THE CANARY BIRD. 



ORIGIN. 



The Canary bird belongs to the tribe Frin- 

 gilla, or Finch, and is chiefly found in a wild 

 state among those Islands of the Atlantic 

 whence it derives its name. Its prevailing 

 color is yelloAV, though there is a second 

 extensive variety with brown body and yel- 

 low eye-brows. Other varieties, or other 

 sub-varieties, have been described to the 

 number of thirty, arising, doubtless, from 

 domestication, and admixture with other 

 finches. It is about the size of a goldfinch. 

 According to a late ornithologist, the second 

 variety inhabits Africa, and it is said St. He- 

 lena, where it sings much better than the 

 common Canary in cages in this country. It 

 is also found at Palma, Fayal, Cape Verde, 

 and Madeira, as well as at the Canaries. 



The first introduction of the Canary-finch 

 into Europe appears to have occurred in the 

 fourteenth century, or soon after the discovery 

 of the Canary Islands, when it is said to 

 have been conveyed to the mother country 

 by the Spanish colonists. However, we have 



