F R I N G 
fornetimes attain tlie fame age with thofe wliicli have 
never been afFedted by that dirtemper. It is faid tliat a 
fmall incifion in the toes would be beneficial, for in tiiat 
way parrots are cured of the epilepfy. . 
Tlie hen canaries can, like the females of o’her birds, 
lay eggs without commerce with the male. Tl'.e egg, in 
itfelf, is only a matrix which the bird excludes, and will 
remain unprolific if not impregnated with the feed of the 
male; and the heat of incubation, inflead of quickening 
it, only haftens its puirefadtion. If the females he en¬ 
tirely feparated from the males, fo as not to fee and hear 
them, they very feldom lay; for they oftenefl drop their 
eggs when melted by the view or th.e fong of the males ; 
fo much do even diftant objedls adt upon feeling animals, 
and fo many are the w lys in v. hicli the fubtle llame of 
love is communicated. 
IVioft of the canary birds which are imported from 
Tyrol, have been educated by parents, the prosenitor of 
which was inllruhled by a nightingale; our Englifli canary 
birds have commonly more of the titlark notes. The 
traffic in thefe birds makes a fmall article of commerce', 
as four Tyrolefe generally bring over to England Cxteen 
thoufand every year; and though they carry them on 
their backs'one thouland miles, as well as pay twenty 
pounds duty for fuch a number, yet upon the whole it 
anfwers to I'ell thefe birds at five fliillings a-piece. The 
chief place for breeding canary birds is Infpruck and its 
environs, from whence they are fent to Conftantinople, as 
well as every part of Europe. Phil. Tranf. vol. Ixiii. 
part 2. 
The Mofambique canary, mentioned by BufFon as 
brought from Mofambique in Africa, is a variety of this 
fpecies, and fomevvhat fmaller; the body is brown above; 
eyebrows yellow. 
49. Fringilla flavcola, the faffron-fronted finch: fize 
of a canary-bird ; general colour yellow ; bill convex, of 
a pale colour, with a brown tip; th.e forehead falFron-co- 
lour; the back inclines to green; quills and tail edged 
with yellow ; legs pale. 
5^. Fringilla Ipinus, the fifkin. Of all the granivorous 
birds, the (itkin is reckoned the moft akin to the gold, 
finch; both have the bill elongated and flender near the 
point ; both ate gentle, docile, and lively. The fruits 
of their intermixture are alfo defirahle to propagate. 
Some natur.ilifts have been induced, by thefe analogies, 
to regard them as two contiguous varicties*belonging to 
the fame fpecies ; indeed all the granivorous birds may 
be clafled together ; for their crofs breeds are prolific. 
Since this general charafter ex tends to them all, it be¬ 
comes the more necelFary to feledt the diftinguifning fea. 
lures, and to trace the precife boundaries of each family. 
I'ig. 5, on the Plate, is a corre6F likenefs of the filkin. 
It is Imaller than the goldfinch ; its bill is proportionally 
fliorter, and its plumage is entirety different; its head is 
not red, but black ; its throat brown ; the fore part of 
its neck, its breaft, and the lateral quills of its tail, yel¬ 
low; the belly yellowifh-whiie ; the under part of the 
body olive-green, fpeckled with black, which affumes a 
yellow caff on the rump, and ftill more yellow on the fu- 
perior coverts of the tail. But in the more intimate qua¬ 
lities, which refult direftly from organization or inflindF, 
the differences are dill greater. The fifkin has a fong 
peculiar to itfelf, and much inferior to that of the gold¬ 
finch ; it is very fond of alder-feeds, which the goldfinch 
will never touch, and the fifkin, in its turn, is indifferent 
about thiflle-feeds ; it creeps along the branches, and fuf- 
pends itfelf from their extremity like a titmoufe. It is 
a bird of palFage, and in its migrations flies at a great 
height, and is heard before it can be feen; but the gold¬ 
finch continues with us the whole year, and never flies 
very high ; nor are thefe two birds ever obferved to alFo- 
ciate together. The fifkin can be taught, like the gold¬ 
finch, to draw up the little bucket; it is equally docile, 
and, though not fo adtive, it is more cheerful; for it be¬ 
gins always the earliefl in the morning to fing, and to 
Vol. VIII. No. 484. 
I L L A. fJi 
roufe the other birds. But, as it has an unfufpicious 
temper, if is eafily decoyed ii.to all forts of fnares, traps, 
fprings. Sec. and it is more eafily trained than any other 
bird caught in the adult flate. We need only to offer it 
habitually the proper fort of food in the hand, and it will 
foon become as tair.e as the moff familiar canary. We 
may even accuflom it to perch upon the h.and at tlie found 
of a bell; for if at firfl we ring at each meal, the fubtle 
afFociaiion of perceptions, which obtains alfo among the 
animals, will afterwards roufe it to the call. Though 
the fifkin appears to f'eledt its food with care, it confumes 
much ; but its voracious appetite is fubordinate to a no¬ 
ble paflion ; it has always in an aviary fome favourite of 
its own fpecies, or if that is not to be obtained, a bird of 
another fpecies, which it cherifhes and feeds with the 
fondnefs of a parent. It drinks often, but feldom bathes; 
it only approaches the margin of the water, and dips its 
bill and breaft, without much fluttering, except perhaps 
in hot weather. 
It is faid that it breeds on the fflands in the Rhine, in 
SwilTerland, Greece, and Hungary, and that it prefers 
the mountain forefts. It is a common praftice with bird- 
fanciers to crofs them with the canary ; but very fre¬ 
quently the eggs are addle ; for the temperament of the 
fifkin wants much of the warmth of the canary. The 
hybrids refemble both parents. 
In Germany, the fifkins begin to migrate in OiSfober, 
or even earlier; at this time they eat the hop-feeds, to 
the great injury of the proprietors; and the places where 
they halt are ftrewed with leaves. They entirely difap- 
pear in December, and return in F'ebruary. In Burgun¬ 
dy, they arrive at the feafou of vintage, and repafs when 
the trees are in flower; they are particularly fond of the 
blofFoms of the apple-tree. In autumn they defeend 
from tlie mountains, and appear in flocks of more than 
two hundred, and fit all upon the fame tree, or at a very 
little diftance from each other. The pafFage continue.s 
fifteen or twenty days, after which fcarcely any more are 
feen. Their immenfe flights happen only once in the 
courfe of three or four years, and fome have luppof'ed 
them to be brouglit by the wind. 
The fong of the fiflein is very agreeable, thotigh much 
inferior to that of the goldfinch, wliich it acquires, it is 
faid, with tolerable facility; it alfo copies the canary, 
the linnet, the pettychaps, &c. if it has an opportunity 
of hearing them wlien young. According to Olina, this 
bird lives ten years, and is but little fubjecl to difeafes, 
except the melting of the fat, when fed with hemp feed. 
The male lifkin has the top of the head black, the reft: 
of the upper part of the body olive, and llightly varie¬ 
gated with blackilh ; the fmall upper coverts of the tail 
entirely yellow ; the great coverts olive, terminated with 
cinereous ; fornetimes the throat is brown, and even 
black ; the cheeks, the fore-part of the neck, the breaft, 
and the lower coverts of the tail, of a fine lemon yellow ; 
the belly yellowifti-white ; the flanks the fame, but 
fpeckled with black ; there are tw'o olive or yellow tranf- 
verfe ftripes on the wings, the quills of which are black- 
ifti, edged exteriorly with an olivp-grecn; the quills of 
the tail yellow, except the two intermediate ones, which 
are blackifh, edged with olive-green; they have all a 
black ffiaft ; the bill has a brown point, the reft white, 
and the legs are grey. In the female, the upper part of 
the head is variegated with grey, and the throat is white. 
This bird is pretty common throughout Europe, and 
found not unfrequently in England in the winter feafon ; 
but in fome years much fcarcer than in others. During 
the time of its being in England, it maybe met with 
mixed with the lelFer redpole, on alder-trees, fornetimes 
in great numbers; it often runs on the under part of the 
branches, feeding on the feeds of thefe trees; and de¬ 
parts in fpring. No one has deferibed the neft. It is 
fuppofed to conceal it with great cunning; nor has it 
ever been known to breed with us. In Sullex it is called 
the barley bird^ as being feen in that feed time. About 
R London 
