10 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



spots of brown : (lu- \vinf,'s arc marked with a 

 greenish liand. <iuills and I ail l)rown, edf,'ed with 

 greenish grey, and Ihe legs hrown. Tliis i<ind is 

 found not only in Italy. I)iit in (Jreece, in Turkey. 

 Auslria. I'rovenee, Languedoc. Catalonia, and 

 probably in all the climates of that tempera- 

 ture. There are. howcNcr. certain years in 

 which it is very rare, even in I lie Southern |)ro- 

 vinces of I''rance. Its song is agreeable and 

 varied. l)Ut the song of Ihe female is inferior to 

 tllal iif the male. 



" The (atril lincli is larger than the Venturon. 

 and has a louder note ; it is indeed remarkable 

 for the brightness of its ccildur and for the 

 strength and variety of its sdug. The female 

 is somewhat larger than the male, has less of 

 llie yellow in its plumage, and does not sing 

 so well, or ralher answers him. as it were, in 

 monosyllables. It is found in Provence. I)au- 

 phiny, Geneva, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, 

 and Spain. In Burgundy it is known by the 

 name of the Canary. The i)lumage on the 

 ii|)per parts is of a yellowish green, spotted 

 or variegated with brown ; beneath greenish 



yellow ; wings dusky and greenish : and th? 

 legs flesh colour. 



"We conceive it right to be thus particular 

 in jioinling out the characters of the two latter 

 birds, since they have been most commonly 

 confounded as varieties of llie Canary linch. 

 which alone is found in the Canary Islaiuls. and 

 from which they djITer specifically, althougli in 

 general appearance and manners of life they 

 nearly assimilate. It is with these two primitive 

 species that the Canary bird is commonly crossed 

 with most success, aiul from the union of which 

 many of the more esteemed varieties of the 

 common (Canary bird are produced." 



Tlic " domestic Sparrow " origin I have 



traced to the followint; footnote to BulTon's 



dcscri|)tion of the Canary : — 



The " Domes= " D'Amault assures Salerne 



tic Sparrow " 

 Legend. 



AN li.Miiiinio.N (;oi 1)1 I 



that lie saw at Orleans a gray 

 Kii Canary, which had es- 

 caped from the volery. couple witii a 



S p a r r o w a n d 

 make her hatch 

 in a Sparrow- 

 can , w li i c h 

 thrived." (From 

 Aiiiusements In- 

 UdCCUS, ou Ic 

 Par /a it Oi.se- 

 Iciir, 1774.) 



The female Ca- 

 nary mentioned 

 here must have 

 been a female 

 Sparrow, witii 

 wiiitc in its plu- 

 mage, a fairly 

 coininon sjxirt 

 which we know 

 had occurred be- 

 fore the date of 

 the story, as 

 .Sj)arrows more 

 or less white are 

 mentioned l)y 

 J?rissoii. Wil- 



luglihy. and Al- 

 drovandiis. On 

 no other c.\])laii- 

 ation would such 

 a mating in an 

 open garden be 



