CANARY BIRDS. H 



countries in which they reside, canaries 

 are so sheltered and protected from the 

 weather, that we can scarcely imagine it to 

 have much effect upon the economy of their 

 growth and structure ; and then, too, the 

 prevalence amongst us of the darker-tinted 

 birds greens, and cinnamon browns, and 

 the like militates considerably against this 

 theory. 



The exact date of the introduction of the 

 canary into England is not known ; it is 

 mentioned by Gesner, who wrote in the lat- 

 ter part of the sixteenth century, and first 

 described by Aldrovandus, in his " Ornitho- 

 logy," bearing date 1610 ; the bird was then 

 esteemed a great rarity. According to some 

 authors, the island of Elba was the first 

 European ground on which the canary found 

 a resting-place. A ship bound for Leghorn, 

 they say, having on board a number of the 

 sweet songsters, foundered near this island, 

 on which the birds, set at liberty by the 

 accident, found a refuge, and the climate 



