80 BRITISH BIRDS. 
of Chippenham, near Bath, the Rev. Hugh A. Macpherson of Carlisle, and 
others. Mr. G. Dawson Rowley exhibited one at a meeting of the 
Zoological Society of London (see Proc. Zool. Soc. 1870, p. 53), which 
was taken on the 20th of November, 1869. Many others have, no doubt, 
been overlooked. Some have been passed over as small Greenfinches, 
others have been recorded as Serin Finches, whilst the committee of the 
‘This’ list of British Birds admit that they are often met with m England, 
but assume that they have in all cases escaped from captivity. The wild 
Canary is, however, such a very rare bird in cages in England, and escaped 
birds of the tame Canary are so rarely caught, that we cannot accept this 
theory of their origin. None of the examples of British-killed Canaries 
which I have seen show any of those marks of confinement which can 
usually be detected in the state of the feet and tail of caged birds, and the 
more probable explanation is that they are birds which have been driven 
over by south-westerly gales from Maderia or the Azores. Mr. Godman, 
in speaking of these islands, says that “ scarcely a storm occurs in spring 
or autumn without bringing one or more species foreign to the islands,” 
and enumerates Swallows, Larks, &c. among them. There can therefore 
be no insuperable difficulty in stragglers from the Azores reaching our 
shores. 
The Canary is abundant on most of the Canary Islands, on Madeira, and 
throughout the Azores. It breeds not only in the gardens of the large 
towns, but also in the pine-forest up to an elevation of six thousand feet ; 
and after the breeding-season is over the Canaries collect in large flocks 
and may be seen flying from one island to another. It is not to be 
wondered at that they are sometimes carried away by storms to the main- 
land. 
The Canary is the island form of the Seri. In its habits it closely 
resembles other Finches, and after the breeding-season frequents the fields, 
where it is said to be very destructive to the flax. Like the Greenfinch 
and Goldfinch, the Canary appears to have a liking for gardens, even 
frequenting those in the middle of towns ; and it is also common in the 
vineyards, and in the little swampy places which are left as the sole 
remnants of the streams that flow im winter. It also inhabits the pine- 
woods on the mountains, and breeds in them, coming down to the plains 
in winter. 
It is a somewhat early breeder, commencing nest-building in the latter 
part of March. The nesting-site is usually selected in some evergreen 
tree or shrub, placed at a considerable height from the ground, and is 
seldom below eight feet. A nest of this bird found by Dr. Bolle was 
built in the fork of a box-tree about twelve feet high, growing out of a 
myrtle hedge. This nest was described by him as being broad at the base, 
narrow at the top, and very neatly built of snow-white cotton-plant 
