10 



CANARY BIRDS. 



pure, greyish- white. At an advanced age, the feathers of 

 the back are also of a distinct brownish-grey. The length 

 is from 3 to 4 inches, the breadth of the wings from 9 to 10 

 inches, the tail from 2 to 3 inches ; the size is therefore a 

 trifle smaller than that of the tamed bird, or, at all events, 

 the wild one appears more slender. The first plumage of 

 the young bird is (according to Bolle) of a brownish tint, 

 but at the cheeks and the throat it is of a pale lemon colour. 



Propagation. — The pairing and nest-building occur 

 in March, usually in the second half of the month ; the 

 nest is carefully concealed, but in gardens it may be easily 

 discovered, owing to the constant flying to and fro of the 

 old birds. Usually it is situated the ordinary height of a 

 man, sometimes up to 9 feet, but never lower than 6 feet 

 from the ground. For young, slender trees, the bird seems 

 to have a peculiar predilection, and among these it chooses, 

 from preference, those which are evergreen, or which are 

 the first to be covered with foliage. Bocker states he found 

 the nest in the various fruit and ornamental trees which 

 flourish in the vicinity of Orotava, a town of the Canary 

 Islands, especially in cypress, palm, and orange trees. 

 The nests which Bolle saw were made of vegetable wool ; 

 they were neatly shaped, broad below, very narrow above, 

 and elegantly rounded ; some were scarcely covered with a 

 blade of grass or a twig of brushwood. Bocker, on the con- 

 trary, describes those inspected by him as resembling in 

 size, colour and shape, those of the " wavy- wing," externally 

 composed of small, fine roots, of dry blades and stalks of 

 grass, and lined with white vegetable wool. He never caught 

 sight of a single nest composed entirely of white vegetable 

 wool. 



One egg is laid every day, the average number found in 

 the nest seemed to be five. The eggs are of a pale sea- 

 green, speckled with spots varying from a reddish brown to 



