Is the Book of Deuteronomy, we have a very animated and beautiful allusion to the eagle, and her method of exciting her eaglets to attempt their first flight, in that sublime and highly mystic composition called Moses' Song; in which Jehovah's care of his people, and methods of instructing them how to aim at and attain heavenly objects, are compared to her proceedings upon that occasion. "As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth ever her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings; so the Lord alone did lead him." (Deut. xxxii. 11, 12.) The Hebrew lawgiver is speaking of their leaving their eyrie. Sir H. Davy had an opportunity of witnessing the proceedings of an eagle, after they had left it. He thus describes them:

"I once saw a very interesting sight, above one of the crags of Ben Nevis, as I was going on the 20th of August, in the pursuit of black game. Two parent eagles were teaching their offspring,-two young birds, the manœuvres of flight. They began by rising from the top of a mountain, in the eye of the sun; it was about mid-day, and bright for this climate. They at first made small circles, and the young birds imitated them; they pansed on their wings, waiting till they had made their first flight, and then took a second and larger gyration, always rising towards the sun, and enlarging their circle of fight, so as to make a graduallyextending spiral. The young ones still slowly followed, apparently flying better as they mounted; and they continued this sublime kind of exercise, always rising, till they became mere points in the air, and the young ones were lost, and afterwards their parents, to our aching sight."

Christian parents does this history What an instructive lesson to read! How powerfully does it excite them to teach their children betimes to look towards heaven, and the Sun of Righteousness, and to elevate their thoughts thither, more and more, on the wings of faith and love; themselves all the while going before them, and encouraging them by their own example.-KIRBY'S Bridgewater Trea

tise.

AN EAGLE'S NEST.

SOME of the larger birds of prey, particularly when they have their young to provide for, are in the habit of collecting an over-abundance of provisions on the high rocks where their nests are situated. A curious account of one of these Eagle nest-larders is related by a gentleman who was visiting at a friend's house in Scotland, near which he went to see a nest, which, for several summers, two Eagles had occupied; it was upon a rock, or a hill. There was a stone within a few yards of it, about six feet long, and nearly as broad, and upon this stone almost constantly, but always when they had young, the gentleman and his servants found a number of grouse, partridges, hares, rabbits, ducks, snipes, ptarmigans, rats, mice, &c., and sometimes kids, fawns, and lambs. When the young Eagles were able to hop the lengthi of this stone, to which there was a narrow road hanging over a dreadful precipice, the Eagles, he learned, often brought hares and rabbits alive, and placing them before their young, taught them to kill and tear them to pieces, as a cat brings live mice to her kittens, and teaches them to kill them. Sometimes, it seems, hares, rabbits, rats, &c., not being sufficiently weakened by wounds, got off from the young ones, while they were amusing

themselves with them; and one day a rabbit escaped into a hole, where the old Eagle could not find it. The parent bird, another day, brought to her young ones the cub of a fox, which, after it had fought well, and desperately bitten the young ones, attempted to make its escape up the hill, and would, in all probability, have accomplished it, had not the shepherd, who was watching the motion of the Eagles, with a view to shoot them, which they do with bullets (Swan-shot not being able to penetrate their feathers), prevented it.

As the Eagles kept what might be called such an excellent storehouse, whenever visiters came unexpectedly, the owner said that he was in the frequent habit of sending his servants to see what his neighbours the birds had to spare; and that they scarcely ever returned without some dainty dishes for his table, game of all kinds being rather the better than the worse for being kept a certain time. When the gentleman or his servants carried off things from the shelf or table near the nest (for it was a work of great hazard to approach the nest itself), the Eagles lost no time in bringing another supply; but when they did not take them away, the old ones loitered about, and were very inactive, amusing themselves with their young, till the stock of food had nearly come to an end.

While the hen Eagle was hatching, the table or shelf on the rock was generally kept well furnished for her use; and when she was in that state, or the Eaglets very young, the male bird generally tore a wing from the fowls for her, or a leg from the animals captured. These Eagles, as is generally the case with birds that are not gregarious, that is, which do not live together, or assemble in flocks, were faithful to each other, and would

not permit even their young after they had grown up to build a nest, or live near them, but drove them off to a considerable distance. This gentleman did not learn whether these Eagles were in the habit of sparing lambs, kids, &c., in their Own immediate neighbourhood, which it has been said they do in some places. Thus, in the Shiant Islands, a cluster of wild and retired rocks, situated amongst the Hebrides, or Western Islands of Scotland, the natives assert that the Eagles, which are, or rather were, very numerous there, particularly in the breeding season, scrupulously abstained from providing their young ones with animals belonging to the island in which they had taken up their abode, invariably transporting them from neighbouring islands, often some miles distant. Their mode of catching the mountain deer, was by pouncing down and fixing their talons between the poor animals' horns, flapping at the same time with their powerful wings, which so terrified the deer, that they lost all command over themselves, and setting off at full speed, usually_tumbled down some rock, where they were either killed, or so disabled, as to become an easy prey to the Eagles, -BISHOP STANLEY'S Familiar History of Birds.

Dr Ebel tells a story of this animal, which at once illustrates its bold daring, and exhibits an instance of the cool intrepidity of those men who pursue the perilous occupation of the chase, in these wild regions. A young hunter, having discovered the nest of a Lämmergeyer, on the southen shore of the lake of Wallenstadt, killed the male, and then taking off his shoes, crept along a narrow shelf of rock, till he came just under the hole where the four little ones were deposited. While in the very act of raising his left arm to take them

In length, this beautiful species is about five inches and a half; the bill pale flesh-colour, passing into reddish white; eyes chestnut brown; the whole plumage of a rich, deep primrose colour, inclining to yellow; edge of the quills sometimes yellowish white; legs and feet, the same colour as the bill. The female is distinguished from the male by the plumage being of a paler colour; the yellow round the bill, eye, and on the breast, and edge of the wing, being also of a paler yellow; she is likewise rather larger, and less slender in form towards

the tail.

The original stock is said to have been imported from the Canary Isles, about the 14th century; a circumstance not mentioned by Belon, and discredited by Syme for these reasons. The wild birds found in the Canary Isles, says he, bear less resemblance, in song and plumage, to the domestic Canary, than to the siskin of Germany, the venturon of Italy, or the serin of France. The plumage of these is a mixture of yellow, green, and very little brown or gray.

Buffon says, in his elegant manner," that if the nightingale is the chantress of the woods, the Canary is the musician of the chamber; the first owes all to nature, the second something to art. With less strength of organ, less compass of voice, and less variety of note, the Canary has a better ear, greater facility of imitation, and a more retentive memory; and as the difference of genius, especially among the lower animals, depends, in a great measure, on the perfection of their senses, the Canary, whose organ of hearing is more susceptible of receiving and retaining foreign impressions, becomes more social, tame, and familiar; is capable of gratitude, and even of attachment: its caresses are endearing, its little humours innocent, and

its anger neither hurts nor offends Its education is easy; we rear i with pleasure, because we are abl to instruct it. It leaves the me lody of its own natural note, t listen to the melody of our voice and instruments. It applauds, i accompanies us, and repays the pleasure it receives with interest while the nightingale, more proue of its talent, seems desirous of pre serving it in all its purity, at leas it appears to attach very little va lue to ours, and it is with grea difficulty it can be taught any o our airs. The Canary can speal and whistle; the nightingale de spises our words, as well as ou airs, and never fails to return to it own wild wood-notes. Its pipe i a masterpiece of nature, which hut man art can neither alter nor im prove; while that of the Canary i a model of more pliant materials which we can mould at pleasure and therefore it contributes in much greater degree to the com forts of society. It sings at al seasons, cheers us in the dulles weather, and adds to our happiness by amusing the young, and de lighting the recluse; charming the tediousness of the cloister, and gladdening the soul of the innocent and captive."

There are said to be upwards of thirty varieties of the breeds of Canaries, which can be easily distinguished; and the number is increasing every year.

There are two distinct species of Canaries, the plain and variegated; or, as they are technically called. the gay spangles, or meally; and jonks, or jonquils. These two varieties are more esteemed by amateurs, than any of the numerous varieties which have sprung from them; and, although birds of different feathers have their admirers, some preferring beauty of plumage, others excellence of song, certainly that bird is most desirable, where

both are combined. The first property of these birds consists in the cap, which ought to be of fine orange colour, pervading every part of the body, except the tail and wings, and possessing the utmost regularity, without any black feathers, as, by the smallest speck, it loses the property of a show-bird, and is considered a broken-capped bird. The second property consists in the feathers of the wing and tail being of a deep black up to the quill, as a single white feather in the wing or tail causes it to be termed a foul bird; the requisite number of these feathers in each wing is eighteen, and in the tail twelve. It is, however, frequently observed, that the best-coloured birds are foul in one or two feathers, which reduce their value.

The dispositions of Canaries are as various as their colours; some are gay, sportive, and delight in mirth and revelry, while others are sullen, intractable, and lazy. Some ecks are most assiduous in assisting the hen to build her nest, and even to hatch the eggs, while others will destroy the eggs, or tear the young from the nest, and kill them in their rage: the gray ones will never build, and the person who superintends these must make a nest for them.

Mr Syme informs us that he possessed a jonquil cock that used to nibble at its cage till he opened it, and then escaping from its prison-house, it would fly to the mantel-piece, where it would place itself on a china ornament, flutter as if in the act of washing, and continue to do so till water was brought. The same bird was so docile, as to come, when called, to the hand, and hide trifling articles in the corner of its cage, stopping and looking round as if for encouragement and applause. But one of his favourite amusements was to perch apon one of the branches of a tall

myrtle, in a window where the cage frequently hung; and he even became so bold, as to dart upon the ephemeral insects that rose from a stream close by, and which seemed to afford him a delicious banquet. Poor Dickie, was, however, doomed to suffer for this indulgence, and one morning was found dead in his cage, having been killed by a young pointer, a privileged vagrant like himself.

At a public exhibition of birds, we are informed that one of these docile creatures acted the part of a deserter, and ran away, while two others pursued and caught him. A lighted match being given to one of these, he fired a small cannon, and the little deserter fell on his side, as if dead: another bird then appeared with a small wheel-barrow, for the purpose of carrying off the dead, but at its approach the little deserter started to his feet.

Syme seems to think that these birds might be naturalized to our climate, having seen a pair flying about at liberty, probably, an experiment to try if they would breed: and he thinks they had built a nest, from their being repeatedly observed flying in and out at one spot, on the precipitous bank at St. Bernard's Well, near Edinburgh.

A small breeding cage is all that is required for rearing these birds; but where a room can be allotted to the purpose, it ought to have shrubs for them to roost and build, with plenty of water to drink and bathe in, that being indispensable for all birds. The light should be admitted into the room from the east, for the benefit of the morning sun, and the windows should have wire-cloth, that they may enjoy the fresh air. The floor of the apartment ought to be strewed with sand or white gravel, and on that should be thrown groundsel, chickweed, or scalded rape-seed; but when breeding, they should have