A LITERARY, SCIENTIFIC, AND INSTRUCTIVE FAMILY PAPER. 



Conducted by WILLIAM KXDD, of Hammersmith,— 



Author of the Familiar and Popular Essays on "Natural History;" "British Song 



Birds;" "Birds of Passage;" "Instinct and Reason;" 



" The Aviary and its Occupants," &c. 



"the OBJECT of our work is to make men WISER, WITHOUT obliging them TO TURN OVER FOLI03 AND 

 QUARTOS.— TO FURNISH MATTER FOR THINKING AS WELL A3 READING."— EVELYN, 



No. 14.— 1852. 



SATURDAY, APRIL 3. 



Price \\d. 



Or, in Monthly Parts, Price Id. 



BIRDS OF SONG.* 



Give me but 

 Something whereunto I may bind my heart, 

 Something to love, to rest upon, —to clasp 

 Affection's tendrils round. Mrs. Hemans. 



No. IV— CAGE BIRDS.— THE CANARY. 



By purchasing your birds in the manner we 

 have recommended, you will not, cannot be 

 deceived as to their sex. But more than this 

 must be regarded in the purchase. All the 

 canaries sent up from the country are young 

 birds ; brought up under good tutors (such 

 as the titlark and the nightingale), but apt to 

 degenerate in song if not properly taken care 

 of. To keep them, therefore, steady to their 

 acquired song, do not hang them with any 

 other noisy, racketty birds, but in a room by 

 themselves. A few months' drilling will 

 cause them to be staunch. They may then 

 be suspended anywhere, and associated with 

 any other songsters. 



Those birds are considered most valuable 

 which lead off with the nightingale's note, 

 concluding with that of the tit-lark. The 

 jug-jug, swelling slur, and water -bubble of 

 the former, blended with the " chewing" and 

 "wisking" of the latter, kept up in a long- 

 continued strain, are, when observable in 

 any of these birds, certain signs of excel- 

 lence. 



There are a vast variety of tastes, and a 

 vast number of opinions, with respect to a 

 fine bird. With some — a large number ! — 

 noise, shrillness, and a rapid execution carry 

 the palm. Others are pleased with a lengthy 

 song, whether musical or not — its duration 

 being regarded as the test of value. Chacun 

 a son gout. 



For our own part, now that our ear is 

 more attuned to real music, we infinitely pre- 

 fer the German canary before all others. 

 Not that all, or a twentieth part of those that 



* Reprinted, with many New and Important Addi- 

 tions, from the Gardeners' Chronicle Newspaper. 



are brought over here from Germany are a 

 whit better than those of our own rearing. 

 Some few, however, are placed by canary 

 breeders under first-rate tutors ; and they 

 sing with so much melody, so much pathos, 

 so con exprezzione, that their value can 

 hardly be overrated. The birds we speak of, 

 will cost from three to four guineas each. 

 The age to purchase them at, is in their 

 second year. They are then true to their 

 song. To listen to these birds by candlelight, 

 is a treat perfectly indescribable. Theirs 

 is the " music of the spheres." 



Canaries are of various colors. Those 

 most in request are the Jonque, or bright 

 yellow. These are very tender. The finest 

 are the bright yellow, with an admixture of 

 black spots. They should have no white 

 feathers whatever. Then there are the 

 mealy, the mottled, the buff, and the grey. 

 It must be borne in mind, as we have before 

 remarked, that many birds despised for their 

 color are in reality the finest songsters of 

 any. Plumage therefore should be a second- 

 ary consideration, if you want a good song 

 bird. 



A bird in good health should be thin and 

 trim ; and very sprightly in his cage. If 

 ever you see a bird with his head behind his 

 wing, in the day-time, conclude that his 

 days are numbered. His sickness is unto 

 death. Be very careful, when purchasing, to 

 bear this remark in mind. Keep a close eye 

 also, when any bird is performing a call of 

 nature, on the movement of his tail. If he 

 "bolts" it, like the nightingale, he is in very 

 bad health. We speak of course now of 

 seed-birds. If what is voided be of a darkish 

 hue in the middle, and quickly dry, the bird 

 is in robust health. Previous to dissolution, 

 what passes will be white and slimy, having 

 no black in it. A few hours more, and the 

 curtain will close on Ms career for ever. 



Young birds, as we have already men- 

 tioned, are apt to be unsteady in their song. 

 All undue excitement therefore must be 

 avoided. Never, under any circumstances 



Vol. I— New Series. 



