BRITISH SONG-BIRDS. 161 



Europe, is not considered a native of that quarter 

 of the globe. The original stock, it is said, was im- 

 ported from the Canary Isles about the fourteenth 

 century. We have some doubts of this ; and our 

 reasons are these : — The wild birds found in the 

 Canary Isles bear less resemblance, in song and 

 plumage, to the domestic canary, than the fol- 

 lowing indigenous European birds, viz. the siskin 

 of Germany, the ventm'on of Italy, and the cini 

 of France. The plumage of these species is a 

 mixture of yellow, greenish-yellow, and yellowish- 

 green, and very little brown or grey ; and their 

 notes are sweet, rich, and lively, — ^while the wild 

 canary-bird has little or no song, and its plumage 

 is a dingy grey. But we shall leave others to de- 

 cide this query, and proceed with a description of 

 the domestic canary. 



The celebrated Buifon says : — " If the nightin- 

 gale is the chauntress of the woods, the canary is 

 the musician of the chamber. The first owes all 

 to natm'e ; the second derives something from our 

 arts. With less strength of organ, less compass 

 of voice, and less variety of note, the canary-bird 

 has a better ear, greater facility of imitation, and 

 more memory. And as the difference of genius, 

 especially among the lower animals, depends, in a 



