BIRDS OF SONG. 



Give me but 

 Something wherennto I may bind my heart, 

 Something to love, to rest upon, — to clasp 

 Affection's tendrils round. Mrs. Hemans. 



No. VII.— CAGE BIRDS.— THE CANARY. 



Let us now briefly comment on some of 

 the little ailments of our winged friends. 

 Prevention being better than cure," we 

 will hope that by due care we shall seldom 

 have occasion to call in the aid of a doctor 

 — our aversion always, excepting only in 

 extremis. 



The diseases to which a Canary is subject, 

 are but few ; and they are, any of them, 

 easily got rid of. The hush is a " dry cough," 

 caught from an undue exposure to cold and 

 damp. Sometimes it is brought on by giving 

 your birds hemp-seed ; the husk or shell of 

 which adhering to the lining of their throat, 

 causes inflammation. Never therefore give 

 your canaries any hemp-seed, without first 

 bruising it. Half-a-dozen seeds per week, 

 observe, are more than sufficient under any 

 circumstances. To cure the husk, feed your 

 birds on yolk of egg, boiled hard, and di- 

 luted with a few drops of cold water. Mix 

 with it a small quantity of sponge-cake, rub- 

 bed fine. Instead of spring water to drink, 

 give them, for a couple of days, boiled lin- 

 seed-tea, flavored with liquorice-root ; or 

 boiled milk, fresh each morning. By keep- 

 ing your birds warm, and covering them over 

 to prevent excitement, they will soon rally. 

 The " pip " and other minor maladies to 

 which all birds are occasionally subject, will 

 be treated of in a separate chapter. We need 

 here only speak of " moulting." 



When a canary " moults," — which is gen- 

 erally in July or August, according to the 

 heat of the weather — all you need to do is, 

 to keep him quiet and free from draughts. 

 Being a cheerful, lively bird, there is no need 

 to have him covered up, but do not let him 

 be unduly excited. Give him a very small 

 quantity of raw beef, scraped, and moistened 

 with cold water, once a week ; occasionally, 

 a little yolk of hard-boiled egg; and now 

 and then a piece of sponge-cake, and ripe 

 chickweed in full flower. Nature will do 

 the rest ; and present your pet with a hand- 

 some new coat, that will keep him spruce, 

 and last him a full year. Mind and trim 

 his claws, when they are too long. Use 

 sharp scissors always ; a knife, never. In 

 handling him, let him lie passive as possible ; 

 so that your hand may not press unduly on 

 any part of his little body. After the first 

 operation, he will understand all about it, 

 and cheerfully submit to be so " trimmed." 



We already have taken occasion to speak 

 of the docility of the canary, and have given 

 several interesting anecdotes of his aptness 



to fall into his master or mistress's humor- 

 To go further with our illustrations would 

 occupy much room ; and at the same time 

 destroy the fond anticipations of pleasure 

 which, no doubt, many of our readers feel at 

 the thought of hereafter experimenting for 

 themselves. 



We will now proceed to speak of the various 

 kinds of birds which should be selected for 

 the purposes of breeding ; and afterwards 

 pursue the inquiry of rearing, feeding, &c, 

 in all its ramifications ; so that he who 

 runs may read, and he who reads may under- 

 stand. 



We have before noticed the German 

 Canaries, as songsters ; and confirmed the 

 fact of there being some well- taught musicians 

 amongst them. Beyond this, nothing can 

 be said. They are not long-lived ! and soon 

 fall victims to the countless changes in this 

 our variable climate. They are tender in 

 constitution, and seldom live more than from 

 two to three years in England. These birds 

 therefore will not do for breeding stock. 

 Some English bird-fanciers (amateurs more 

 particularly) have a great fancy for the 

 Belgian canary. These birds are of gaunt 

 proportions, and have a commanding pre- 

 sence. Their length is remarkable, and 

 their spirits are exuberant. Their song too 

 is musical, though not equal to that of many 

 of our native birds. They are bred pure in 

 Belgium, and the race is there kept up in 

 perpetuo, to insure a healthy stock. Suum 

 caique : they are good nursing fathers and 

 nursing mothers; and attend well to the 

 wants of their offspring. 



A very old friend of ours, some ten years 

 since, associated one of these Jonque birds 

 (a male) Avith one of our Norwich mealy 

 hen canaries. They took kindly to each 

 other, and in a few short weeks became the 

 happy parents of five remarkably healthy 

 children, of an undeniably beautiful plumage. 

 The males turned out first-rate songsters ; 

 and being placed from their tender infancy 

 under an eminent tutor, — the full meaning 

 of which expressive word we shall have oc- 

 casion to explain hereafter — they caused the 

 heart of our good friend to rejoice. He was 

 then past " the age of man." Soon afterwards, 

 he died, as he lived, surrounded by his pets. 

 His requiem was chanted by nightingales, 

 woodlarks, black- caps, and canaries. Oh, 

 how often have we both been "rapt," while 

 listening to his minstrel choir ! 



We must not be understood as speaking 

 in praise of the beauty of the Belgian canaries. 

 They are not of fair, symmetrical propor- 

 tions, by any means ; but their colossal size, 

 and Herculean constitutions, impart in- 

 creased vigor to any young birds that may 

 proceed from their family connections. 



We have stated the average duration of a 



