The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-04-23 00:00:00

To the naturalist the month of April is one of the most
interesting in the year. At the beginning, the willow-
wren and the black cap make their appearance. The
swallow, the harbinger of summer, arrives about the mid-
dle, and the house-martin about a week later. At this
time the sand-martin, the white throat, the sedge war-
bler, the cuckoo, and numbers of. other birds of passage
pay their annual visit; and the groves arid woods now
echo with the songs of their musical inhab tarts and are
rendered gay and animating with the 'cheerful" blaszoms of
" numerous wild flowers.

EMULATION AMONGST SONG BIRDS.—A gentleman
of my acquaintance had an American mocking-bird in
such health and vigour, that it either constantly sing-
ng or.else imitating the various sounds it heard. In or-
der-10 try the power of this bird, its owner purchased a
fine sky-lark. When placed in the same room with the
mockime bird, the song of the former was found to echo
through the house as if it were chanting, "on fluttering
wing," its welleknown welcome to the rising sun. The
mocking-bird was silent for some time but at last burst
forth in the strains of.the " aerial songster, " but louder
and clearer, as if mounting and stretching its wings
test
larget h e
towards heaven. The lark was silent from that moment,
p o
pricew e rs o
wasf thegi
emocking-bird
fora
nor was. a joyous note ever heard from it afterwards.
Wishing to
blaek stillbiran
black-bird,
further,
unusually
cele-
brated for its vocal powers. It was placed in the same
room with the mocking-bird ; early in the second morning
its song was resumed, and its charming notes were war-
bled forth with all the sweetness and modulations which
may be heard in, its native " thorny brakes." The mock-
ice-bird listened, and was silent for some time, then all
at once the black-bird's notes were heard to issue forth,
but sweeter and louder than these of the we() lland songs-
ster. The poor blackbird heard them, felt, that it was
conquered, remained silent, drooped pined, and died,"
From the above facts emulation would seem to he one: of
the causes of the songs of birds.—Jesse's Scenes and Tales.
CATCHING TURTLE.—Here, off Mitylene, no turtle
have to-day made their appearance. Should tle y but
foolishly come to the surface, the heat Of an October
sEgean sun (so genial that we use nor shoe nor stocking)
must soon induce sleep. There is much sport in catching
turtle. as well as gastronomic pleasure in devouring them.
The crab-tailed victims rise and float on the service, and
then fall asleep; the boat is cautiously sculled up to then
—silence is the order of the day—care is taken to approach
by the rear, so that if they open their heavy eyelids no-
thing but sea may meet their drowsy glance. They are
generally too lazy to turn their heads, although as quick
as lightning in diving and escaping if sufficiently disturbed.
But " slow and sure" is the rule to be acted on. The
boat at the " nick of time" advances ; two anxious bow.
men lean over her side; a sudden grab is made by one or
both at the turtle's fins ; he struggles, attempts to bite—
bat it won't do! " Shelly" your "paw" is in the fist of
a ruthless tar, and soon shall the cook's coppers receive
you ! Flags are now shown from the ship, indicating
" pull to starboard," or ."pull to port," "go further a-
head," or " look astern." Each signal is obeyed ; and in
a very short time, though some few turtle may succeed in
baffling their pursuers, many others find themselves floun-
dering in the bottom of the boats. Flushed with success,
the happy mariners soon regain their vessel, looking for-
ward to an aldermanic meal., whereby the monotony of
beef and par's, and then pork and beef, is to be broken
through. Another dish is " for the mince" to smoke upon
the board.—Nautical Magazine.
THE POETRY OF A STEAM ENGINE.—There is, to our
thinking, something awfully grand in the contemplation of
of a vast steam-engine. Stand amid its ponderous beams
and bars, wheels and cylinders, and watch their unceasing
play ; how regular and how powerful !—the machinery of
a lady's Geneva watch is not more nicely adjusted—the
rush of an avalanch is not more awful in its strength.
Old Gothic cathedrals are solemn places, preaching solemn
lessons, touching solemn things ; but to him who thinks
an engine room may preach a more solemn lesson still.
It will tell him of mind—mind wielding matter at its will
—mind triumphing over physical difficulties—man assert-
ing his great supremacy— 'intellect battling with the ele-
ments.' And how exquisitely complete is every detail t
—how subordinate every part to the one great end !
how every little bar and screw fit and work together !:
Vast' as is the machine let a bolt be but the tenth-part of
an inch too long or two short, and the whole fabric is dis-
organised. It is one complete piece of harmony—an iron
essay upon unity of design and execution.—there is deep
poetry in the steam-engine—more of the poetry of motion
than the bound of an antelope—more of the poetry of
power than. in the dash of a cataract. And ought it not to
be a lesson to those who laugh at novelties, and put no
faith in inventions, to consider that this complex fabric—
thus triumphant of art and science—was once the laughing
stock of jeering thousands, and once only the waking
phantasy of a boy's mind as he sat and in seeming idleness,
watched a little column of vapour rise from the spout of
a tea kettle ?—llluminated Magazine.
AMERICAN LINERS.—It is almost impossible to praise
these ships too highly. Their superiority to any similar
number of vessels, of any other nation, must be conceded
by every candid mind; and they appear to approach as
near the impossible quality, perfection, as human inge-
nuity has 'any power to attempt. If the same praise
could justly be given to the American steam-boats, there
would be a great leaving of human lives, now annually de-
stroyed, on the inland waters, by the bursting of
steam boilers. It is absolutely humiliating to an
Englishman's national pride to be on board a New
York " liner," and pass (with sovereign contempt
from captain, mate, and all the Americans on
board) two or three English vessels proceeding out of
the Bay of New York. One of the ships' we thus went
a-head of was a large hulk of a thing which, as our cap-
tain informed me, had brought out two hundred souls in a
passage from England of seven instead of four weeks. On
my Compiimeotissig-4 he captain. in aimitar terms to those
I have repeated, respecting the vessel under his command.,
and the New York packets generally, he replied in the fol-
lowing characteristic manner. My compliment was une-
quivocal, and yet be wished me to imagine an American
vessel that might be an improvement upon those I was
considering as of the best possible build. This opportu-
nity may be taken to state, that the captains of these
packets are, in appearance and manners, fully equal to the
highest cilasses of American society. Indeed they are in-

diVidually connected with the highest class. They are ge-
nerally the sons or relations of merchants) and usually
own a considerable share in the vessels they conduct.
" This is all very well, sir ;" said the captain, " consider-
.

ably .smart. Everything first-rate. But the sailing !
Why, I was once mate of a vessel that beat this in every
thing except the gilding, the silk damask curtains, the
piano, and the provisions for dinner. Such a schooner !
She had a long, low, black, rakish, sharp-looking hull,
with taunt, tapering, slanting masts ; so clipperish and so
slipperish (as they say) that she could, with her two toes,
out walk, out sail, and out fly any of the walking, sailing,
or flying tribe in creation—or art. Very singular to say,
now, we couldn't at first find out the trim.of that vessel,

but at last we discovered that it lay in the coals of the
stove. When the stove was empty then we couldn't keep
her to it, but when it was loaded with coals, then, by Ere-

bus, we streaked along like lightning 1" The captain in-
tended to express that his vessel was exquisitely propor-
tioned for fast sailing, and required the gfeatest nicety of
management in loading, so as to give free play to her qua-
lifications, and he therefore invented the supposition that
even the weight of a stove load of coals would make some
difference in her sailing !—Uncle Sam.
SOUTH LANCASHIRE.—From Liverpool to Manchester
the land is generally level, and is almost wholly applied to
agriculture; but in traversing the country from Marches
ter to Tocrrnorden, which is on the extreme northern

verge of the-district, probably not one mile of continuously
level ground will be passed over. Betwixt Bury on the
western, and Oldham on the eastern, verge, some com-
paratively level tracts are found—as those of Radcliffe,
Whitemoss, and Failsworth ' • but they are small as com-
pared with -the distance ; and all the remaining parts of the
northern district are composed of ups and downs, hillocks
and dells, bent, twisted and turned in every direction.
Take a sheet of stiffened paper, for instance, crumple it up
in your hand, then just distend it again, and you will have
a pretty fair specimen of the surface of the northern part
of South Lancashire. The hills are chiefly masses of va-
luable stone and coal : on the north, some heath lands
overlap them ; but their sides are often brilliant with a
herbage that yields the best of milk and butter ; whilst of
all the valleys, you shall traverse none, where a stream of
water does not run at your side, blabbing all manner of
imaginary tidings, and asking unthought-of and unan-
swerable questions. To be sure, during six days out of
the seven, the brooks am/lowland waters are often turgid
and discoloured with the refuse of manufactures ; but,
steal along one of these quiet dells on a Sunday morning',
go over the shallows, where the loaches used to lie bask-
ing, and look into the deeps, and quiet pools, and shady
spots, where the trout were wont to be found, creep under
the owlers, and through the hazels, when their golden
blossoms are hung in the sun ; go plashing among the
willows, and over the hippin-stones, and along the gravel
beds, where the pebbles lie as white as hail turned to
stone. Go maundering' solitary, and thoughtful, for an
hour or two, amid these lonely haunts, and you shall con-
fess that our country is not reft of all its poetry, and its
fairy dells, and its witching scenes. Then, the meadows
and fields spread fair and green betwixt the towns. Clean,
sleek milk-kine are there, licking up the white clover and
tender grass. Small farms are indicated by the many
well-built and close-roofed homesteads, contiguous to
which are patches of potatoe, corn, and winter food for
cattle. A farmer's man is never met with here, whose
cheek does not show that he lives far above want ; and
that, if he dines not on delicacies, be feeds on rude
plenty. The smoke of the towns and manufactories is
somewhat annoying certainly, and at times it detracts
considerably from the idealty of the landscape; but, bad
as it is, it might have been a great deal worse ; for we
may observe that the smoke only goes one way atone
time; that the winds do not divide and scatter it all over
the land; it sails far away in streams, towards the north,
east, west, or south ; and all the remainder of sky, and
hill, and vale, are pure and cloudless. From the top of
one of the moor•edges, Old Birkle, for instance, on a
clear day, with the wind from the south-west, we may
perceive that the spaces betwixt the large towns of Bury,
Bolton, Manchester, Stockport, Ashton, Oldham, Roch-
dale, Middleton, and Heywood, are dotted with villages,
and groups of dwellings, and white detached houses, and
manufactories, presenting an appearance somewhat like
that of a vast city scattered amongst meads and pastures,
and belts of woodland ,• over which, at times, volumes of
black furnace clouds clouds go trailing their long wreaths
on the wind. Such is the appearance of the country to
the east and south of where we stand (Old Birkle), whilst
the aspect of that to the west and north is more strongly
marked by nature, being ridged with high moorland hills,
dark and bleak • and furrowed by deep valleys and preci-
pitous dells, which are swept by brooks and mill-streams,
and enlivened by nooks of evergreen pasture, and groups
of cottages, and far detached dwellings. Here also is ge-
nerally found, the eternal money-making mill, the heart-
work, the life-organ, the bread-finder, and the deformity
of the place,—Bamford's Walks in South 4ancashire‘