have been duly appreciated. Now, in fact, he may be said to be acclimated. He is indeed one of the hardiest of our song birds, and will live in a state of perfect liberty in an open garden, all through a severe winter. We have proofs of this in our possession. Above all things, religiously avoid the circular, open-barred brass cages, with sliding doors, now so much in vogue. We mean those resembling a parrot's cage, on a reduced scale. They are frightful instruments of destruction; bringing full many an innofinal rest. The brass, we need hardly obcent songster prematurely to his place of serve, when water lodges on it, presents gangrene; and this when tasted, produces sometimes a lingering, sometimes sudden death. All manner of "cheap cages too, must be discarded as inadmissible. They are made of dry deal, and invariably harbor vermin. Of these latter, we shall ere long have to tell a pretty tale. As a rule, buy no cages whatever excepting those made of mahogany. The proper description of tenement for a canary is a mahogany cage, 13 inches long, 11 inches high, and 8 inches deep. The top, back, and one of the sides, should be of wood; the other side should be of tinned wire-work (also the front), so as to admit the air, and at the same time exclude a thorough draught. Just above this wirework should be a wooden slide, running in a groove. It might then be used, or not, as occasion might require. The cage inside should be painted white. This, if your bird were of a fine bright yellow color, would show him off to advantage. A long, square, but narrow perch, should run from end to end, about the centre of the cage; and a second of a similar kind, directly behind the two tin pans inserted at the front of the cage (one on either side) to hold the seed. In the middle of the wirework, at the front, let there be a hole sufficiently large to admit the bird's head while drinking. Never use glasses or fountains for holding water; but receptacles of tin, suspended by bent wires. Glasses and glass fountains are apt to get displaced; and many a prisoner dies for want of water thus unthinkingly removed beyond his reach. By having these two perches only, the bird's feet will be kept clean, and he will have plenty of room for exercise, without injuring his plumage. A bird thus lodged, may be placed anywhere, or hung out of any window. He will never know what fear is, and he will be steady to his song. It is quite a mistake (irrespective of its being cruel) to place any bird in an open cage, if you wish him to sing well. By allowing him to gaze about, his attention becomes distraught, and his thoughts are divided. So well do the Ger mans know this, that they frequently pass a piece of red hot metal before the eyes of their choicest birds, with a view to keep them "intent upon their song alone." The intensity of the pain inflicted by the heated metal causes the tears of the poor victims to flow out. They close their eyelids; and when the heat has done its duty, their eyes have become closed for ever! These foreign fiends, habited in the garb of humanity, rarely have the temerity to send any of their birds, so mutilated, over here. All honor be to our nation for "setting their faces" resolutely against any such frightful atrocities. When hanging your birds out in the garden, or at an open window, avoid as much as possible exposing them to the intense heat of a scorching sun. Although protected from its baneful influence by the covered roof of their cages, to a certain extent, they yet run a considerable risk of being killed by a coup de soleil-the fate of many a noble songster. The bough of a tree, well covered with foliage, is what they delight in. This should be allowed to depend from the top of their cages. So protected, they will not be annoyed either at the sight of a cat or dog, or any other noxious animal-indeed they will be strangers to fear of any kind. The proper food for this tribe is Canary, Flax, and a small quantity of Rape seed. All these should be new and of the very best quality. It is miserable economy to purchase cheap" seed. It will assuredly injure, if it does not kill your birds. Every morning the seed should be carefully examined, the husk removed, and the tins replenished. The bottoms of your cages should be well cleansed, thrice weekly; and be kept well covered with red gravelly sand. It is also desirable to have a small quantity of old mortar well bruised mixed with it. In addition to the water supplied in the tin, it is always expedient to have a square earthenware bath, fitted in a mahogany frame, ready for daily use. These are so made as to be easily suspended on the doors of the cages, when the latter are opened. They are overarched with wire, to prevent the birds escaping; and are obtainable of almost any dealer. Never let a day pass in the summer season without administering the bath. It is a grand secret of health, and assists wonderfully in keeping your birds in fine feather. In the winter and early spring, forbid its use altogether. THE BRITISH WARBLERS. BY THE LATE R. SWEET, F.L.S.-NO. I. THE great success attending Mr. Sweet in his experiments with our British Warblers, causes his authority to be considered 'great on such matters. At the request therefore of many of our subscribers, we propose to transcribe from his little volume (now out of print), the principal part of his observations referring to the elegant little songsters about to visit our land. The task of selection has been kindly undertaken by "E. C.," one of our staunch supporters at Liverpool, who will forward us, weekly, what he considers to be We worthy of our readers' best attention. must however reserve to ourselves the right of stating, as usual, that which our own more recent experience has proved to be an "improvement " upon Mr. Sweet's general plan; also of showing wherein we think he is in error. We shall, of course, hold ourselves responsible for this. THE BRITISH WARBLERS. The British species belonging to this interesting genus (Sylvia), are chiefly birds of passage, visiting this country in Spring, and leaving it again in Autumn. Several of these are deservedly esteemed as the finest songsters of all the feathered race. The nightingale, in particular, has the sweetest and most pleasing note of any bird at present known. It has been generally supposed that they are very difficult to preserve in confinement; but I have succeeded well in keeping several of the most interesting species through several winters, in perfect health, and many of them are in full song all the winter. I have not the least doubt, that all the species might be kept without difficulty in the way I have prac tised. They will succeed very well in a warm room in winter, or, if convenient, any part of a hot-house will suit them admirably; but they require a little fresh air, when the weather is mild. They might be preserved in cages, either separately or several together; or in a small aviary, where all the species might be intermixed. In the latter manner, mine are kept at present. The tem To make your pets familiar, give them every now and then a small quantity of yolk of egg, boiled hard; and a small quantity of "Clif-perature of the room where they are, ought ford's German Paste," mixed with a stale sponge cake. Put this, lovingly, into a little "exclusive" tin pan, fitted in a sly corner of the cage, and the treat will have a double charm. These innocent little creatures love to flirt with any nice pickings, thus mysteriously conveyed to them; and they will keep on chattering to you in a language of their own, for many minutes, while viewing the operations in which you are actively engaged for their particular benefit. never to be much below temperate, though some of the kinds do not mind a slight frost. The species that I have found suffer most from cold are S. rubetra (whinchat), S. phænicurus (redstart), and S. hortensis (garden warbler). The nightingale is not near so tender as these. S. cinerea (whitethroat), S. sylviella (lesser whitethroat), and S. atricapilla (blackcap), scarcely seem to mind the cold at all. In a wild state, the species of this genus feed almost entirely on insects and fruit; but in confinement, they may be taught to feed on several other things, but the more insects they have given them the better. I believe it is impossible to keep them in per fect health without a frequent supply. The food that I find agree with them best, for a constancy, is an equal proportion of bruised hempseed and bread, mixed up in the following manner-I first put some hempseed in a little pan, and pour some boiling water on it; then, with a stick flattened at the end, I bruise it as fine as possible, and add the same quantity of soft bread, which must also be bruised up with it, so that the oily milk from the seeds may be mixed with the bread till it is of the consistence of a moist paste. Of this mixture they are all very fond; but it should be mixed up fresh every day, particularly in summer, or the stale food may injure their health and make them dislike it altogether. I also give them a little boiled milk and bread for a change, and some fresh raw meat, cut in small pieces. Some of the species like the fat best, but the greater part prefer the lean. (To be Continued.) PHRENOLOGY FOR THE MILLION. "He who opposes his own judgment against the consent of the times, ought to be backed with UNANSWERABLE TRUTHS; and he who has TRUTH on his side is a fool, as well as a Coward, if he is afraid to own it because of the currency or multitude of OTHER MEN'S OPINIONS."DEFOE. No. VII. THE LIFE OF DR. GALL. In 1809, Gall and Spurzheim commenced publishing their magnificent work, entitled " The Anatomy and Physiology of the Nervous System in general, and of the Brain in particular; with Observations upon the possibility of ascertaining several intellectual and moral Dispositions of Man and Animals, by the Configuration of their Heads. 4 volumes, folio, with an Atlas of 100 plates." [Price £40.] This great work was continued by the joint exertions of Gall and Spurzheim, to the completion of two and a-half volumes, and was ultimately finished by Gall in 1819. They continued their researches in common till 1813, when Spurzheim left Paris to visit Vienna and Great Britain. During Dr. Spurzheim's absence, Dr. Gall discontinued his lectures. After his return (1817), he delivered one Private Course in his own house, and two Public Courses gratis, one "à l'Ecole de Medecine," and the other in a hall "de L'institution pour les Aveugles." examination room of the Institution des Jeunes Aveugles, which is well fitted for the purpose. His audience amounted to betwixt 200 and 300; and so eagerly was he attended, that many more could be given, and the apartment was regularly tickets were applied for at each Course than crowded half an hour before the lecture began. The physiognomical expression of some of the English students, who were present at Blainville's Lectures, and who probably knew nothing of Phrenology but through the English Reviews, was truly ludicrous. They appeared to relax their features for a laugh when the name of Dr. Gall first escaped the lips of the Professor; but when they heard him spoken of with respect, and his doctrines declared to be true, the expression changed into wonder in some, and in others to absolute contempt. The French savans listened to him with the the celebrated Corvisart was, among others, one same interest as those of Germany had done, and of his most enthusiastic admirers. But, alas! an absolute ruler governed France at that epoch, and he held philosophy in horror. Nothing more was required to induce the courtiers, and some literary men, to declare themselves the enemies of the doctrines broached by the German doctor. Hence the ridicule and the ignoble pleasantry which degraded the Journal de l'Empire, and most of the secondary journals of Paris-most unworthy means, certainly, of discussing a science so important as that which treats of the powers of the mind and functions of the brain,-means which never reached the elevated mind of the philosopher against whom they were employed, but which contributed greatly to prevent the study and propagation of the truths which Gall had announced. At last however, his Works appeared, and several of his eminent contemporaries hastened to do him justice, and still follow the line of investigation so successfully marked out by him. From 1822 to 1826, Dr. Gall published an edition of his work, "Sur les Fonctions du Cerveau," &c. in six volumes, 8vo. In March, 1828, at the conclusion of one of his lectures, Dr. Gall was seized with a paralytic attack, from which he never perfectly recovered, and which ultimately carried him off the 22nd August, 1828, in the seventy-second year of his age. His remains were followed to the grave by an immense concourse of friends and admirers, five of whom pronounced discourses over his grave, as is the custom in France on such occasions. His death gave rise to a succession of eulogiums and attacks in the French newspapers that had scarcely ever been paralleled, and public sentiment was warmly and loudly expressed in his favor. In proof of this, I may be allowed to quote a few lines of a letter lately received from a French friend, with whom I was intimate in Paris, but who is no phrenologist, and whose In 1819, Dr Gall, at the request of the Minister testimony is therefore impartial. After speaking of the Interior, commenced lecturing for the of the political relations of France, he adds, benefit of the medical students in Paris. The "You will, I am sure, be more affected by the lectures were, like others, delivered gratis; but death of Dr. Gall, than by any political events. he was provided with the use of the operation In truth, it is an immense loss to science. Whatand lecture room in the Hospice de Perfectionne-ever opinion we may form of the system of that ment, for his First Course, and afterwards, on illustrious man, it must be acknowledged that he account of that being too small, with the large has made an immense stride in the sciences of |