1570 



THE PERCHING BIRDS 



( Found in most of the islands from which it takes its name, in L,as 



Palmas the canary (S. canarius] is wonderfully abundant, and may be 

 seen in great flocks throughout the breeding season, as if there were not room for all 

 to pair and breed. In Teneriffe, it commences breeding near the coast in January, 

 while in the high mountains it nests in June and July, ascending to its elevated 

 haunts in the end of May; the nest being generally placed in an evergreen tree or 

 shrub. The eggs are bluish green in ground color, and spotted with reddish brown. 

 The song of the wild male is sweet and powerful, but does not possess the variety of 

 notes heard from cage birds. The wild canary has occasionally reached the southern 

 shores of Great Britain as a storm-driven wanderer. The male has the upper parts 



Rosefinches 



THE CANARY. 

 (Two-thirds natural size.) 



ashy brown washed with yellow, and streaked with blackish brown; the forehead, 

 rump, and lower parts being yellow, and the sides ashy streaked with black. 



The brightly -dressed finches of this group -have the bill of propor- 

 tionately smaller dimensions than the pine grosbeak, to which they 

 are nearly related. The sides of the bills are convex, and the culmen moderately 

 curved; the wings are long and pointed; the tail is much shorter than the wings, and 

 considerably forked; while the feet are small and weak. The males are remarkable 

 for their crimson plumage; the females and young males being plain colored. Rose- 

 finches are found in Northeastern and Eastern Asia, Asia Minor, Palestine, the 

 Indian region, and China, one species breeding as far west as Pomerania; and al- 

 though the vast majority belong to the Old World, four species are peculiar to North 

 America, one of which closely resembles an Old-World form. 



