544 



A HISTORY OF 



cramped, they should be anointed with fresh- 

 butter, or capon's fat, three or four days to- 

 gether. If they grow melancholy, put white 

 sugar-candy into their water, and feed them 

 with sheep's heart, giving them three or four 

 meal-worms in a day, and a few ants with 

 their eggs. 



With regard to adult birds, those that are 

 taken before the twenty-third of April are ac- 

 counted the best, because after that they begin 

 to pair. They usually haunt woods, coppices, 

 and quickset hedges, where they may be ta- 

 ken in trap-cages baited with meal-worms. 

 They should be placed as near the spot 

 where the bird sings as possible ; and before 

 you fix the trap, turn up the earth twice the 

 breadth of the cage, because they will there 

 look for food. They are also taken with lime 

 twigs, placing them upon the hedge where 

 they usually sing ; and there should be meal- 



worms stuck at proper places to draw them 

 into the snare. After they are taken, their 

 wings should be gently tied with thread, to 

 prevent their beating themselves against the 

 cage. This should be first hung in a private 

 place, that the bird may not be disturbed; 

 and it should be fed every two hours, at far- 

 thest, with sheep's heart and egg minced very 

 fine, mixing it with meal-worms. However, 

 the first food must be worms, ants, caterpil- 

 lars, and flies. You must, to feed the bird, 

 take it in your hand, and open the bill with 

 a stick made thick at one end, giving it the 

 insects, or four or five bits of food as big as 

 peas, to entice it to eat. Its common food 

 should be mixed with ants, so that when the 

 bird goes to pick up the ants, it may pick up 

 some of that also. The nightingale, when 

 caged, begins to sing about the latter end of 

 November, and continues its song till June. 



CHAPTER CIX. 



OF THE CANARY-BIRD, AND OTHER HARD*-BILLED SINGING-BIRDS. 



THE Canary-bird is now become so com- 

 mon, and has continued so long in a domes- 

 tic state, that its native habits, as well as its 

 native country, seem almost forgotten. Though 

 by the name it appears that these birds came 

 originally from the Canary Islands, yet we 

 have it only from Germany, where they are 

 bred up in great numbers, and sold into dif- 

 ferent parts of Europe. At what period they 

 were brought into Europe is not well known; 

 but it is certain that about a century ago they 

 were sold at very high prices, and kept only 

 for the amusement of the great. They have 

 since been multiplied in great abundance; 

 and their price is diminished in proportion 

 to their plenty. 



In its native Islands, a region equally noted 

 for the beauty of its landscapes and the har- 

 mony of its groves, the Canary-bird is of a 

 dusky gray colour, and so different from those 

 usually seen in Europe, that some have even 

 doubted whether it be of the same species. 

 With us, they have that variety of colouring 



usual in all domestic fowls ; some white, some 

 mottled, some beautifully shaded with green; 

 but they are more esteemed for their note 

 than their beauty, having a high piercing pipe, 

 as indeed all those of the finch tribe have, 

 continuing for some time in one breath with- 

 out intermission, then raising it higher and 

 higher by degrees, with great variety. 



It is this that has rendered the Canary -bird, 

 next to the nightingale, the most celebrated 

 songster; and as it is more easily reared than 

 any of the soft-billed birds, and continues its 

 song throughout the year, it is rather the 

 most common in our houses. Rules, there- 

 fore, have been laid down, and copious in- 

 structions given, for breeding these birds in a 

 domestic state ; which, as a part of them may 

 conduce towards the natural history of the 

 bird, I will take leave to transcribe. 



.In choosing the Canary-bird, those are 

 best that appear with life and boldness, stand- 

 ing upright upon the perch, like a sparrow- 

 hawk, and not apt to be frighted at every 



