53 
F R I N G I L L A. 
round the bill, and throat, red; bread yellow; hind 
part of the head and neck dufley afh colour; back and 
wings green ; tip of the ciuills dulky ; bread, belly, and 
tides, crolfed with irregular lines of white, fpots; the 
lower belly, thiglis, and vent, w'hite ; rump and tail 
red, inclining to chefnnii legs dedi-colour. Inhabits 
Africa. 
46. Fringilla fcrmoTa, the lovely finch. : colour green ; 
chin and throat yellowidi ; belly barred with white and 
black; bill and legs red ; tail-feathers blackifh. Perhaps 
the other fex of the lad. Inhabits India. 
47. Fringilla butyracea, the yellow finch ; dze of the 
cajiary ; bill dark brown ; irkles hazel ; plumage on the 
upper parts olive green; rump and under parts yeilow ; 
over the eye a yeilow dre.ak ; a fmaller dreak or two be¬ 
neath the eye : and one of green pafling tlirough it ; the 
quills olive green ; edged with white ; the tail yellowidt 
green ; legs brown. Inhabits the Eaft Indies. 
48. Fringilla Canaria, tlte canary finch, or canary bird. 
If tlie nightingale be the fongder of the grove, the canary 
fincli is the nuifician of the chamber. The melody of 
the former is derived from nature alone, that of the lat¬ 
ter is diredled and intproved by indruftion. V/ith a 
weaker voice, with lefs extent of modulation, with lefs 
v.iriety of notes, th.e canary has a finer ear, greater facility 
of imitation, atid a more retentive memory ; and, as the 
characters of animals depend principally on the quality of 
their perceptions, this delicate bird, alive to every im- 
prellioii, becomes alfo more focial, more gentle ; forms 
acquaintance, and even (hews attachment. It feeds on 
grain, like the other domedic birds; and is more eafily 
bred than the nightingale, which lives only on flefli and 
infeCls, and which requires its meal to be purpofely pre¬ 
pared. Its education is attended alfb with greater fuc- 
cefs : it readily lays afide the melody of its native airs to 
adopt the harmony of ou.r voices and infh iiments ; it ea¬ 
gerly follows the notes, and improves and heightens their 
delicacy. The nightingale, proud of its noCIurnal fong, 
I'eems defiroiis to preferve its purity ; at lead, he dights 
our mufic, and perpetually recurs to the rich beauties of 
natuie. His ever-varied long cannot be altered by man ; 
but that of the canary is more pliant, and can be model¬ 
led by our tade. The one therefore contributes more 
than the other to the comforts of fociety ; the canary fings 
at all times, recreates our fpirirs in the gloomied retreats, 
and even adds to onr happinefs; it amufes all young 
people, and infufes cheerfulnefs into innocent and captive 
minds ; and its little loves, which are manifell when it 
breeds, have a thoufand and a thoufand times awakened 
the tendernefs of fympathizing and feeling hearts. 
I'o the happy clihiate of the Hefperides, this pleadn'g 
bird owes its birth, or, at lead, its perfeCdion; for, in 
Italy, there is a fpecies fmaller than that of the canaries, 
called the and in Provence another almod as large, 
called the ferm ; but both thefe are more rudic, and may 
be regarded as the wild branches of a polilhed dem. All 
the three intermix in a date of captivity ; but in the 
range of nature, each propagates in its peculiar climate. 
The colour of the common canary is uniform, and of a 
grey citron yellow on all the upper parts of the body, and 
even on the belly ; but it is only the tips of the feathers that 
are tinged with that delicate liue, the red of them being 
entirely white. The female is of a paler yellow than the 
male; but this citron-colour verging more or lefs on 
white, which the canary allumes in France, and fome 
Other counti ies, is not the tint of its native climate ; for 
it varies according to the dift'erent temperatures. “ I 
have obferved, (lays Bufl'on,) that the’ canary finch, 
which becomes entirely white in France, is in Tenerid'e 
of almod as deep a grey as the linnet ; this change of co¬ 
lour i.s owing probably to the coldnefs of the climate.” 
This fuppofitioii, however, feems in part erroneous, be- 
CBufe the colour can be varied by the diiFerence of food, 
by confinement, and above all by the mi.xture ol breeds. 
In the beginning of the eighteenth century, the curious 
in birds reckoned twenty-nine varieties of canaries, all of 
them didinftly deferibed, as follows : i. The common 
grey canary. 2. The grey canary, with down.and white 
feet. 3. The while-tailed canary. 4. The conrnton 
flaxen canary. 5. The flaxen canary, with red eyes. 
6. The golden flaxen canary. 7. Tlie flaxen canary, 
with down. 8. The white.tailed flaxen canary. 9. The 
common yellow canary. 10. The yeilow canary, with 
down. ir. The white-tailed yellow canary. 12. The 
common agate canary. 13. The agate canary, with red 
eyes. 14. The white-tailed agate canary. 15- The 
agate canary, v.ith down. 16. The common pink cana¬ 
ry. 17. The pink canary, with, red eyes. iS. The 
golden pink canary. 19. The pink canary, with down. 
20. The white canary, with red eyes. 21. The com- 
inon variegated canary. 22. The variegated canary, 
witli red eyes. 23. The flaxen variegated canary. 
24. 7 'he flaxen variegated canary, with red eyes. 
25. The black variegated canary. 26. The jonquil-, 
black variegated canary, with red eyes. 27. Tlie jon¬ 
quil black variegated canary, of a regular plumage. 
28. The full canary, (tliat is entirely of a jonquil-yel¬ 
low,) which is the rarelt. 29. The creft canary, (or ra¬ 
ther the crowned,) which is one of the niofl beautiful. 
The primitive rt-,.-k from which thefe were defceiided 
is the common canary. All thofe which have otlier uni- 
fprm colours derive them from the difference of climate. 
Thofe which have red eyes are more or lefs inclined to a 
pure white plumage ; and the variegated are rather arti¬ 
ficial than natural., The lhades and arrangement of the 
colours of the variegated caniries differ exceedingly 
fome are black on tlie head, others not; fome are fpot- 
ted irregularly, and others with great regulatity. The 
differences of colour are comiuonly perceived only on the 
upper part of the bird; they cohfiff: of two large black 
fpots on each wing, 'the one before and the other behind, 
in a large crefeent of the fame colour placed on the back, 
pointing its concavity towards the head, and joining by 
its horns to the two anterior black fpojs of tlie wings. 
Tlie tail is fiirroundcd behind by an half collar of grey, 
which feems to be a compound colour refulting from tlie 
intimate mixture of black and yellow. The tail and its 
coverts arealnioft white. 
But, befides thefe primary varieties, which feem to 
have been introduced by the change of climate, and fome 
fecondary ones that h ive fiiice appeared, there are others, 
more apparent, which refiilt from the union of tlie canary 
with the ferin, and with the cini ; for not only do thefe 
three birds breed together, but the young hybrids are 
capable of procreation. The fame may be faid in regard 
to tliefruitsof tlie eominerce of tlie canary with the fifkin, 
with the goldfinch, with tlie linnet, with tlie yellow- 
liammer, with the chaffinch, and even it is faid with the 
fparrow ; for d’Arnault alfured Salerne, that he faw at 
Orleans a grey hen canary which had efcaped from an 
aviary, couple with a Iparrow, and make her hatch in a 
fparrow.can, placed agajuff a houfe, which thrived. 
Thefe birds, though very different from each other, and 
apparently diferiminated widely from the canaries, can 
by proper care and attention be made to pair with them. 
Tlie canary muff be removed from thofe ot its own fpe¬ 
cies; and the experiment feems to fucceed better wlien 
]ierfonned with the female^ than with the male. Tiie 
iilkin and goldfincli are the only birds with which it is 
well afeertained that the male canary can propagate. 
Wiien we with to pair canaries with goldfinches, fays- 
Bufl'on, we muff take the goldfinches at ten or twelve 
days old, and put them in the, neft with canaries of the 
fame age; we muff raife them together in the fame avi. 
ary, and accuffoii-i them to the fame food. It is ufual to 
lodge the male goldfinches with the female canaries, and 
they allbciate inucli more readily than if the female gold-. 
finches were joined with the male canaries. We may ob- 
ferve, however, that the union is more tardy, becaufe 
the goldfinch is later in pairing than tire canary ; on the 
contrary^ 
