AVES— CANARY FINCH. 535 



inches and a half; the bill is a bluish gray; the eyes are hazel; the upper 

 parts of the head, neck, and back, are of a dark reddish brown, the edges 

 of the feathers pale; the under parts are of a dirty reddish white; the breaa 

 is deeper than the rest, and in spring becomes a very beautiful crimson 

 except in the female, whose breast is marked with only stripes of brown ; 

 the sides are spotted with brown likewise ; the tail is brown, with white 

 edges, except the two middle feathers, Avhich have reddish margins; it is 

 somewhat forked; the legs are brown. 



The linnet is so much esteemed for the sweetness of his singing, that, by 

 many persons, he is thought to excel all small birds. He has certainly a 

 curious fine note of his own, little inferior to the most celebrated birds, and 

 may be taught likewise to pipe or whistle the song of any other bird; but, 

 as his own is so good, that trouble is unnecessary. He is, however, very 

 apt in learning, and if brought up from the nest, will take the woodlark's or 

 canary bird's song to perfection. In some instances he has been said to 

 pronounce words with great distinctness. 



The cock linnet may be known, either old or young, by two marks; first, 

 the feathers on his back are much browner than those of the hen ; secondly, 

 by the white on the three or four longest feathers of the wing ; if it appear 

 clear, bright, and broad, and reach up to the quills, it is a true sign of a 

 cock bird, for the white in the wing of the hen is much less, fainter, and 

 narrower. In spring, too, as we have already mentioned, the breast of the 

 cock is crimson. 



These birds commonly build in a thick bush or hedge, and sometimes 

 among furze, bushes, &c, making a small, pretty nest ; the outside of bents, 

 dried weeds, and straw, and the bottom all matted together; the inside of 

 fine soft wool, mixed with down stuff, gathered from dried plants, with a 

 few horse-hairs, made exceedingly neat and warm ; on which she lays four, 

 and sometimes five, white eggs, with fine red specks, especially at the blunt 

 end ; and has young ones by the middle of April or beginning of May. 

 They are particularly fond of linseed, from which, it is supposed, they derive 

 their name. 



THE CANARY FINCH.' 



This well known bird came originally from the Canary Islands, where 

 they are still found in a wild state, as well as at the Cape Verd and Madeira 

 Islands. In its native islands, a region equally noted for the beauty of its 

 landscapes and the harmony of its groves, the canary bird is of a duskv 

 gray color, and so different from those usually seen in Europe, that some 



1 Frinmlla Canaria, Lin. 



