88 FINCH. 



The Canary Bird will also produce with the Siskin and Goldfinch, 

 but in this case, the breed generally proves sterile ; the pairs suc- 

 ceeding best when the hen is the Canary, and the cock of an opposite 

 species.* It will also prove prolific with the Linnet, Yellowhammer, 

 Chaffinch, and even with the House Sparrow;! but the male Canary 

 will not willingly pair with the female of these birds ; the female 

 must ever be of the Canary Species, and even then the young for the 

 most part prove mule-birds. 



This species will feed on various seeds, but their most beloved 

 diet is the Canary seed,J so called from growing naturally in the 

 Canary Islands, but now propagated in quantity in England, so as 

 to obviate the necessity of importation.§ 



As to the song, so highly prized by most, it is needless here to 

 dwell on, as every thing on the subject may be read in a well written 

 essay on this and other singing birds, by the late Honourable Daines 

 Barrington.|f 



The breeding of these birds is carried on by various persons by 

 way of emolument, both on the Continent, as well as in England ; 

 and as a small article of commerce formerly; for Mr. B. mentions, that 

 four Tyrolese generally brought over to England 1600 every year, 



* When a male Canary Bird is matched to a hen Goldfinch, or Siskin, it is not without 

 certain precautions, and great attention, that a brood will follow ; on the contrary, when 

 the male of either of the two last mentioned birds is made use of, the success is almost cer- 

 tain. We have seen a most beautiful specimen, the produce of the male Canary Bird and 

 Goldfinch ; and a male Siskin has been known to couple with a Canary. 



f A female Canary Bird, of the grey kind, which escaped from a cage, has been known 

 to pair with a House Sparrow, and to bring a brood in a bird pot, placed against a house. 

 Hist, des Ois. p. 11. note (p). A few Canary Birds, that have escaped from an aviary, seem 

 to have bred, as such are Frequently seen in the hedges at Paddington, in Bedfordshire. — 

 Bibl. Typog. Brit. 8. p. 13. art. 35. The circumstance also has occurred of the Canary 

 breeding with the Citril Finch, or Vengoline. — Barrington. 



J Phalaris Canariensis. — Lin. 



§ No where in England grown in greater quantities than the neighbourhood of Margate, 

 in Kent. 



|| See Phil. Trans, lxiii. Br. Zool. ii. 666. Id. App. No. 5. — For the history of this 

 bird see BeckmarCs History of Inventions, 1. 52. 57. Also Encyclop. Britann. 



