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 

 ' Ibis ' list of British Birds admit that they are often met with in 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/ 5 

 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 Serin. 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 in 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 



