l62 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



think there is every reason to Ixliexc that 

 it contains the pe])p( r in a hiryc |)n)])ortion. 

 and that the effect uttril)ute(l to it as a whole 

 was, in the main, traceable to the presence 

 of cayeinie in its composition." 



Such is the history attcndiiio- tiu' intro- 

 duction of capsicum as a colour- feed iuy 



ayent into the bird-room. 

 Early Colour. ^y^.|| ,,,,,.^ ^,|^. ,,,,,,„^ ,,,,.|^^., 

 fed Birds. 



remember his father send- 



in<i' for two pairs of these colour-fed l)irds — 

 tlie first introduced to Carlisle. They 

 certainly were the most wonderfully 

 coloured birds we had e\er seen, similar 

 in tint to that rich orantce I'cd one sees 

 in the deepest -coloured common garden 

 marigold ; they were, intlecd. rather a 

 shade richer than the marigold. Those 

 two jiairs of liii-ds were a secret to be ke])t 

 strictly |irivate from fanciers, and were 

 ]5lace(l in a back room in cages covered 

 with line muslin to keep them clean. 

 Some rinnour, however, had got ailoat 

 amongst the bird-men — as they were then 

 nsnally called — that we had got something 

 special ont of sight. So one day an old 

 fancier, by name .Joseph Sowerby (now 

 deceased), called to sec a bird which we 

 had in the back room, and when my father 

 and I went to letch it. he very (piietly fol- 

 lowed us, and the first we knew of his 

 jirescncc was the remark, " Hullo ! wliat 

 have yon got here ? "' pointing to the 

 niiislin-eovcred cages. " Ah, it is them I 

 want to see ; I heard there was .something 

 special in this room, and I want to see 

 them." 



A\'hcu he did sec them he nc\cr spoke, 

 but simply opened his mouth and eves 

 and glared as if he had had a fright, for 

 he had uc\er seen the like befoi-e. Thi' 

 ne\vs (juiekly spread to the old school, and 

 each year more coioiu'-fcd birds were 

 l)rought into the IJordcr city until tlic\' 

 became general; though, of course, "com- 

 mon " Canaries now called Horder Fancies 

 - — as well as birds of ])osition, such as the 

 Scotch Fancy and Uelgian Canaries, were 

 then much more extensively bred there, 

 jnst as the IJordcr Fane}' conliuLies to be 

 to this day. 



During the two or three years when it 



was fii'st in practice it is only natural thai 



the jaeculiar characteristic of 



Effects of ^,^g capsicum should occa- 

 Capsicum. ' 



sionally have caused some 



speculation as to whether its pmigeut heat 

 was not distressing to the birds. It has 

 been accredited with many ills that bird 

 life is heir to : l)ut the fact that the biids 

 eat it greedily without ajjparentl}' sulTei'- 

 ing the slightest inconvenience wotdd seem 

 to answer the question satisfactorily, that 

 no ill ciTccts accrue therefrom. 



Collateral proofs also are not wanting 

 that some varieties of birds, though not 

 belonging to our family, are inordinately 

 fond of the capsicum. We may mention 

 the instance which was recorded by the 

 late Mr. IJlakston : " A cockatoo of ours 

 escaped, and was ca]itin'ed in a conser- 

 vatory, where it had lived over again an 

 hour of its old sub-trojiical existence. We 

 expressed our regret at the circumstance, 

 fearing it might have done some injury, but 

 were glad to know it had done no mischief, 

 though the gardener expressed his opinion 

 that ' the bird iiad a (pieer taste,' for it 

 had " striiipcd all the capsicums oj llitir 

 ripe pods.' 



AVe have introduced the question of the 

 influence of food upon coicjur in this place 

 as forming jiart of the practical business 

 of moulting, though it is evident its ap|)lica- 

 tion will lie chielly in the direction of 

 those classes we have indicated as I'orniing 

 what we havv dcsci'ibed as the Cc)lour 

 section. Oui- rcl'crcneo to them has lieen 

 necessarily somewhat vague, since we have 

 not as yet miiuitcly dcseribtil any par- 

 ticular \aricty, and do not presuppose 

 any kiiowledgc of them. \Vc will, how- 

 ever, exhaust the subject so I'ar as its 

 general principles and |)i'actice will carry 

 us. rcscr\ing any I'cmarks upon s|)ecial 

 treat mcui till the occasion olfcrs to pi-esent 

 them. 



Wc say feeding is the secret of ec)lour, 

 because this certain class of feeding will 

 iutensify the colour of a good-eolouicd 

 bird, as also that of a poor-coloured one, 

 tliou"h not to the same extent as in the 



