The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-12 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, SE PrEMBE R § 12, 1863

—if, as the Poles say, it can only be averted by restor-
ing Poland to the independent position which she
occupied some considerable time before the first
dismemberment—the danger is at least as great on
one side as it is on the other. In the meantime, how-
ever, Poland, with national independence, and not
material prosperity under a foreign Government for
her object, has nothing to hope as long as she
remains quiet, while as long as she remains in arms
there is at least a chance that she may have the
opportunity of profiting by the ambition, jealousy,
or fear of some foreign power or powers.
As to the actual prospects of the insurrection it
certainly is not decreasing. Poles just arrived here
from Warsaw—men who have the very best sources
of information open to them—assure me that the
detachments in the kingdom are not less numerous
than they were, and that they fight better than
ever. indeed, when the insurrection began the
Poles had nothing but their courage to depend
upon, whereas now they have many thousands a
experienced soldiers among them, broken in to all
the hardships of a campaigning life, and well ac-
quainted with the weak and strong points of the
enemy. A hundred well-armed men who have
been fighting the Russians off and on since January
ordinary
must be worth a thousand of those who first
preparation,com-
mencedithouttnemost
without
skill, and theoften
struggle
withoutwithout
even
implements of war. The most sanguine of the
insurgents say not only that they will be able to
last through the winter, but they can even make
the winter tell against their foe, if they
confine
their operations
off his supplies.
It is said once more that the peasants in several
districts and throughout Podlachia are beginning
to help the insurgents, and that
they do outpost
duty at night while the fighting men sleep. We
know that they cannot like the Russians,
and now
that the insurrection has lasted
so long they may
consider, here and there, that there is really some-
thing in it, and that the Russians, since they are
unable to suppress it, cannot, after all, be so very
powerful. It is an axiom in Poland, accepted
equally by democrats and aristocrats, that the
peasant can be influenced only by force ; and as
regards the Polish peasant, so long accustomed to
foreign and despotic rule, this is probably the truth.
Now, the Polish insurrection has in several districts
been for many months a permanent force, and to
some thousands of peasants such a chief as Lelewel,
who since the beginning of the insurrection has
fallen upon the Russians, on an average, about once
a week, and has seldom failed to beat them, is as
much the representative of power as the Emperor
of Russia himself.
The Russians in Warsaw declare that the insur-
rection is virtually at an end, and that the Emperor
has now only to deelaro a constitution for Poland and
for all Russia in order to silence the Western
Powers, tranquilise Poland, and at the same time
satisfy his own Russian subjects. It is said posi-
tively it is with reference to this project that the
Grand Duke has gone to St. Petersburg, where it is
believed that the Marquis Wielopolski will be sum-
moned to meet him. The proclamation, however,
of a Constitution for all the Russian empire, includ-
ing Poland, would not tranquilise the Poles. The
Poles wish to separate themselves from Russia, and
the proposed measure—which if introduced before
the national hatred between the two countries had
been roused might have been attended with success
—would have the effect of binding them to Russia
more closely than ever. Moreover, the Poles share
the opinion expressed last session by Lord Russell
in the House of Lords as to the value of Russian
promises. A parchment Constitution, which may be
solemnly granted to them at Warsaw one year, and
the year afterwards rolled up, put into a cart, and
driven off to Moscow, is, according to their settled
conviction, not worth having. They may be right
or wrong, but the present plan is to go on fighting
until they are either assisted from abroad or unti
the insurrection is crushed out by brute force.

The Polish and German papers have been pub-
lishing contradictory accounts as to Saczanowski's
recent exploits in the neighbourhood of Czensto-
chau. It appears certain, however, that he has
sustained a very serious defeat, and that the insur-
rection has received a great blow in the west of
the kingdom.

is thought certain that, whatever motive may
have taken the Grand Duke to St. Petersburg, be
will not—at least not under present circumstances
—return to Warsaw. The position was as unten-
able for him as for Count Limbert, General Souk-
hozinett, and Prince Gortschakefl, and he will not
again attempt to hold it.

text have tolerated such a liberty--a liberty, by the way,
easy to render superfluous by putting the words allotted to
the Saviour in the third person, and thus imparting to
the whole of the form of a narrative—like the description of
that of
i t,oiif Norwß Mozart'shewieeathhs Beethoven's
heeenp,,es,
piece,ir fii onaridmi
inde-
pendent uhpnejiencat
generallyodehreoa
:fs
tstwhi o
originalitya en s in 8
unquestionable
ul I
uagint edaetslo'
ts
gil '
oe, a:
conclusion,ie
ags
sao "Messiah;'
hrha: v
was, perhaps, never more emphatically
yaht.
aetvdToaeht
tgheaibavl
first
enl
give
in this
nTeffhaeenceffect
to
tdhi
writtengse
solo-singersunl
aapi
sfiseteri
bdtwade
stands
rinenecd
declamatory
"The
poahontheosdairndyr ge Mount
llr chorus,reocaain
recitative
adhf
te:lvw while
Olives"hehavi
nice:
dher
mvws composedineeihgrdethilect
composed a "Hallelujah"—nay, even had Handel never
Mademoiselle Tietjens, Mr. Wilbye Cooper, and Mr.
Mr. Cooper, although apparently indisposed,yP strove ener-
geticallyair at the beginning—one of the Chevaux de bataille of Mr
Sims Reeves, for whom Mr. Cooper in this passage of the,
pratorio obligingly acted as substitute. Mr. Reeves, how-
ever, was doubtless husbanding his means for the scene of
the Watchman in the " Lobgesang" of Mendelssohn (the
last piece in a tryingly long, but unexceptionally interesting
selection). This remarkable passage—the more remarkable
inasmuch as it was an afterthought of the composer, who,
never easily satisfied with his own works (instance the ad-
dition
tshhßeenidrr moa
nri nidg. e hr.
re-performed) f)eo,t
rtremenfeudeseeundnl
could
iold
he
eai
tivhee, a
and alteration in " Elijah," after its first performance
had
nt hmed a
wd" ehLoi e,t bi
ago.:
rsceao-nme go
plc
iptdeue bar
-s-
-ing his work, was inspired with one of those thoughts which
most splendidly reflect his genius, has never been delivered
by any other singer as by Mr. Sims Reeves, the first to enter
thoroughly into the spirit of it, and still tjie only one who
has the secret of giving it appropriate significance. " Watch-
man, will the night soon pass?" is so closely identified with
this gentleman, and so entirely suits his means and style,
that one might almost have believed that it (and indeed the
plaintive air " lie counteth all your sorrows," which he
sings equally well) had been expressly intended for him by
the composer; but as the "Lobgesang" was written in
1840, and Mr. Sims Reeves did not make his debut in Lon-
don as prime tenore assoluto till 1817, when the late Mona.
hillier). opened Drury-lane for opera, a month after Men-
delssohn's death—it is scarcely necessary to urge that this
could not have been the case. The pity is that Mendelssohn
should not have lived to hear so genial an interpretation of
one of his most felicitous and poetical imaginings. The
other solo singers in the " Lobgesang" were Madame Lem-
mens Sherrington and Miss Banks, who gave the melodi-
ous duet (with chorus), "I waited for the Lord," with per-
fect taste and expression. In the duet with Mr. Reeves—
"My song shall be always Thy mercy"—Madm. Sherring-
ton was equally successful, while in tho solo that announces
the stupendous and exciting chorus, " The night is depart-
ing," the clear soprano of this accomplished songstress (to
employ a much-abused and highly-flown common-place,
excusable only in hurried reports—and when a compliment,
as in this instance, being richly earned, must in fairness be
paid) " rang round the aisles, penetrating to every corner
of the sacred edifice, and filling it with silvery sound." (1)
The choruses in the " Lobgesang" were for the most
hi
natniah.rddoeemnyhooettuhrneagldwt,p,baerisiiay::Bt..ntsresh:inomospifautnhea effectiveti
ag:l3,:dho,terev
itrihaaoens:wriaimemprieonmsioon:
part given with spirit, if not invariably with precision
(instance " Praise the Lord with lute and harp," and " Ye
nations"), The best, perhaps, was the noble Lutheran
chorale, the second verse of which is accompanied in the
elaborate style of J. S. Bach, and with a richer orchestral
colouring than the resources disposed of by the Thuringian
Colossus could by any possibility have enabled him to pre-
sent. Here both " spirit" and " precision" were observed.
The three symphonic movements with which this work
twhheeinetbh,eeysahva
begins were for the most part admirably played, and created
a marked impression. The cases are so rare in which exclu-
sively orchestral music be heard in a cathedral that
compared with nothing else. The allegretto in G minor of
melancholy which from susceptible people, under such ex-
ceptional conditions,
religiose is like music from above ; whine the majestic in-
troduction—the first announcement of the chorale which
impresses its character upon the entire work--and the might easily drawl'a s a
tears vein
; theof peculiar
adagio
ear-
nest, strong, and splendidly worked allegro, to which it
leads, is calculated to inspire the hearer with the sentiment
of vigorous resolution and exalted faith.
The second and third miscellaneous concerts, in the Col-
lege-hall, bore so strong a family resemblance to the first,
evening's
iint
unprofitablegw,soueeldnebeerttewdiaoau:laenrddeiseehn,s to describe the pro-
grammes piece by piece. The grand feature of Wednesday
which, on the whole, was a somewhat
ance, although the solo vocal parts were as effectively
tWslaolypeunrglyispNerafeohrnit,':
sung by Mr. Wilbye Cooper, Miss Palmer, and Mr. Weiss
as could reasonably be desired. No voice is better suited, by
weight and volume, to the solemn declamatory passages of
the chief Druid than that of Mr. Weiss. Among the choice
" bits" in the rest of this concert were Dussek's canzonet,
"Name the glad day," one of the most successful revivals
at the Monday I'opular Concerts—set down very properly
for
Reeves,Miss Banks;whe ga v teh ei
ttenor air of t;11 emgeafir garden
ya
nssteueen,nege
recitative fromby Ai11...
and air,
's,,
G"riajuescr;ele:iitui eptletily,,, well fitted fitted to Mr. Sims
lace's "Bell-ringer," another favourite at the Monday
'I" z " . S. h ..tea,hilitrloco,,nusiovula-ir:sdlib,:esseludatoedynii.cia,,airoojb:annhit,
I,teceiot,,e,cyrt ,alrna,
asdLyns,
yesterday
4cstatpo,el,llll, e.faddety,
oaanst-yitanet ontral t 0 ; '' M' 'w9 i _
Popular Concerts, intrusted, us a matter of course, to Mr.
Santley, and as usual encored, the cavatiaa from " sine
erezia Borgia," Bung—how, need not be said—by Made-
moiselleTietiens; "Sweet bird," from Handel's "L'Allegro
ed it Penseroso," charmingly warbled by Madame Sher-
rington, and skilfully accompanied on the flute by Mr.
Pratten ; Professor Bennett's graceful ballad " Sing,
plaY.Y:ininPohowloYutial‘lle'yerbeeria
ring"psinraaenitcttliyeery;; duet,e n:d la,
,I\lll,o.hriSeti,Lrienasaelrttfe
.etv(eAesisea—d
etei
fumceso rsueni tilt()
Sherrington
i bra.:
g2ol.Bneeranntcdi
whichii‘c lt
i'
,e.
Mademoiselle Tietjens
playedobtained
viith one of heartiestetthdeinary
vigour, the
bestthe
tchreenflestthivea‘l:RTnhinereeewf-aAs
Athens,"
te-,h,e,
and
drttuhree
, i ,
thanah
and
d tthh : applause
ove overture
r. at
vt
rteehdleenaineneetee.ddralejav:wyjetierabostynieheTui e.ceacotriniFoot yonfr
peoatettnntrod.
merited encores of
sghscg3tt, i
hee:abirnDlnseaele‘
enenc'
cuec,recEdrtatanrmevetltucicd::.
ossruoethrsyaerdoeoaTsoohiNl ln,
etarlityieo chorus",
an"i
liiMc
tut
ri
et
pAieteteh_oi of
daughter"h''ough she
achieved a legitimate success. Miss Done
(with orchestra)—
for those who(N we.iBsh),edwtiolielhistwene to the
love with her task.
utne Tell." The overetulergeawntassong
d"anntlitilherelaaelsvitnioilulniogn;s7(lo (Itigoletto), splen-
didly musica
berl ye
Beethoven'scrowded, atth e i r
,indeed,ea,
6 ti i
a
heard better
the first act of
voci-
ferously applaud;
the rest we must
"Here on the
Sainton and applauded to the echo
d—idellyarpiolnayete,dMbry.
1\1.41E: virus) ;
the brilliant aria i, Di questa speranza," from Sig-
nor Schira's ' Nicole de Lapi" Mademoielele Tiet-
Sherrington—flate Mr. Pratten)
Tiet-
jens) ; a scene for
with
Gluck 's " contralto Miss (Palmer),P)Orleo ;" "Ah vous dirai'je
chorus, from
"The Savoyard" (Mr. Sims
niSiaginnoallr "Pi(aAtitia'dsambeallad'
Reeves, encored) ; ii Oh ruddier than the cherry," famously
dashed off by Mr. Santley ; two new and pretty ballads, by
Mr. lilaefarren----,,The MountaineeeeWife," and "Maggie's
S
Sainthn) ; and Signor Arditi's popular
vales,eee t
for which Mdlle. Tietjens has so strong
real effectiveness, not unnatural par-
r:': I I( A
BI ad cmi oe:"
and, considering its
par-
tiality. The concert terminates' with the National Anthem
(harmonized by Dr. Elvey), in which some of the principal
singers, with great good taste, consented and remained to
take part. On the whole, the
evening concerts have been
much the least interesting features of this music meeting.
,

Without plan, character, or novelty to recommend them,
theyowdearye
tfhoer
iinpe
themriosshtabPlaert simply tiresome.
T-
"Messiah," in which all the chief
rstook
Festival to an end. As usual,
the Cathedral was crammed
to thee doors, m I:table to obtain admission to the
si
singers
part,nu numbers,
rorsn
llthe musical proceedings of the

nave, taking refuge in the choir, behind the orchestra,where
they
its
~
hear, if they could not see. Such
choruses as " Hallelujah
and "'Worthy is the Lamb,"
with
prodigiousand magnificent "Amen," can be heard
in one place under just as favourable circumstances as in
a t least could

then o tvhi rib—lemhessotnioef respects perhaps more favourable, inas-
muchsisgers and
.
as the enormous volume of sound, proceeding from
bor-
dering upon the mysterious, their solemn grandeur players, has an effect
im-
pressing the hearer with an indefinable sentiment of awe.
This was the case today, when many in the choir, because
ai
n
unable to get elsewhere, would not willingly have changed
places with those in the nave. Of the execution of Handel's
sacred masterpiece it is unnecessary to say one word. It is
the most familiar of all oratorios to the vocal and instru-
mental performers as well as to the audience, and for this
reason it is invariably bettor given and invariably better
appreciated than any other work of the kind. Such, in all
probability, will be the ease 100 years hence, when sonic
future Mr. Bewley will project a grand festival in honour
of the bicentenary anniversary of Handel's death,—at the
Crystal Palace, should that enchanting edifice endure so
long— and some future Mr. Dane, or Smith, or Amott, will
direct the performance of the " Messiah " at Worcester,
Hereford, or Glocester. What other sacred composition,
extant or yet unborn, is likely to enjoy an equal chance of
endurance ? No other —because no subject can approach
the dignity of the "Messiah," and because Handel has set
the " Messiah."

Hornituan's
Full benefit of reduced duty obtained by pur-
chasing4s. if High Standard " at 4s. 4d. (formerly 4s. Bd.l, is the
strongest and roost delicious imported. Agents in every
pure Tea ; very choice at 3s. 4d. and
town supply it in vaekets.
CAL VEnTISEMENT.I —Holloway's pills.—lmpaired Con-
stitutions.—The infirm are, unfortunately, most prone to
best purifiers,
become the victims to dm; ..orous maladies unless the purity
carefully guarded. HolloN"vay's 'Allan an be
reconimended
n,ver create disgust, and
y disordered. 'They
alteratives, and
do not cause the weakness and o
aperients when C.", body is naturally weak
of theh vital organs be
ppres,sion too often tonne-
or accidental]
quent on the frequent repetition of the orLimary drastic drugs
which are sometimes thoughtlessly, thCugh moat disas-
trously, prescribed. These pills, in truth, ear.efully guard
the constituents of the animal frame; the ent:lch the blood
when. poor in quality ; they increase thay t Raid When deli-
Ci'3lt ln quantity, and tawap .•trenl:t4en,

BIRD MURDER.

Mr. F. 0. Morris, in a letter to a contemporary, says :
The son of Sirach tells us that "all things are double,
one against another, and God hath made nothing imperfect;"
and I hope to be able to prove that, as the logical formula
we learnt at Oxford shows that the universal includes the
particular, so the adage is true of birds and the place they
hold between benefit conferred and injury done.
Now, birds may be classed unscientifically into large and
small, but both alike unfortunately are to be included under
the general category of "bird murder," on which subject
your columns have contained so many forcible and interest-
ing letters. By large birds I mean owls, jays, kestrels,
nightjars, and even woodpeckers, and by small such as
sparrows, yellowhammers, finches, titmice, "et id genus
omne." Both of these classes are victims of persecution
from mistaken motives, the persons who pursue them to
death being. indeed, different—peers and peasants, farmers
and gamekeepers, and their objects different—bread and the
battue ; but the crime is ultimately, as I shall have to show,
to be laid at the door of only one of these parties to it—
namely, the former.
The cause assigned for the destruction of small birds is
the damage they do to the corn, and of large the damage
they do to game. I will take the former first, and, as I
stated in the former communication you did me the favour
of inserting that I would forward to you, when I could find
time for doing so, some interesting facts bearing on the
question, I shall now endeavour to fulfil the pledge.
It has just been stated in the papers that the Norfolk
farmers have this year completed their harvest in three
weeks. Say that the ordinary time is a month, and assum-
ing for the moment that for these few weeks—viz , while
the grain is in a ripe state—the produce of the cornfields is
exposed to the depredations of a host of small birds to the
extent that is commonly and most ignorantly supposed, on
which point I shall have a good deal to say before I have
done, there remain 11 months out of the 12 during which it
is simply impossible they can be feeding on ripe grain, in-
asmuch as there is no ripe grain for them to feed on. How,
then, are they employed for the most part during these other
11 months? I will show how they aro occupied during a
part of that time; and lot it bo reruembared that though the
facts I am about first to state have reference to the feeding
of young birds by the old, yet that these same young birds,
if indeed allowed to live, will require daily and hourly food,
and will find it for themselves during the remainder of the
year.

The following observations were made by Mr. Weir for
Mr. Macgillivray, whose "History of British Birds" is one
of the most elaborate and carefully accurate books that were
ever written on anysubject, but the character of its lamented
author is too well known to need any panegyric from me.
Mr. Macgillivray truly remarks, in preluding the observa-
tions I am about to quote, that "no such patient watchings
have ever been instituted by any ornithologist." They seem
to me conclusive on this part of the subject, but you have
only to look out of your window just after a shower on a
rainy day, and watch a pair of wagtails on the lawn with
their newly-fledged brood, and see the incessant manner in
which they run and flit about, catching unerringly an in-
sect every few seconds, or lean over the rails between your
garden and the adjoining newly-mown grass field, and hear
the repeated snap of the swallow's bill as he quarters his
ground backward and forward catching a fly every time, to
tell you that the number of insects annually destroyed by
our native small birds must be vast beyond calculation. I
will begin with the thrush. Mr. Weir writes:—
"At the distance of 9 feet from a thrush's nest, which
was built in an old wall, I erected a hut with some branches
of spruce and Scotch fir, and took possession of it on the
morning of Thursday, the Bth of June, 1837, at a quarter-
past 1 o'clock, fer the purpose of making observations on
the habits of these birds. At half-past 2 they commenced
feeding their brood. From that time until 4 they fed them
14 times. From 4to half-past 5 o'clock they fed them 22
times. As one of the young birds was dressing its feathers
it lost its balance and fell on the ground. No sooner did
the old ones perceive it than they set up the most doleful
lamentations, I replaced it in the nest. Having seen me
return to my retreat they would not feed their young until
I came out. I accordingly went home for my boy, who,
,after I had gone in again, carefully concealed the entrance.
His departure attracted their notice, for, having followed
him to a considerable distance, they returned, and, without
suspicion, commenced their labour. From half-past 6
until 7 o'clock they fed them 24 times. From 7to 8 they
fed them 16,times,and from 8 to 9 eleven times. From 10 to 11
they fed them 10 times, and from Ito 2 11 times. From 2
to 3 they fed them eight times, and from 3 to 4 six times,
From 4 to 5 they fed them five times, from 5 to 6 six times,
and from 6t07 12 times. From 7to 8 they fed them 13
times, and from Bto half-past 917 times. They now ceased
from their labours for the day, after having fed their brood
206 times."

Take next the blackbird
:
"On Saturday morning, June 10, 1837, at half-past 2
o'clock, I went into a house made of the branches of trees
to watch the blackbirds while they were feeding their brood.
It was within nine feet of their nest, which was built in the
hole of an old wall. At a quarter-past 3 o'clock iu the
morning they began to feed their young, which were four
in number. .e'rom nett the. until 4 o'olook the male Only
fed them once, and sang almost incessantly, while the female
fed them six times. From 4 to 5 o'clock the male fed them
six and the female three times ; ?rem 5 to 6 the male fed
them four, and the female five times ; from 6 to 7 the male
fed them three, and the female five times; and from 7 to 8 the
male fed them three times. For the last four hours he sang
most delightfully, except when he was feeding his tender off-
spring. As he had induced ono of them to fly out after him,
I was under the necessity of fixing it into its nest, and this
caused some interruption to their feeding. From Bto 9
o'clock the male fed them six, and the female seven times;

and from 9 to 10 o'clock the male fed them four, and the
fe-male three times. From 10 to 11 o'clock the!male fed them
three and the female two times; from 11 to 12 the male fed
them two, and the female three times; from 12 to 1 o'clock
_ _

he male fed them two, and the female four times; and from

1 to 2 the male fed them twice and the female thrice.
From 2 to 3 o'clock the female fed them twice; and from 3
to 4 the male fed them three, and the female four times.
From 4 to 5 o'clock the male fed them three, and the female

four times; from 5 to 6 o'clock the female fed them only
twice; and from 6to 7 she fed them three times. In the
evening the male was so much engaged in singing that he
left the charge of his family almost entirely to his tender-
hearted spouse. From 7to 8 o'clock the male fed them only
once, and the female six times, and from 8 to 20 minutes to
9 o'clock, when they ceased from their mutual labours, the
male fed them once, and the female seven times. When I

left my retreat to repair to my more comfortable abode, the
male was pouring fourth his most charming melody. Thus,
in the course of a single day, the male fed the young 44,
and the female 69 times.

Again, the blue titmouse :
On Tuesday morning, the 4th of July, 1837, at a quarter
past 2 o'clock, I went out to observe the titmentse feeding
their brood. At half-past 3 o'clock in the morning the birds
began to feed their young, which were six in number. From
that time until 4 o'clock they fed them 12 times, and from
4to 5 o'clock 25 times. From sto 6 o'clock they fed them
40 times, which was astonishing, as during the whole of
this hour they flew to a plantation at the distance of more
than 150 yards from their nest. From 6to 7 o'clock they
fed them 29 times. During a part of this hour they flew
in every minute. From 7 to 8 o'clock they led them
20 times. During this hour it rained very heavily.
From 8 to 9 o'clock they fed them 36 times, and from
9to 10 o'clock 46 times. During a part of this last
hour they fed them 12 times in five minutes. From 10 to
11 o'clock they fed them 37 times, and from 11 to 12 o'clock
39 times, and from 12 to 1 o'clock 24 times. From 1 to 2
o'clock they fed them 23 times, and from 2 to 3 o'clock 34
times, and from 3 to 4 o'clock 18 times. From 4to 5 o'clock
they fed them 29 times, and from 5 to 6 o'clock 25 times,
and from 6 to 7 o'clock 20 times, and from 7 to half-past 8
o'clock 25 times. They now stopped, after having been al-
most incessantly engaged for nearly 17 hours in theirlaboura
of love, and after having fed their young 475 times. They
appeared to feed them solely with caterpillars. Sometimes
they brought in a single large one, and at other times two
or three small ones. It is therefore impossible to say how
many have been carried in by them during the day."
So, again, Mr. Knapp, in his justly popular Journal of a
Naturalist, has the following interesting notice respecting
this species :
,6 I was lately exceedingly pleased in witnessing the ma-
ternal care and intelligence of this bird, for the poor thing
had its young ones in the hole of a wall, and the nest had
been nearly all drawn out of the crevice by the paw of a cat,
and part of its brood devoured. In revisiting its family the
bird discovered a portion of it remaining, though wrapped
up and hidden in the tangled moss and feathers of their bed,
and it then drew the whole of the nest back into the place
from whence it had been taken, unrolled and resettled the
remaining little ones, fed them with the usual attentions, and
finally succeeded in roaring them. The parents ofeventhl
g grub,this
reduced family laboured with great perseverance t
its wants, one or the other of them bringing ar) esur" ca-
terpillar, or some insect, at intervals of less than minute
through the day; and probably in the earlier part
of
the
morning more frequently, but if we allow that they brought
food to the hole every minute for 15 hours,
and provided
for their own wants also, it will admit of perhaps 1,000 grubs
a day for the requirements of one, and that a diminished
brood, and gives us some comprehension of the infinite num-
ber requisite for the summer nutriment of our soft• billed
birds, and the great distance gone over by such as have
young ones, in their numerous trips from hedge to tree in
the hours specified, when they have full broods to support."

PRESENTATION TO A BRITISH CAPTAIN.--A gra-

tifYing presentation was made yesterday at the
Sailors' Home, in Liverpool, from the President of the
United States to Captain Robert Clarke, of the Glasgow
ship General Neil. At the request of the Board of Trade,
to whom it had been transmitted, Mr. George Kendall,
chairman of the Liverpool Local Marine Board, made the
presentation, which was a handsome gold watch, with
chronometer movement, bearing a suitable inscription. It
appeared that on the 15th of March, 1862, when on a voyage
from Bombay to Liverpool, Captain Clarke, in the Indian
Ocean, fell in with the ship Scargo, Captain Hows, of
Boston, in a sinking condition, she having been completely
disabled two days before by a cyclone. On nearing the
Soargo Captain Clarke himself went on board of her, and
perceiving the plight they wore in he took off the captain
and crew and one passenger and put them on board of his
QWI atiPa