CAGE ANT> SINGING BIRDS. 
101 
count of being' excluded from tlie male bird ; let her breed^ 
and she will probably recover, if not too for gone. 
We have now, we believe, gone through the whole list of 
ailments to which the canary is subject, and a pretty for- 
midable one it is. Let not our readers imagine, however, 
that this is a delicate species, it is by no means so ; ordinary 
care and attention only are required to keep it in health and 
full power of song for many years. No extensive breeder 
should be without an hospital cage, as most of the diseases 
to which the bird is liable may be considered as contagious ; 
and the loss of an entire collection may sometimes result 
from leaving the sick with the healthy birds. Such a cage 
should be of wood, well lined with thick flannel, and having 
different compartments in which to place, if necessary, the 
little patients ; the front should be of wicker-work. As 
a proof that canaries are not such delicate birds as has been 
generally supposed, it may be mentioned that, even in this 
northern climate, they have been induced to breed and live 
in the open air. William Kidd, in his journal, gives an 
interesting account of the shrubberies of William Wollaston, 
, Esq., of Welling, in Kent, where canaries, goldfinches, and 
other sweet songsters, build and sing, and are provided with 
food without the trouble of seeking it. At the Queen's 
Marine Villa, Osborne House, in the Isle of Wight, and 
other places in this country also, the experiment of open 
air canary breeding has been successfully tried, and it is 
likely that, eventually, we may see, in the more southerly 
and sheltered parts of our island, this beautiful songster a 
wild bird of the copse and woodland. Many years ago,. 
Gilbert White asked, — " Might not canary birds be natural- 
ized in this climate, provided their eggs were put in the 
spring into the nests of some of their congeners, as gold- 
finches, greenfinches, &c. ?" We apprehend that bird- 
catchers would prove greater obstacles to the naturalization 
of canaries amongst us than the climate ; it is to be feared 
that the birds would be hunted as assiduously as they were 
in the Island of Elba, and with the like result. 
It has been well observed, that " most foreign birds, intro- 
duced into this country, degenerate and lose their spirits; 
but the canary finch rises in colour, feathers, and song ; and, 
if properly managed^i no bird will recompense you so well, 
