INTRODUCTION. 



BY CAGE BIRDS, 1 mean those kept by amateurs, for 

 amusement, in their apartments, generally selected for sweet- 

 ness of song or beauty of plumage ; but the naturalist has other 

 reasons for surrounding himself with these pleasing creatures : 

 they enliven him, and he delights in studying their habits and 

 characters. To attain these objects it is necessary, in the first 

 place, to be able to distinguish readily between the males and 

 females, since the former are generally superior in their powers 

 of song, and therefore preferable. I have, for this reason, made 

 a point, in the following sketch of the history of house birds, 

 of showing the colours and other marks which characterise the- 

 two sexes ; and, as all birds cannot be tamed, whilst many 

 others offer no inducement to make the attempt, it follows 

 that those about to be spoken of must necessarily be but a 

 small proportion of all the known species of birds. 



