220 TEE ZOOLOGIST. 



NOTES ON THE HABITS OF SOME CAGED BIRDS. 

 By W. ^esch£, F.R.M.S. 



In the early nineties we had a number of birds which were 

 kept as pets, and their habits and ways were so interesting that 

 notes and records were made, of which this article is a com- 

 pilation. We began with a young Canary, which was given us 

 in. the spring of 1889. This bird became by degrees so tame 

 and intelligent that we took great pleasure in playing with and 

 petting it. We were astonished at its cleverness, and our 

 attention was more particularly drawn to its mental attitude, 

 and from that to the characters of the other birds that we 

 gradually added to our collection. 



The individual characters of birds are as various as the 

 individual characters of men and women, or of other animals, 

 and can only be understood by careful observation ; but the 

 forces that govern their actions being fairly simple, you may 

 always rely on consistency from your feathered friends. They 

 have certain characteristics peculiar to their species, and Siskins, 

 Goldfinches, or Redpolls are usually more intelligent and more 

 easily tamed than Larks, Linnets, or even Canaries, though the 

 cleverest bird we have met with was a Canary. Nevertheless, 

 the same level of intelligence is not to be expected from all the 

 individuals of a species ; as I have said before, it varies as much 

 within its limits as does the intelligence of human beings. To 

 demonstrate this, I shall now relate our experience with different 

 pets, with our estimates of their characters, and then, under 

 the heads of habits, instinct, intelligence, affection, jealousy, 

 memory, mental process, and curiosity, record our observations 

 on these points. 



As I said before, our first bird was a young Canary (Serinus 

 canarius), which, for the sake of distinction, I will call Canary A. 

 His arrival was not remarkable in any way ; he fluttered and 

 seemed desperately unhappy if his cage was approached, but he 



