F R I N G I L L A. 
60 
eleventh or twelve day ; you ought to remove tliem with 
their neft as early as the eighth day. The food for the 
young canaries ought to be prepared before liand ; it is a 
pafte compofed of boiled rape-feed, yolks of eggs, and 
crumbs of cake, mixed together, and beaten up with a 
little water. It ought to be given every two hours, and 
put into their bill. It muft not be too liquid, left it turn 
four, and it muftbe made frefli every day till the young 
can eat without afliftance. . 
The produce of thefe captive birds is not fo regular, 
but appears to be more numerous than it probably would 
be in the ftate of liberty. Some females have four or five 
hatches annually, and lay four, five, fix, or feven, eggs 
each time i and generally they have three hatches, and 
the moulting hinders them from another. Some however 
fit even during motilting, if they happen to be laying be¬ 
fore that feafon. The birds of the fame hatch do not all 
moult at the fame time. The weakeft firft drop their fea¬ 
thers, and the ftrongeft more than a month afterwards. 
In jonquil canaries this change of plumage is tedious, and 
commonly more dangerous than in the other kinds. The 
female jonquils have only three hatches, each of three 
eggs; the flaxen-coloured canaries are too delicate, and 
their brood feldom thrives. The pink fliew a reludlance 
to pair with each other ; in a large aviary the male but 
rarely couples with the female of his own colour, and to 
form the union, they muft be confined together in a cage. 
The white fort are commonly valuable in every refpefl: ; 
they lay and breed as vvell, or better than the others, 
and the variegated white are the hardieft of all. 
Whatever differences there may be in the difpofitjons 
and prolific powers of thefe birds, the period of incuba¬ 
tion is the fame ; all of them fit thirteen days ; and when 
the exclufion of the young is a day earlier or later, it is 
owing to fome particular circumftance. Cold retards the 
procefs, and heat forw ards it; accordingly the firft hatch, 
which is in April, requires thirteen days and a half, or 
even fourteen days, if the 'weather is chilly ; but the 
third, which happens during the heats of July and Au- 
guft, is effected in twelve days and a half, or even twelve 
days. It would be proper to feparate all the good eggs 
from the bad ; and, to do this with certainty, we ought 
to wait to the eighth or ninth day, and take each gently 
by the two ends for fear of breaking it, and examine it 
in a ftrong light, or by a candle, and rejefl all that are 
add'e, which if left would only fatigue the hen. By this 
trial we may often reduce three hatclies to two; and in 
that cafe the third female may be liberated, and permit¬ 
ted to begin a fecond neft. 
The young canaries differ from the old ones bo»h in the 
colourof their plumage, and in fome other circumftances. 
As the bird grows up, the arrangement, and the fliadesof 
colour, change ; the old ones can be dilfinguiftied from 
the young by tlieir ftrength, their plumage, and their 
fong ; the tints are deeper and more livel.y ; their roes 
are rougher, and incline more oivblack, it they are of the 
grey kind; their nails are alfo thicker and longer than 
thofe of the young ones. The female isoften fo like the 
male that they cannot at firft be diftinguilhed ; however, 
the colours are always deeper in the male, the head ra¬ 
ther thicker and longer, and the temples of a yellow more 
inclined to orange ; a;;d under the bill there is a fort of 
yellow flame which defccnds lower than in the female ; 
its legs are alfo ftronger, and it begins to vvarble almoft as 
foon as it is able to feed itfelf. It is true that fome fe¬ 
males chant at that tender age, with almoft as much fpi- 
rit as the males: but, joining all thele marks together, 
we may be able, even before the firft month, to decide 
which are males or females; after that time there is no 
more uncertaint/ in that refpedl, for the fong of the 
males then begins to decide their lex . 
The young canaries drop their feathers the firft year fix 
weeks after they are hatched f they become low-ipirited, 
appear bloated, and conceal tiie head in their jdumage ; 
at this time the down only falls; but the following year 
they lofe the quills, even thofe of the wings and of the 
tail. The yonng birds of the later hatches which happen 
in September or after, fulFer much more from the moult¬ 
ing, than thofe which are excluded in the fpring ; in that 
delicate condition the cold is extremely pernicious, and 
they would all perilh If not kept where it is temperate, or 
even pretty warm. As long as the moulting lafts, nature 
labours at the produdfion of new feathers: and hence the 
exuberance of life being diverted into different channels, 
their ardour ceafes, and the bnfinefs of propagation is for 
the time fufpended. 
The moft fatal and the moft common diftemper, efpeci- 
ally in young canaries, is what is called the fwallow 
(avalurc), in which the bowels feem to be fvvallowed, and 
drawn to the extremity of their body ; the inteftines are 
perceived through the (kin of the belly in the ftate of in¬ 
flammation, rednefs, and diftenfion ; the feathers on that 
pattdrop, the bird pines, gives over eating, though al. 
ways fitting befide the food, and dies in a few days. The 
foiiice of thedifeafe is the exceftive abundance or richnefs 
of the aliments. All remedies are vain, and the change 
of regimen is the only thing which can recover a few out 
of a great number. The bird is put into a feparate cage, 
and given water and lettuce feeds ; thus the heat that 
confumes it is tempered, and evacuations are fometimes 
performed wliich fave its life. Tliis diftemper alfo is the 
fruit of their artificial education, for it feldom attacks 
thofe which are trained by their parents ; we ought there¬ 
fore to take the greateft care not to overfeed them with 
the (lick; boiled rape-feed, and fome chickweed, are 
proper, but no fugar or biicuit; and in general we fhoiild 
give them too little rather than too much. When the 
canary utters a frequent feeble cry, which feems to come 
from the bottomof its breaft, it is faid to be aflbmatic ; it 
is alfo fubje6t to a certain obftrudlion of voice, efpecially 
after moulting. This fort of afthnia is cured by giving 
it the feeds of plantain, and hard bifcuit (baked in white 
wine ; and to reffore its voice it ought to have generous 
food, fuel) as yolks of eggs beat up with crumbs of bread ; 
and for drink, liquorice-water, that is, water in which 
that root has been deeped and boiled. The canaries are 
alfo fubjett to a fort of fhanker on tlie bill. This difor- 
der is owing to the fame caiife with the fwallow, the 
abundance or.ricbnefs of food producing an inflammation, 
w hich, inftead of aft'edfing the inteftines, fometimes ex¬ 
tends to the throat or palate, the fame cooling remedies mnft 
be applied; they (lionld have lettuce-feeds and bruifed 
melon-feeds mixed with their drink. Tl'.e mites and the 
fcab, with which thefe (mall birds are fometimes affedted, 
are generally owing to the dirtinefs with which they are 
kept. Care muft be taken to preferve them clean, to 
give them water to bathe in, to avoid putting old 'or bad 
wood in their cages, and to cover them only with new 
cloth that is not moth-eaten ; and tlie feeds and herbs 
with which th.ey are to be fed (liould be fanned and wafti- 
ed. We muft pay this attention, if we would vvifli them 
to be neat and heal by. In the ftate of nature they would 
themfelves preferve cleanlinefs'; but imprifoned, tliey are 
fubjedt to the loathfome diforders incident to that ftate : 
however, many of thefe birds, though reduced to cap¬ 
tivity, are never (ick, and in thefe, habit feems to have 
become a (econd nature. In general, tliefomceof their 
difeafes is the heat of their eonftitution. They always 
need water : and if a plate with fnow be placed in the 
cage, or in the aviary, they will roll in it feveral times 
witi) expreffions of pleafure, though in the coldeft wea. 
ther. This proves that it is rather pernicious than ufefiil 
to keep them in very hot places. But there is anothee 
diftemper to wliicii the canaries and many otiier birds are 
fiihjedf, efpecially in the ftate of confinement ; this is the 
epilepfy. The yellow canaries in particniar are oftener 
than the others feized with the failing ficknefs, whicii 
attacks them (uddenly, and even furprifes tliem in the 
rnidft of tiieir moft impairioned (bng. Tiiofe that efcape 
tlie firft attack of this epilepfy, live a longtime alter, and 
2 fometimes 
