73 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, May 1, 1860. 
ing on (lie one*] uiml, exhausted or bad-barked scions ; and, on 
the other, the immature, watery spray which frequently springs 
from the old trunks of exhausted or diseased trees. 
Grafting Clay .—Take some strong and adhesive loam, ap¬ 
proaching to a clayey character, and beat and knead it until of 
the consistence of soft-soap. Take also some horse droppings, 
and rub them through a riddle, of half-inch mesh, until thoroughly 
divided. Get some cow manure, the fresher the better, and mix 
about equal parts of the three; kneading and mixing them until 
perfectly and uniformly mixed ; some persons add a little road 
scrapings to the mass. A vessel with very finely riddled ashes 
must bo kept by the side of the grafter, and after the clay is 
closed round the scion, the hands should be dipped in the ashes ; 
this enables the person who applies the clay to close the whole 
with a perfect finish. It must be so closed as that no air can 
possibly enter; and it is well to go over the whole in three or 
four days afterwards, \jheu, if any liaveD’ifted or cracked, they 
may bo closed finally. 
Grafting Wax .—The following recipe has been recommended 
by a first-rate authority. Take common sealing-wax, any colour 
but green, one part; mutton fat, one part; white wax, one part; 
and honey one-eighth part. The white wax and the fat are to be 
first melted, and then the sealing-wax is to be added gradually, 
in small pieces, the mixture being kept constantly stirred ; and, 
lastly, the honey must bo put in just before taking it off the fire. 
It should be poured hot into paper or tin moulds, to preserve for 
use as wanted, and be kept slightly stirred until it begins to 
harden.—J. 
(To he continued.) 
THE CANARY AND THE BRITISH FINCHES. 
{Continuedfrom,page 43.) 
THE CANARY (FringUla Canaria). 
German, Der Canarienvogel. French , Serin des Canaries. 
As wc are now arrived at that part of our present task in 
which a description of the Canary becomes necessary, and of 
which under domestication there are so many varieties, it will be 
most proper, in the first place, to devote a chapter to the origin 
of the species and its varieties. 
All naturalists and those who have written on this bird, are 
unanimous in tracing its origin to the Wild Canary of the Canary 
Islands, and designated by naturalists (FringUla Canaria). These 
Islands are situated in the Atlantic Ocean on the west side of 
northern Africa, and south of Madeira. 
Although naturalists have given a different name to the 
Madeira birds, yet they are by others considered identical,'and if 
there is any difference, it is probably but very trilling, such as 
may often be noticed among the inhabitants of neighbouring 
groups of islands, but scarcely sufficient to constitute a distinct 
species, most probably only a slight geographical variety. 
“ In the wild state, the prevailing hue, according to the ob¬ 
servations of Adanson, Labillardiere, and others, is grey or 
brown, mingled, however, with other colours, but never reaching 
the brilliancy of plumage exhibited by the bird in captivity ; a 
brilliancy arising from long domestication and repeated crosses 
I with analogous species. Its introduction into Europe is stated 
by some to have taken place in the fourteenth century ; but 
Bechstein names the beginning of the sixteenth. ‘ The arrival,’ 
says the author last quoted, ‘ of the Canary in Europe is thus 
i described :—A vessel which, in addition 4o its other merchandise, 
i was bringing a number of these birds to Leghorn, was wrecked 
J on the coast of Italy, opposite the island of Elba, where these 
little birds, having been set at liberty, took refuge. The climate 
being favourable they increased, and would certainly have become 
naturalised, had not the wish to possess them occasioned their 
being caught in such numbers that at last they were extirpated 
from their new abode. From this cause Italy was the first 
European country where the Canary was reared. At first their 
education was difficult, as the proper manner of treating them 
was unknown; and what tended to render them scarce was, that 
only the male birds were brought over—no females. The grey of 
its primitive colour, darker on the back and greener on the belly, 
has undergone so many changes from its being domesticated, 
from the climate, and from the union with birds analogous to it 
(in Italy with the Citril Finch, the Serin, in our country— 
Germany—with the Linnet, the Greenfinch, the Siskin, and the 
Goldfinch), that now we have Canaries of all colours. If we had 
not sufficient proof that Canaries came from the Fortunate 
Islands, we should think the Citril Finch, the Serin, and the 
Siskin, were the wild stock of the domesticated race. I have 
seen a bird whose parents were a Siskin and Serin, which per¬ 
fectly resembled a variety of the Canary which is called green. I 
have also seen mules from a female grey Canary in which was no 
trace of their true parentage.” 
Ulyssis Aldrovandus, in his second volume of Ornithology, 
Bologna, 1600, at page 814, gives the following :—“Do Passer- 
ibus Canariis. The Canary Sparrow, Canary or Sugar Bird, is 
| about the size of a common Pari, with a small white beak coming 
! to a point, the whole of the feathers of the tail green, very much 
like the bird that our countrymen call the Citrina (Citril Finch), 
and also that bird called Zisela (Siskin or Aberdevine), which the 
: Italians call Ligurinus, except that it is a little larger than either, 
i The cock is more yellow on the head above the beak, on the 
; breast and belly than the hen. They are fleshy without being 
: fat; the song is a very sharp and agreeable note, delivered with 
| many pleasing variations. Those are preferred that have the 
j smallest body and longest tail, they being the best singing 
| birds.” 
His plate exhibits a bird of rather long and slight form, much 
the make of a Chaffinch, and having the back marked like a 
Linnet. 
W. A. Osbnldiston, Esq., in the “ British Sportsman,” 1792, 
j says of the Canary, “An admirable singing bird, of a green 
colour, that takes its name from the place from whence they 
came,—viz., from the Canary Isles, and nowhere else; but of 
late years there is a sort of birds that are brought in abundance 
from Germany, especially from. Tirol, and are, therefore, called 
German birds, being a much better sort than the other, though 
their originals are supposed to have been first brought from the 
Canaries. These birds—that is, the cocks, never grow fat, and 
they cannot be distinguished by some country people from the 
common green birds, though the Canary birds are much lustier, 
have a longer tail, and differ much in the heaving of the passages 
I of the throat when they sing.” 
' In the last edition of Montagu’s “ Ornithological Dictionary,” 
(1833), it is stated that the FringUla Canaria, of Linnceus, whose 
habitation is said by Gmelin and Turton to be India, is not this 
species, but an apparently spurious one. In the twelfth edition 
of the “ Systema Naturae,” the habitat assigned to FringUla 
hulyracca is Madeira, and that allotted to FringUla Canaria is 
the Canary Islands. “Habitat in Canariis Insulis,” M. Gmelin’s 
edition. India and the Cape of Good Hope are the localities givt n 
to F. hutyracea; but the Canary Islands are still stated to be 
the habitat of F. Canaria. “Habitat in Insulis Canariis, aliisque 
Mari Atlantici, in littore Africa) orientali, per omnem Europam 
familiaris, longseva, egregie cantaus,” &c.—B. P. Bkent. 
(To be continued .) 
