Art of Husbandry. 77

and come to nothing, as I shall shew you hereafter,when I come to the order and feeding of the Bird ;these usually do not sing till after Chrijimas. Thosethat are taken in January and February., sing withintwo or three days, or a week at farthest (if they begood-conditioned Birds,and will soon become tame ibut your fearful wild buckish Birds seldom provegood, for upon every turn they bolt against theWires of the Cage and bruise themselves, and so areapt to leave off singingtherefore if you have aBird that is a good Bird and wild, have a Net knitFrench Meash, and so put it- in the inside of theCage, sowing of it close to the sides, and strait;that when he boults or flirts up he may take noharm. I do hold the Birds taken in January andFebruary for the most part do prove the best, by rea-son they are taken in full Stomach, and sing in avery short time after, and are more perfect in theirSong than those taken at other Seasons ■> and theonly way to preserve him and help him of theseDistempers, is first to give him fresh Gravel twiceor thrice a week, and let it be sifted fine, otherwisehe will bruise his Feathers basking in the Sand ifyou leave gravelly Stones. Secondly, Be sine to lethim have such Meat that is not too stale, for if it bemouldy and dry, the vertue is almost gone out i sohe shall never thrive upon it. Thirdly, Have agreat care to shift his Water three times a week, forit stinks sooner than any Birds Water ; and the rea-son is, That the Bird by throwing about his Meat,some falls into the Water, which causes it immedi-ately to stink, and then it is not at all healthful forhim to drink of if; if the Bird be very poor, youmust, at the beginning of Spiing, give him every