The way to teach him to ring for his food, is to suspend a little beD in a corner of his cage, and when he has been an hour or two without food, to ring it by means of a string attached to it, and immediately to place some of his favorite seed in the glass. In a L'ew days he will discover that whenever the bell rings he gets a m.eal, and will seize the string, and peal away merrily when- ever he is hungry.'* The goldfinch is rather subject to epileptic fits, and, when- ever he is seized with one, he should be plunged head down- wards into cold water, and one or two dips will restore him at once. He is a large eater, and in all probability has indulged his appetite too much, so that he must be kept upon a low diet DOMESTIC PETS. 237 of lettuce seed and thistles, and have no hemp-seed for a few days after he has had one of these fits. He is fond of bathing, and should have a bath every day. The goldfinch will sometimes mate with the canary, and the mules are very pretty. He must, however, be taken away from his wife as soon as she begins to lay, as he has a mischievous propensity for breaking the eggs. After the young birds are hatched he may be put back into the cage, and will help in feeding them. Canaries. — If our readers desire to have a nursery of young birds, they will find canaries the best in every respect to rear. There is no doubt about their happiness in a cage, if proper attention be paid to them; and we would fain believe that no one who reads these pages would willingly cause them suffering from want of care, or would attempt to keep pets upon whom they are not ready to bestow all the time and trouble necessary to keep them in health and comfort. People are not worthy of their birds if they neglect them, and leave them to the care of servants, to whom they are either troublesome or indifferent. And their attention will be received with such expressive grati- tude and delight — their feathered pets will welcome them so gladly, and show so plainly how much their happiness depends upon their care — that they will be sufficiently rewarded for its bestowal. They should become intimately acquainted with their birds' dispositions, too, and learn their language thoroughly, and they will find a fund of amusement in their society. This is more easily accomplished when one or two pet birds are kept in a cage alone, than when there are a number of canaries together in a very large cage or aviary, but we always like best to see them under such circumstances — they seem so thor- oughly happy when they have room for flying and frolicing about; some birds, too, will sing best when they are excited by emulation, with others, but occasionally a good songster is sulky when in company, and prefers being alone. One of our birds who had been accustomed to a small single cage, never seemed at ease when in a large one, and resented being jostled by others. He was an old bird, too, and did not like his saucy young companions, and showed his di3j)]ea;-rre by total silence whenever he was placed with tiiera; so we bad to restore him to solitary grandeur« 238 DOMESTIC PETS.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

The way to teach him to ring for his food, is to suspend a little bell in a corner of his cage, and when he has been an hour or two without food, to ring it by means of a string attached to it, and immediately to place some of his favorite seed in the glass. In a L'ew days he will discover that whenever the bell rings he gets a meal, and will seize the string, and peal away merrily whenever he is hungry.'* The goldfinch is rather subject to epileptic fits, and, whenever he is seized with one, he should be plunged head downwards into cold water, and one or two dips will restore him at once. He is a large eater, and in all probability has indulged his appetite too much, so that he must be kept upon a low diet of lettuce seed and thistles, and have no hemp-seed for a few days after he has had one of these fits. He is fond of bathing, and should have a bath every day. The goldfinch will sometimes mate with the canary, and the mules are very pretty. He must, however, be taken away from his wife as soon as she begins to lay, as he has a mischievous propensity for breaking the eggs. After the young birds are hatched he may be put back into the cage, and will help in feeding them. Canaries. — If our readers desire to have a nursery of young birds, they will find canaries the best in every respect to rear. There is no doubt about their happiness in a cage, if proper attention be paid to them; and we would fain believe that no one who reads these pages would willingly cause them suffering from want of care, or would attempt to keep pets upon whom they are not ready to bestow all the time and trouble necessary to keep them in health and comfort. People are not worthy of their birds if they neglect them, and leave them to the care of servants, to whom they are either troublesome or indifferent. And their attention will be received with such expressive gratitude and delight — their feathered pets will welcome them so gladly, and show so plainly how much their happiness depends upon their care — that they will be sufficiently rewarded for its bestowal. They should become intimately acquainted with their birds' dispositions, too, and learn their language thoroughly, and they will find a fund of amusement in their society. This is more easily accomplished when one or two pet birds are kept in a cage alone, than when there are a number of canaries together in a very large cage or aviary, but we always like best to see them under such circumstances — they seem so thoroughly happy when they have room for flying and frolicing about; some birds, too, will sing best when they are excited by emulation, with others, but occasionally a good songster is sulky when in company, and prefers being alone. One of our birds who had been accustomed to a small single cage, never seemed at ease when in a large one, and resented being jostled by others. He was an old bird, too, and did not like his saucy young companions, and showed his displeasure by total silence whenever he was placed with them; so we bad to restore him to solitary grandeur.

The housekeeper's companion