On wet days, when pedestrians may be forced by the suddenness of the rain gusts to seek refuge in some arcade or colonade, like those in Piccadilly or the Regents' Quadrant, it is then that the dog fancier suddenly emerges from his hibernation, and knowing that he will have the attention of a group of people who are without occupation while in shelter, he may be certain to dispose of his dogs to advantage. It is upon old and timid ladies that these dog venders are sure to practice their tricks. Let an old maid but look longingly at some hairy poodle or woolly King Charles,--then woe be to her if she attempt to escape without buying. "Wot," said one heartless villain of a dog fancier to a spinster wearing gold spectacles, who was trying to make her escape from his alarming language, as he stood in the Strand with a pet poodle in his arms, "does ye keep me 'ere a torkin for three blessed hours and then ye goes hoff without buying this beutifool dorg as is dirt cheap at twenty pounds and I hoffers it to ye for five sovs. I say, do take it with ye and make a muff of hit, the precious dear. All ye have to do is to get its legs and tail cut off, and get its insides scooped out, and ye'll have a splendid muff. Wot, ye won't buy, hey? Pir-leece, Pir-leece," and the fellow began to scream for the police as if the poor frightened old maid had intended to rob him. [Sidenote: WHO KEEP BIRDS.] Bird-Sellers frequent the New Cut, Lambeth, Bermondsey, Whitechapel, Billingsgate, and Smithfield, as well as the different streets of Southwark and Blackfriars. There are hundreds of these bird-sellers to be found hawking their birds all over the city. They are shrewd, speculative men, and can tell a bird's age and power of singing almost at a glance. The smallest cage costs sixpence, and a thrush and cage of a common kind is valued at 2s. 6d. A canary that sings well may fetch about 3s. The hens or female birds do not have a large sale, and the trade in pigeons is decreasing, owing to the emigration of many of the Spitalfield weavers, who had a great love for pigeons and were the principal breeders of that bird in England. The poorer the family, the more likely that a bird will be found in the house; and stable boys, laborers, and the humbler class of artisans, are in the habit of keeping birds in their dwellings. It is also curious to notice the love formed by women who lead an abandoned life, for all kinds of birds, chiefly, however, for those that will sing. I noticed, in making a tour of inspection with the police among the Slums of the Haymarket, that nearly every woman of foreign extraction and of dissolute life had a linnet, canary, or blackbird, in her room. Frenchwomen of this class are very fond of canaries. Poor, lonely, forsaken wretches, it is the instinct of deprived maternity which demands that they should have something to love and make a pet of.