4: .?AEMEES' BULLETIN I'TO. 



released on Midway Island, a small sandy islet in the Hawaiian 

 group. By 1914 they had increased nntil it was estimated that they 

 numbered about 1,000. 



HISTORY. 



The actual origin of the canary as a cage bird is as obscure as is 

 the early history'- of other domesticated animals. It seems probable 

 that captive canaries were first secured from the Canary Islands, a 

 group with which they have long been popularly associated. There 

 are in the Old World, however, two closely allied forms from which 

 the domesticated canary may have come.' One of these, the bird 

 now recognized as the " wild canary " (see illustration on title-page), 

 is found in the Canar}?- Islands (with the exception of the islands of 

 Fuerteventura and Lanzarote), Madeira, and the Azores. The other 

 form, the serin finch,^ ranges through southern Europe and northern 

 Africa, extending eastward into Palestine and Asia Minor. In a 

 wild state these two forms are very similar in color and to a novice 

 are hardly distinguishable. 



If, as is supposed, the original supply of canaries came from the 

 Canary Islands, it may be considered doubtful that the stock 

 thus secured has furnished the ancestors of all our canaries. The 

 slight differences in color between the serin finch and the canary 

 would probably have passed unnoticed by early ornithologists and 

 bird lovers. With bird catching a widespread practice in inicldle and 

 southern Europe, the serin would often be made captive and be 

 accepted without question as a canary. In this way serins and wild 

 canaries may have been interbred until all distinguishable differences 

 were lost. 



The original canary, whether serin or true wild canary, in its 

 native haunt was much different in color from its modern pure-bred 

 descendant. The back of the wild bird is, in general, gra.y tinged 

 with olive-green, especially on the rump, with dark shaft streaks on 

 the feathers. Underneath it is j^ellowish, streaked on sides and 

 flanks with dusky. Wild canaries from the Canary Islands, the 

 Azores, and Madeira differ from the continental serins in. being 

 slightly graj^er with less of yellowish green in the plumage above. 

 In addition, the rump is duller yellow and the bill is distinctly 

 larger. All of the wild birds have the feet and legs (tarsi) horn 

 brown, the upper half of the bill dark brown or horn color, and the 

 lower half paler. 



Both of the wild varieties inhabit vineyards, thickets, and more 

 open country wdiere bordered by trees. At times during fall and 

 winter great flocks are found together. The birds feed upon various 



1 The scientiflc name of the serin is Serinus serinvs serimis. The wild canary is known 

 as Serinus s. canarius. Both were first described bj' Linnaeus. 



