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THE CANARY,

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2009 with funding from

Boston Library Consortium IVIember Libraries

http://www.archive.org/details/canaryitsvarietiOOOOsmit

OUK CANARIES.

THE CANARY

ITS VARIETIES, MANAGEMENT,
AND BREEDING.

REV. F. SMITH

WITH COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS.

LONDON :
FREDERICK WARNE AND CO.,

AND NEW YORK.

PREFACE.

The following little Work has been written
for the purpose of conveying to the public a
somewhat more extensive and accurate know-
ledge of the many different breeds and beautiful
varieties to be found in that most delightful
of household pets, the Canary^ than generally
appears to exist.

The information given, being " a plain un-
varnished tale" of the writer's own personal
experience, will, it is hoped, prove alike inte-
resting and instructive to the reader ; while the
illustrations, drawn by his daughter, being

n Preface.

portraits of liis own birds, will serve as a guide
to those Y\^lio may wish (like the Author) to
form a systematic and choice collection for
themselves.

CONTENTS,

CHAPTER I.

A Plea foe the Canaey . « « , .1

CTJAPTBK II.
OeIGIN 0? OUE OWlf Oa2?aeia .... 7

CHAPTER III.
The Wild Canaet . . . „ , .17

CHAPTER IV.

OUS LiZAEDS ...... 21

CHAPTER V.

OUE YOEKSHIEE SPANGLES AND NOEWICH YeLLOWS . . 29

CHAPTER VI.
OuE London Fancy Bieds ..... 36

CHAPTER VII.
Our Belgians . . . . . . ,43

CHAPTER VIII.
OuE Geeen Biscs . . ^ , , ,51

viii Contents,

CHAPTER IX.

OiTE Cinnamons . . . , e .58

CHAPTER X.
Peince Ciiaeming and nis CnAEiriNa Peinczes . . 69

CHAPTER XI.

OuE Tuen-Ceests . . . . ^ ^ « 76

CHAPTER XIE,
The Dominie and the Geemans . ... 81

CHAPTER XIII.
On Mules , . . . . - . .89

CHAPTER XIV.
Peepaeations for Beeeding . . , , , QQ

CHAPTER XV.
Nest-Boxes and Nests ...... 106

CHAPTER XVI.

OUE FlEST BlEDS . . . . . ,112

CHAPTER XVII.
Otjb Miseoetunes . . . . , , 121

CHAPTER XVIII.
OuE Infiemaey ...... 129

CHAPTER XIX.
On Cages . . . . . . . .138

THE CANARY;

ITS

YARIETIES, MANAGEMENT, AND BREEDINa

CHAPTER I.

A PLEA FOU THE CANARY.

OST persons/' says Mr. Slaneyin his interest-
ing outline of the smaller British birds, ^' are
acquainted with three birds— a sparrow, a
robin, and a blackbird. Some beside know a skylark ;
as to the rest, they are often confounded under the
general and rather degrading name of sn^all birds. We
have sometimes," he continues, ^' asked our fair friends
if they knew as many of the smaller birds as they could
count on their fingers ! They generally answered con-
fidently in the affirmative, but could seldom get much
beyond one hand ! "

The ignorance here complained of is not limited to
the wild species only, but it is equally true, we fear, of
the tame. Take, for example, the subject of the fol-
lowing pages. Everybody supposes that they know a
canary when they see it ; but bring their knowledge to
a practical test by a few plain questions, or set before
them a bird whose plumage in any material degree

1

2 The Canary.

differs from the ordinary yellow bird familiar to us all,
and the chances are ten to one that, like the fair friends
alluded to by Mr. Slaney, they will soon discover their
mistake. I think I shall not be far wrong when I say
that the only idea which most people have of our little
favourite is limited to the bare fact that it is a yellow
bird having sometimes a patch of black on its head and
wings, and singing lustily in its cage. But never was
there a greater mistake. No bird represents such a
variety in its plumage, or exhibits so great a diversity
in its shape. No one, we are bold to affirm, seeing the
lizards, the cinnamon, or even a good green bird fot
the first time, unless a scientific naturalist, would ever
dream that they were canaries.

An amusing illustration of the truth of this remark
occurred to ourselves only a short time ago. Having
placed a beautiful cinnamon or fawn-coloured bird
that we had just purchased and brought home upon the
table, a party of ladies soon afterwards called, and
became quite enchanted with the singularly delicate
hue of its plumage, but never for a moment suspected
that it was a canary. Perceiving their ignorance, some
of the children, on their inquiring its name and coun-
try, maliciously replied that it was a foreign bird called
Sylph, which in one sense was true enough, for I need
scarcely tell any of my young readers that canaries came
originally from the Fortunate Isles, while the name we
had given to the bird in question was, as our youngsters
declared, " Sylph." With this explanation they were
perfectly satisfied. When, after keeping up the joke
for some time, you may judge of their surprise on being

A Plea for the Canary. S

told fnat in reality it was only a very common bird
called a canary, and that the name we had given it was
only its own familiar designation amongst ourselves.
Of course they heartily laughed at the deception that
had been temporarily practised upon them, and con-
fessed their ignorance upon the subject, though they
had all lived in the country, and therefore more or less
supposed to be familiar with birds, and what is more,
had even been keepers of canaries themselves ! The
same thing has occurred over and over again with our
lizards, and a beautiful wild specimen brought from
the island of St. Helena, portraits of which are here-
after given. Indeed, except those engaged in the trade,
or in the breeding of prize birds for exhibition, few
people are aware of the many very different breeds and
beautiful varieties which are to be found amongst these
charming birds.

Much has been said and written during the past few
years to create a taste for the aquarium and the crawling,
cold-blooded inhabitants of the water. With the upper
classes there was quite a mania for awhile to make an
acquaintance with the stickleback and the newt, and
every one was professing an interest in the gyrations of
a goggling gulping carp, or the mountebank antics of a
lively minnow ! Well ! chacun a son gout — every one
to his taste, as the French say. These, to some minds,
may be interesting for a time ; but give me an aviary of
canaries, whose beautiful colour, elegant form, charming
docility, and sweet song, at once charm the eye, de-
light the ear, and enlist my sympathies ! To my
mind there is no comparison between the two, and I

4 The Canary.

really wonder tlie latter has never become the fashion
of the day. When canaries were first introduced into
England^ they were so highly prized that none but the
most wealthy could afford to purchase them ! In the
days of Queen Elizabeth they appear to have been
appreciated as they deserved, but in the days of Queen
Victoria, — who, however, we believe is a notable ex-
ception to the general rule, and who has, we understand,
a beautiful collection at Osborne — except by the lower
class of people who breed them for sale or show, these
beautiful birds seem to be little admired or regarded !
How seldom do we see more than one in a house of the
middle classes, how rarely do we meet with any number
collected together in an aviary or room for the purpose of
breeding amongst those who could well afford to do so !
Why is this ? Has our pretty favourite lost anything
of its original beauty of plumage by its domestication
amongst us? Is it less elegant in form, less docile in
its temper, or less loving and winsome in its manners,
tlian were its progenitors three hundred years ago ?
By no means; the beauty of its plumage, the elegance
of its figure, the docility of its disposition, the charming
familiarity which induces it to nestle without fear or
reserve beside us, to say nothing of its melodious song
which has of late years been well nigh cultivated to
perfection, are as striking and prominent as ever. Truly
its winsome ways and interesting habits claim and
deserve the attention of all classes of society, and if
bestowed, we venture to say would unquestionably
afford a never-ending round of innocent amusement and
delight.

A Plea for the Canary. 5

Strange^ passing strange, that this Leautiful bird is
not oftener found in the homes of the middle and upper
classes of society than it is. How many a sitting-room
opening towards the morning sun^ whose walls are now
bare of any ornament, either from pictures or bookcase,
might be adorned and enlivened by a miniature aviary
between the chimney and the window, like the one
hereafter to be described. To the sick, or to the invalid
obliged to pass the long dreary months of winter within
the house, how many an otherwise gloomy hour would
their presence lighten, how much interesting occupa-
tion and unfatiguing labour would they afford and call
into exertion ? How attractive and useful, too, where-
ever there are children, would such an aviary be in a
nursery, especially in large towns, where little or no
opportunity for studying the habits of birds is pre-
sented ! To watch them build their nest, patiently
brood over their eggs, and hatch and feed their callow
young, are operations which are not only intensely in-
teresting to every child, but may be turned with mani-
fest advantage to great practical account. Here they
may silently learn those invaluable lessons of kindness,
and love, and patience, which shall fit them for the
trials of after life, and, it may be, be imprinted on their
hearts for ever ! Who can tell what consideration for
the wants and forbearance with the faults of others these
little songsters may be the means of instilling into the
youthful mind thus privileged to watch them in their
daily course? Who can say what stimulus and en-
couragement such an aviary might not often afford to
the study of every department of natural history, whicli

6 The Canary.

but for it miglit never be undertaken ! Seeing and
knowing little, many a cliild, we feel assured, would
naturally be led to desire to know more. Books thereon,
as a natural consequence, would be sought after with
avidity, and read with profit and delight, which but for
the canaries might probably lie idle and unlocked into
on the shelf. As the cost is so trifling, the pleasure so
great, the interest never ceasing, and the effect so good,
w^e feel persuaded that the idea only requires to be sug-
gested for many to carry it out in practice in their nur-
series and homes. At any rate, should any be led to
make the experiment, we can promise them a golden
mine of amusement and delight, which those who have
never tried it would little credit or suspect. As Robert
Nicholl sang of its kindred finch — the linnet — so may
we, with equal or greater truth, say of the canary :

*' Some humble heart is sore and sick with gi'ief.
And straight thou camest with thy gentle song,
To wile the sufferer from its hate or wrong,
By bringing nature's love to his relief.
Thou churmest by the sick child's window long
Till aching pain itself be wooed to sleep ;
And when away have vanished flower and leaf,
Thy lonely wailing voice for them doth weep —
Linnet, wild linnet !

" God saw how much of woe, and grief, and care,
Man's faults and follies on the earth would make;
And thee, sweet singer, for His creature's sake,
He sent to warble wildly everywhere.
And by our souls to love to wake.
Oh ! blessed wandering spirit ! unto thee
Pure hearts are knit, as unto things too fair
And good and beautiful of ear.th to be —

Linnet ! wild linnet ! "

COMMON CANARY.

I 7 %

m,i. ''■ t.

Origin of our own Canaria, 1

CHAPTER II.

ORIGIN OF OUR OWN CANARIA.

]IKE many a greater undertaking, our caiiaria
had its origin in a very small beginning. Its
first traces, I believe, are to be found in a well-
meant gift of a kind granny to my daughter Judy, who,
I may as well say, once for all, was evidently " born to
love pigs and poultry," and which consisted of a common
yellow canary purchased in the market of my native
town. Had I been able to foresee the result of this very
questionable action, it is more than likely that I should
have exclaimed, with Mr. Jorrocks, of famous fox-
hunting celebrity and renown : — '-^ Confound all pre-
sents wot eats j" while she, I think, would hardly have
consented to be the innocent cause of such a large
expenditure in cages, birds, and seed, as that which has
since taken place. Happily, however, for Judy, I was
no seer, and granny was not gifted, like the famous
heroine of Lucknow, with second sight. The purchase
was made on the eve of our return home from an annual
visit we pay into ^^ the shires ;" and back dicky was
brought to the smoky city of Manchester, where for
many years it was our lot to be located. Of this bird I
remember little, save that he was a good yellow, pos-
sessed a very amiable disposition, and was a most
uproarious songster. Indeed, so noisy was he during
lessons, that my wife was obliged to cover his cage with
a cloth before ever she began to teach, which the chil-
dren, of course, voted a great shame. He lived a

8 The Canary.

bachelor's life, all alone, for about three years, when he
died in moulting, whilst we were all away from home
in the autumn, probably from neglect, being left in
charge of a servant, who knew little and cared less
about the requirements of birds under these trying cir-
cumstances. Great was the grief amongst our young-
sters at this untoward event, for such a thing as his
dying had never entered their heads, and they probably
expected that he would live for ever. To soothe their
grief and repair the loss, on a fine Saturday morning
towards the end of October, I and the three elder
children, having set out on our usual marketing expedi-
tion, paid a sauntering visit to the bird fanciers' stalls.
Here we loitered about for some time, more out of
curiosity than with any idea of buying, when we sud-
denly found ourselves standing before an old man's
cage, who soon endeavoured to turn the occasion to
account by soliciting our attention to the quality of his
wares, and setting them off to the best advantage he
could. Though the day was somewhat cold and bleak,
and the birds were starved, we saw enough to make us
listen to his tale, and finally to make a purchase of
what seemed to us then a pretty little curiously-marked
grey hen canary, but about which I shall have more to
speak in another chapter, leaving behind another sin-
gularly coloured companion, which, after all, perhaps,
was the prettier, and certainly the more rare bird of the
two. The one we purchased was, to a fancier's eye, by
no means a good specimen of her kind, her feathers
being all tipped with white, which they should not be,
and her general colour being, instead of pure grey,

Origin of our otv7t Cajiaria. 9

tinged here and there with a yellowish green. Still,
for all that J she was a very pretty bird, and we were all
highly delighted with her purchase. We took her
home, as usual, in a little paper bag, which, I may
observe, is by far the best way of carrying a bird you
purchase without a cage, and always to be had at the
nearest grocer's shop, when she evinced a most amiable
disposition, and soon became as tame as our original
dickey himself. Having thus got a hen canary, the
idea not very unnaturally occurred, how nice it would
be to have some young ones ! The thought was so cap-
tivating to the youngsters, that it soon took firm hold
of their minds, and culminated into an intense desire to
make the attempt. But how was this to be done ? Our
house was so small, and our family so large, there was
no room for such a thing, seeing that canaries, when
breeding, require not only a goodly space, but plenty of
light, and perfect quiet. The only room in the house
fit for the purpose was clearly the children's nursery,
and the place where the birds ought to be was already
taken up with bookshelves, on which were piled, besides
books, innumerable boxes and toys, including a four-
roomed doll's house, which they had made and fitted up
out of so many old tea-chests they had begged for the
purpose, and which almost reached up to the ceiling.
Well, what was to become of these? There was no
other visible place for them in the nursery. Oh, this
should be no obstacle in the way, they replied, if I
would only let them have an aviary, and remove the
books to the other side of the room, they would do all
the rest. Their mucli-loved doll's house should be

10 The Canary. .

stowed away in their bedroom, and all the other boxes
should be put into drawers at once, if I would only
consent. Well, I thought, the thing is feasible, and
will please me almost as much as the children. So we
set to work with a hearty good will ; the things were
soon stOAved away and the bookshelves put up else-
where, leaving two of the latter to form the floor and
top of our proposed aviary. I then ordered a piece of
nicely tinned wirework, four feet ten inches long by
two and a half feet deep, to be made, having three
sliding doors, so placed as that one should be in the
centre near the bottom, and one near the top at either
end, so that the birds might be readily cleaned and fed,
and their nest-boxes be changed when required. And
■now we were all impatience to begin. The wire was
faithfully promised by the end of the week ; but, alas !
Saturday arrived, and yet no appearance of any wire.
Off we set the first thing on Monday morning, to know
the reason why, when again it was faithfully promised
the next day. That day came, and another, and another,
but still no wire. A second Saturday night, and we
felt sure it would come. Every footstep that passed by
the street-door was listened to with bated breath, and
every rap sent the hearts of the children, who were now
wound up to the highest pitch of excitement, straight
into their mouth ; but still all ended in disappointment,
and they were again obliged to go to bed without that
long-expected wire. A second Monday sees us at the
rascally wire-maker's door, who we now discover to
have been all along paying his devotions to his favourite
god Bacchus, and too fuddled with drink to work. This

Origin of our own Canaria. 1 1

was past all endurance, so we left word that if it watj
not completed and brought home by the next day, we
snould give the order to some one else, which at once
produced the desired result. The wire arrived late one
night, and I was fain to buckle to, and put it up at
once, for until this was done the children, I soon saw,
would let me have no peace.

Although abhorring all manual labour from my
youth, and seldom taking a tool in my hands, lest, as
they say of the monkeys and their talking, I should be
made to work, I accordingly commenced my task.
Though a seemingly simple operation, it took me longer
than I expected, so that the children had to be sent oif
to bed in the middle of the work ; and it was nearly
twelve o'clock before I had brought my labours to an
end. Two shelves of wood, little more than a foot wide,
and four feet six inches long, placed against the wall
between the chimney corner and a large bay window
opening to the morning sun, formed the floor and roof
of our miniature aviary ; four narrow iron stanchions
placed at equal distances apart, form so many supports
for the latter, and at the same time tend to strengthen
the wirework to which they are bound ; and thus the
whole thing is complete for the trifling sum of twelve
shillings.

On coming down stairs the next morning, the children
w^ere enchanted at the sight. The long-wished-for desire
of their hearts was no longer an airy vision of the ima-
gination, like the castles and palaces of some fairy tale,
but a great reality. Aladdin himself could not have
been more delighted with the view cf his enchanted

12 The Canary.

palace than were they with the vision of this palatial
residence for their dickies. The long-drawn lines of
the brightly-tinned wire shining in the morning sun,
contrasting in strong relief with the dark iron stanchions
to which the wire was bound, gave a charm and airy
lightness to the whole, which exceeded the utmost
bounds of their conception. They at once expressed
intense satisfaction and delight at this happy realisation
of their wishes, which thus formed a handsome, spacious,
and useful aviary, at a very trifling cost, fit for the
habitation of the very choicest specimens of canary
land.

To transfer the birds to their new habitation, and
see how they would look, was but the work of a few
minutes ; and the only regret was we had not another
above it. This, we all thought, would not only be ex-
tremely useful for the birds, but greatly improve the
appearance of the whole. As it would only require
another shelf, and a piece of wirework similar to the
other, we decided at once to double the size of our
aviary, which accordingly was soon done.

As all would clearly have to be taken down and re-
arranged, we think it would decidedly add to the beauty
of the whole, if in place of the dark claret-coloured
paper with which the wall at the back was then covered,
a light blue marble-coloured paper was substituted in-
stead. This we thought would certainly contrast better
with, and set off to greater advantage, the yellow
plumage of the birds, as well as make it more cheerful
and light. Accordingly, having procured the necessary
paper, to my other accomplishments I add that of paper-

Origin of our OtfDn Cana via. 13

hanger for the nonce, with Judy for my help. Though
I had not served a regular apprenticeship to the trade,
I never doubted for a moment but that we should soon
accomplish the task, and was somewhat surprised to
find out that, like many other things in the world, it
was not so easy as it seemed.

The woodwork being put up first, it seemed tlie
quickest and most natural way to cut the paper the
whole length required at once, rather than into a
number of short strips from the roof to the floor. This
I accordingly did; and having often seen how the
regular practitioners paste a whole piece before putting
it on the wall, I thought I would do the same. So,
spreading my paper on the window-seat, I soon put on
the necessary paste to my complete satisfaction. Thus
far all was well, and I had only to put it up against the
wall close by and dab it down with a cloth. But,
alas ! how true is the saying, " There's many a slip
between the cup and the lip." Taking hold of the
upper corner of one end, Judy doing the same at the
other, I just succeeded in raising it to the desired place,
when, horror of horrors ! the whole, from its weight,
gave way in our hands, tearing in all directions. As
fast as we attempted to save one part, another began to
go ; our fingers thus got all over paste, and we made
an awful mess of the little we managed to preserve, till
at length, seeing the hopelessness of our task, we gave
it up as a bad job, when a general collapse ensuing, the
whole mass fell to the ground in one irreparable heap of
rubbish and ruin ! Here was a practical proof, indeed,
of the proof of the proverb which says, '^ the more haste.

14 The Canary,

the worst speed/' at the same time that it showed us
what is very often hard to heheve, viz., that we were not
quite so clever as we thought. Though certainly dis-
comfited, we were not dismayed, hut gaining wisdom by
experience, we manfully set about our work again,
singing the while —

" The web ^nong the leaves
The spider weaves
Is like the gay charm Hope hangs o'er menj
Though often she sees
*Tis broke by the breeze.
She spins the bright tissue again."

Instead, however, of trying to do it all at once, we
cut our paper according to the depth required. These
short lengths were soon put up by mamma, who now
came to our aid. Slips of plate-glass, about two inches
deep, were fitted inside the bottom of the wirework, so
as to take out at pleasure, through which the birds
looked very pretty, and could ahvays be seen, whilst they
kept the sand and seed from falling out and being
scattered about the room. A cut-glass vase, in each
compartment, to hold their water to drink, and to bathe
in, gave additional lustre to the whole, which, thus
finished, became quite as ornamental to the room as it
was useful for the purpose we intended.

Having thus completed our aviary, we naturally
began to wonder how many young ones we should
have, how pretty they would look just popping their
heads over the sides of their nest, and how charming it
would be to see them first hop abroad in the world.
Mready visions of profit began to rise before our eyes
is we bef]ran to calculate the numbers we should have

Origin of our own Canaria. 15

to dispose of, and the prices they would unquestionably
fetch. Supposing, we argued, we had four pairs of
birds in each aviary, and each pair bred twice a year
only, and reared four young birds each time, a very
moderate calculation, we considered, seeing that many
writers put them down as breeding generally three and
sometimes four times a season, and having five and six
at a brood, and supposing that each pair only fetched
five shillings, then it was pretty clear that we should
not only pay our expenses, but realise a considerable
profit besides. Thus, like the enthusiastic milkmaid in
the fable, did we hoist our basket of eggs upon our
heads, and count our chickens before they were hatched.
The birds, however, were not yet bought that were to
produce these golden dreams; and the question was,
how and by whom the necessary capital was to be
raised. Judy, as the owner of dicky, wanted to go
shares with me in all that were bought, so that she
might have an interest in each pair, and share in the
profits they were to bring. Agnes was of the same
mind, and wished to do the same, while Gerty was in-
different, Letty too prudent, and poor Polly, as usual,
unable. This, however, I thought would dip too deeply
into their exchequer ; so I compromised the matter by
allowing the two former to advance ten shillings each
from their own funds, and to beg another ten for the
purpose from their granny, and I would find the remain-
der, the whole to be divided ifitv^ 60 many shares, accord-
ing to the capital ultimately required, and each receiving
a proportionate amount of the profits that should be
made. Thus Judy, Agnes, and myself, entered into a

18 21ie Canary.

sort of joint-stock partnersliip with limited liability for
the purpose of breeding canaries — an arrangement which
suited all parties, and gave great satisfaction to each.
The firm being thus completed, we entered upon the
business with great zest, having full confidence in the
soundness of our project, and deriving from it much
immediate pleasure, which was certain to increase as
the spring came on, if it did not actually realise our
most sanguine expectations of profit.

" Where is tlie troubled heart consigned to share
Tumultuous toils, or solitary cure,
Uublest by visionary thoughts that stray
To count the joys of fortune's better day ?
Oh ! vainly wise, the moral muse hath sung.
That suasive hope hath but a syren tongue !
True, she may sport with life's untutor'd day,
Nor heed the solace of its last decay ;
The guileless heart her happy mansion spun.
And part, like Ajut, never to return !

" And yet methinks, when wisdom shall assuage
The grief and passions of our greener age,
Though dull the close of life, and far away
Each flower that hailed the dawning of the day;
Yet o'er her lovely hopes, that once were dear.
The time-taught spirit, pensive, not severe,
With milder griefs her aged eye shall fill.
And weep their falsehood, though she loves thein EtilL*'

— ^^-^^t^^M^^-^-' —

THE WILD CANARY.

THE EMPEROR.

The Wild Canary— ^The Emperor, 17

CHAPTER III. •

THE WILD CANARY THE EMPEROR.

pHE picture on the opposite page is an accurate
drawings both as to form and colour^of a beau-
tiful wild canary now in our aviary, and
which, from his being brought from the island of
St. Helena, we call the Emperor. He has now
just got over his second autumnal moulting, and, to
a casual observer bears little resemblance to the ordi-
nary yellow domesticated bird, with which we are all
familiar. His beak and legs are shining black, and
much more powerful than those in the tame species, as
he will soon let you know if you take him in your
hand. His body also is much stouter, approaching
more the fulness of the linnet than the tapering
slenderness of the golden-yellow birds bred in England
and Belgium. No one, looking at him for the first
time, would suppose that the bright grass green of his
back, with darker wing coverts and tail, had any
alliance with any of the varieties commonly found at
home. Yet such is the case. All writers agree that
their natural colour is a greyish brown, merging into
yellowish green in the under parts of the body. *^ In
their native state," says a writer in the ' Popular Cyclo-
paedia,' " they are of a dull and uniform green, and
exhibit none of that richness and variety which are so
much admired in the tame ones." Our bird is any-
thing but dull in his colours ; on the contrary, both the
green on his back and the yellow of his belly are of

18 TJie Canary.

til e' most vivid kind, the former not having the least
mixture of brown usually found in the green birds bred
at home. His song, too, is entirely different from the
tame variety, nothing like so loud or piercing, but
more approaching the subdued warbling of the gold-
finch or linnet. Indeed it is acknowledged on all
hands, that the song of our domesticated birds is alto-
gether artificial, being little else than a compound of
notes learned from other birds.

It was about the beginning of the sixteenth century
that the canary became first known in Europe, when
a ship having a large number on board, and destined
for Leghorn, was wrecked on the coast of Italy. The
birds having regained their liberty, flew to the nearest
land, which happened to be the island of Elba, where
they found so mild a climate that they built their nests
there, and became very numerous. But the desire to
possess such beautiful songsters led to their being
hunted after, until the whole wild race was quite
destroyed. In Italy, therefore, we find the first tame
canaries, and here they are still reared in great numbers.
Their original locality, however, was the Canary Isles,
from whence, I suppose, they derive their name On
the banks of small streams, in the pleasant valleys of
these lovely islands, they build their nest in the branches
of the orange-trees, of which they are exceeding fond ; as
an instance of this, even in this country birds have been
known to find their way into the greenhouse, and select
the fork of one of the branches of the orange-tree on
which to build their nest, seeming to be pleased with
the sweet perfume of its blossoms.

The Wild Cmiary—TJie Emper^. ^ 19 ''' "^ . ^

As they are natui-ally inhabitants of warm cl
and made still more delicate by constant residence in
rooms, it is of the highest importance to keep these
birds in a warm equable temperature during winter,
and free from all cold draughts of air in summer, two
hours' exposure to the latter either in summer or winter
being sufficient not only to cause sickness, but certain
death. To keep canaries in a healthy and happy state,
it is desirable that the cage should be frequently hung
in brilliant day-light, or, if in a room, that it should
open towards the morning sun, which especially they
delight in, and which when bathing is as necessary as
it is agreeable to them.

So attractive has been found the canary on account
of its pretty form and charming qualities of its mind,
that it is now kept and reared throughout the whole of
Europe, and even in Russia and Siberia. Indeed, as
Beckstein has justly remarked, ^^ the qualities of its
mind are as varied, or even more so than its plumage^
for amongst them it has been discovered, as amongst
quadrupeds and even men, some individuals are gay,
and others melancholy; some quarrelsome, others mild;
some intelligent, others stupid ; some with quick memo-
ries, others lazy; some greedy, others frugal; some
petulant, others gentle ; some ardent, others cold."
Our own aviary amply bears out this statement, and
proves what an infinite fund of pleasing recreation and
instructive amusement a very small collection of these
very beautiful birds will afford. Thus Buttercup is the
gayest of the gay, whilst Daisy will sit and mope upon
her perch for hours together, immoveable as " patience

20 The Canary,

upon a monument smiling at grief." Lady Grey is
amiability itself, whilst Spangle, her lord and master,
is irascible and fierce as the baron of Shurland Castle
when he called for his wondrous boots. Dandy is
energetic, as Sultan is portly and sedate. Marquis is
mild and gentle, whilst Prince Charming is the essence
of good breeding and propriety. Little Brilliant is lazy
and greedy, as Blanche is quick and the Princess
distingue in her breeding. Seraph has a wonderfully
retentive memory, having learnt many, of the notes of
the German canaries in whose company he was but a
few days. In short, each bird has its own characteristic
individuality, and is a study in itself, ever varying in
its mood with the changing circumstances of the hour.
Ill sunshine gay, in winter dull, in spring-time full of
life and vigour, in autumn moulting, and sick, and
weak ; when courting the most ardent of lovers, when
married the most dutiful and affectionate of husbands,
helping their wives with the most assiduous attention
when making their nest, and superintending the
bringing up and education of their family with exem-
plary regularity and care, now receiving some delicate
morsel from their owner's hand, and then showing their
gratitude by repaying him with a song. Such are some
of the many attractive qualities of the canary, such are
the traits of character which our own present to our
daily notice. The reader, therefore, may judge for
himself whether we have overrated the merits of these
charming birds, or can possibly be wrong in thus re-
commending them to the more favorable notice of the
public.

HE LIZARD CANARY.

SPAN'GLK AND LADY GREY.

Our Lizards. 21

' Birds ! birds ! ye are beautiful things.

With your earth-treading feet, and your cloud-cleaving wings j
Where shall man wander, and where shall he dwell,
Beautiful birds, that ye come not as well ?
Ye have nests on the mountain, all rugged and stark.
Ye have nests in the forest, all tangled and dark ;
Ye build and ye brood 'neath the cottager's eaves,
And ye sleep on the sod 'mid the bonnie green leaves ;
Ye hide in the heather, ye lurk in the brake,
Ye dive in the sweet flags that shadow the lake ;
Ye skim where the stream parts the orchard-decked land,
Ye dance where the foam sweeps the desolate strand.
Beautiful birds ! ye come thickly around.
When the bud's on the branch and the snow's on the ground ;
Ye come when the richest of roses flush out.
And ye come when the yellow leaf eddies about.
Beautiful birds ! how the schoolboy remembers
The warblers that chorused his holiday time ;
The robin that chirped in the frosty Decembers ;
The blackbird that whistled through flower-crown'd June.
That schoolboy remembers his holiday ramble,
When he pulled every blossom of palm he could see,
When his finger was raised as he stopped in the bramble.
With ' Hark ! there's the cuckoo; how close he must be !*'*

CHAPTER IV.

OUR LIZARDS.

O great has been the effect of domestication, and
the pains that have been taken in their breeding,
that canaries may now be found of almost every
hue and colour. " Buffon enumerates twenty varieties,"
says a writer in the ^ Popular Encyclopaedia,' " and many
more," he continues, " might probably be added to the
list, were all the changes incident to a state of domestica-

22 The Cananj.

tion carefully noted." We know not how these gentle-
men would classify them, or what diiFerence is sufficient,
in their estimation, to constitute a distinct variety.
Many, we imagine, would be but slight modifications of
the same general colour, and could scarcely be anything
more than slight and fanciful variations at the most.
For our own part, we think the following will include
most of those which have any claim to be considered a
distinct variety, and even these will be found in breed-
ing to produce birds quite different in colour to them-
selves, so that the variety spoken of is rather to be
understood as an accidental circumstance belonging
only to the individual bird, than as referring to any
difference in the breed to which it may thus chance
to belong. Setting aside the wild canary, v/e have
the well-defined lizards, the Yorkshire spangles, the
Norwich golden yellows, the London orange, with
black wings and tail, the green, the cinnamon or fawn,
the buff or pale yellow, the pure white, the orange
Belgian, and the German, and under one or other of
these heads all the rest may be ranged. As we have
specimens of all these varieties in our own aviary, we
shall say a few words upon each, and Judy will give
accurate portraits of the birds, which together we hope
may prove both instructive and interesting to all who
may honour our pages with a perusal.

Curiously enough, the first bird that we purchased
was, perhaps, the most rare, as certainly it is the most
distinct variety, viz., the Lizard, so called from some
fancied resemblance in its markings to the reptile of
that name. The coloured representations on the oppo-

Our Lizards. 23

site page are very fair likenesses, and convey a very
good idea of a pair of our own birds, whose history I
will now relate. Were they not told beforehand, few
people, I think, would take them for canaries, which
thus bears out the assertion I made at the beginning of
the book as to the general ignorance which prevails
amongst people unconnected w^ith the trade, and shows
at a glance what a variety there is amongst them.

It was on a fine November morning, now some years
ago, that Judy and I started off to a well-known bird-
dealer's, to make our first purchase for the new aviary.
We set out with the intention of buying a pair of the
London variety, which, however, "we found not to be
much in request amongst the bird-fanciers of Lanca-
shire, and therefore seldom to be met with in Manchester.
The nearest approach to anything of the kind we saw
was a bird of a golden-yellow colour, with black spots
or stripes on the crown of his head. As he was a
lively, elegant-shaped bird, though somewhat weakly
and very young, we soon had him separated from his
companions, and hung in a black show-cage for our
inspection. With good keep and careful attention we
thought he would soon outgrow these deficiencies, anc*
as we otherwise thought him a desirable bird, there we
left him, whilst we looked round the stock in thb
adjoining room, and finally determined on the propriety
of his purchase.

Here, amongst others, we saw a whole cage- full of
that charming variety called the Lizard, but whose
markings remind me much more of the gold and silver-
pencilled Hamburg fowl^ or Sebright's bantam, so well

2i The Canary/,

known amongst poultry, as will be seen from our illus-
tration. Their distinguishing characteristic consists in
having the crown of the head, either pure white or
yellow, like the tonsure of a Cistercian monk, whilst
the re^t of the upper part of their bodies are covered
all over with regular black spots on a clear grey or
bright orange, after the manner of the fowls above
alluded to. The tail, wings, and feet should be of a
uniform dark hue, without any admixture of white,
while the throat and breast should be of a lighter shade
and approach more nearly the colour of the head.

It so happened that in the cage before us were some
particularly good specimens of the kind, and I need
hardly say we were delighted with our visit. As yet,
however, we had no idea of making a purchase, believing
them to be altogether out of our reach, and so we told
the dealer at once, and were about to pass on. This,
however, he would not hear of, no doubt thinking that,
like the clockmaker and his clocks, if he could only
gain a hearing, he might safely trust to human nature
to finish the bargain. So taking a slight wand in his
hand, he soon separated from out of some twenty or
thirty others one of the finest birds he had in the
room. Placing him in a jet black cage upon the table,
with the rays of the morning sun shining brightly on
his plumage, he required no Yankee soft sawder to
commend him in our eyes. Judy was enchanted, I was
delighted. What could we do? One of the most
splendid coloured and regularly-marked birds our eyes
had ever beheld, now sat proudly on his perch, and
demanded at our hands the homage lie evidently felt

Our Lizards. ^5

due to his rank and birth. Could we help inquiring
about his price ? Had the most phlegmatic spectator
or the most inveterate bird-hater been placed in our
position^ we think he could not have done less. " Well^
what will you take for him ?" we timidly ask, more by
way of gratifying our curiosity than with any real
intention of buying. " Ten shillings/' is the reply.
Ah ! this is beyond our mark, for as yet we have not
made up our minds to go beyond half that sum. The
bird, we acknowledge, is dog-cheap at the money, and
we both sigh that we cannot afford to give so much for
a canary. With longing eyes and lingering steps we
turn our backs upon this most beautiful of birds, and
return to complete the purchase of the one we had left
in the adjoining room. Judy remained transfixed with
enchantment to the spot whilst our purchase was
effected, which caused another visit to the room, and
ended in a sort of wavering in our hitherto stoical
determination to resist all temptation to buy. But
alas ! for our pocket, we are charmed with the voice of the
charmer. The tempter approaches us in the shape of
a whisper from Judy that he is so beautiful, she will
give half the sum required out of her own pocket, if I
will only consent to the purchase ; already we begin to
give way, when reason steps in with the conclusive
argument, that if we really intend to breed canaries, we
may as well breed good ones as bad ones, seeing that
the difference is only in the first cost. This clenched
the matter at once, we listened to the pleasing delusion
and fell willing victims, I fear, to the temptation we at
first so manfully resisted. Judy carried him home

g6 The Canary.

delighted beyond measure "vvitli our success, but judge
of our astonishment and dismay when, on first exhi-
biting our splendid prize, he only met with qualified
admiration and praise. From want of eyes to see, and
knowledge and taste to appreciate our illustrious
stranger's beauty, some said he was only "very well,"
while Agnes, whose taste is generally very good, openly
declared, "there was nothing to make such a fuss
about ^' in him ! How it was they failed to see him in
the same light that we did, when we first saw him in
the dealer's shop, I cannot tell, but we consoled our-
selves with the reflection, that it was " useless to throw
pearls before swine," whilst they now confess with
Judy and myself that truly he is a beauteous bird.

The first hen we bought of this breed, and which,
like the one in our picture, was a light grey, came to
an unfortunate and untimely end, which, inasmuch as
it may serve as a caution to others, I may as well
relate. Being of a very tame and amiable disposition,
she naturally became quite a pet with the children, and
soon learned to leave her cage and fly about the nursery,
and perch upon their hand without the smallest fear.
Every day, as soon as they came home from school, the
cage-doors were immediately opened, and out flew the
birds, which thus had their liberty for several hours
a day, much to our youngsters' admiration and delight.
Unfortunately birds were not the only pets in the house,
for Judy had another in the shape of a very fine large
grey tabby tom cat, whom for his noble appearance and
many good qualities she has named after the greatest
of Koman generals^ " Drusus." Whether he merits so

Om' Lizards. 21

honorable a title^ however, may fairly be doubted, for
he is undoubtedly a great thief, and not very scrupu-
lous in the means he employs to obtain his own ends.
Indeed, he is not to be trusted, though very aristocratic
in his outward appearance, and wearing an enormous
moustache, a bit farther than he can be seen, and
scarcely that. In an evil hour the children, having let
out their birds as usual, thought, as the little redpoles
were rather troublesome to get in again, they would
leave them at large whilst they had their dinner in the
parlour. This they accordingly did, when all of a
sudden in comes the cook, and announces, without the
least concern, in her dry Lancashire way, " T'eat's got
a bird," and again as quietly retiring; she and the
nurse immediately sat down to their dinner without
making the least attempt at a rescue. Not so we. Out,
we all moved ; but, alas ! too late, as you may suppose,
to be of any avail. As soon as he had seized his prey,
Drusus retreated to his lair in the cellar, where we
could hear him growling and swearing at the bottom of
the steps. After him went Judy and Gerty, w^ho soon
found him with the bird in his mouth ; the latter, un-
deterred by the danger, dashed upon him at once, and
rescued the poor victim from his ferocious grasp. But
the deed was done — our much-prized little lizard
canary was no more ; and all we could do was to lament
over our loss, and scold the servants for their careless-
ness in leaving the door open, and their unfeeling con-
duct in selfishly sitting down to their own dinner,
instead of trying to save the life of the bird ere it was
too late. The accident, however, has been a warning

28 The Canary,

to us since ; and we never let any of our birds out unless
some of us are present to keep watch and guard against
the enemy. Cats and birds are naturally mortal foes,
and should never be in the same room, or even house,
together.

But having now got a splendid cock bird, if we were
to breed pure lizards, we must necessarily purchase
another hen. This, of course, necessitated another visit
to the dealer in question, to see if we could get a mate
worthy of our former purchase, and at the same time be
within the limits of our purse. In this we fortunately
succeeded, purchasing a beautiful grey hen without a
foul feather about her, and which had already been
paired with the bird we had previously bought. To a
person unacquainted with the subject of breeding the
canary it may seem strange that I should select a grey
hen to pair with a yellow cock. To obtain brilliant-
coloured birds it might have been thought that a hen
similar to the cock would have been most likely to
ensure the desired effect. I confess that I was of this
opinion myself at first, but was assured by practical
breeders and fanciers that the latter method is the most
approved fashion, and that birds of opposite colours in-
variably produce young with the finest feathers and
markings.

Having got the birds, the next thing was to find
them appropriate names. As now we were going to have
a numerous family, it became absolutely essential to
give each its peculiar name, in order to distinguish the
one from the other. After tea, therefore, a grand pala-
ver was held on the hearth-rug, Indian fashion, before

THE YOKKSllIUE AND NORWICH CANARIES,

BEAUTY AND BUrrEHCUP.

Our Yorkshire Spangles and Norwich Yellow. 29

the fire, to determine this important point. It was
unanimously agreed that the name to be adopted should
be easy of pronunciation, expressive of their peculiar
character, or a tribute to their beauty. Many were
the names suggested, and many were the objections
raised to their adoption. High-sounding titles of
Spanish chivalry, or of Arthur's princely court, or
German fairyland, failed in the triple requisition we
had conceived necessaiy for such an illustrious pair.
Names renowned in Roman history or Grecian song
shared no better fate, till at last some one hit upon tlie
simple but expressive titles of " Spangle and Lady
Grey," which all acknowledged to be so peculiarly
appropriate and characteristic, that they were at once
unanimously adopted. We hope, therefore, our readers
will recognise the propriety of their names, and think
with us that a baronet's title well became the beauty
and rank of a pair destined to take so high a position
in canarian life.

" What's in a name ? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes,
Without that title.''

CHAPTER V.

OUR YORKSHIRE SPANGLES AND NORWICH YELLOW.

HESE two varieties represent the ordinary
description of canary to be found more or less
in almost everv town in England. They are

so The Cananj.

respectively so called from the places where eacli is
chiefly bred, and usually found in the greatest abun-
dance. Our representation gives a very fair idea of the
general character of each, and will show the difference
of the two at a glance. The spangled bird, usually of
a pale mealy colour, with greenish-brown head and
wings, is the more general favorite ^\\t\\ the working
men in the manufacturing district of Yorkshire and the
north, wdiilst the golden yellow is preferred by the men
in the neighbourhood of Norwich, where it is chiefly
bred, and from whence it is annually sent up in
large numbers for the London market. The former is
much the more robust and stronger bird of the two, but
of course lacks that beautiful golden plumage which
gives such an elegant and airy lightness so striking in
the appearance of the latter. The Yorkshire bird, too,
say the Lancashire fanciers, is superior in its song ; but
this, for my own part, I very much doubt. I do not
profess to be a judge in this matter; but, so far as my
experience and observation go, I should certainly have
awarded the palm in this respect to the bird from
Norwicii. They are certainly more sprightly and ener-
getic, and more vigorous and constant in their song,
than their brethren of the north, who are necessarily,
from their shape and constitution, generally speaking,
of a more phlegmatic temperament. The Norwich
bird, no doubt, is more nervous, and consequently more
delicate in his constitution ; but he makes up for this,
in my opinion, not only by the superior beauty of his
colour, but by the greater vivacity of all his movements,
and the hearty, merry joyousness of his song. To see

Our Yorkshire Sjyangles and Norwich Yellow. 31

him dance along lils perch, merry as a grig, and beating
time to his own tune, as with distended throat and up-
raised crest he pours out a torrent of sweet song, capti-
vates you at once, and makes you a sharer of his joy.
To me the Yorkshire birds always seem deficient in these
points, and give you an idea of a steady, dull plodding
man, very excellent in his way, but never electrifying
you with the brilliancy of his thoughts, or tlirilling you
with the fiery energy of his action. This, however, may
be mere fancy on my part, but so it is. I admit being
partial to colour and vivacity of action, whether it be
found in fish, flesh, or fowl. Being more accustomed to
the golden yellow of the south-eastern counties, I may be
no impartial witness in the-'matter ; but, however this
may be, still I say " the yellow-haired laddie " for
me!

The breeding of canaries by the working classes
in the manufacturing districts we have named is
not only a very favorite pursuit, but a very profit-
able trade. The numbers which they annually breed,
and the prices which they will give for a good
canary, will appear fabulous, and altogether unjusti-
fiable, to those unacquainted with the subject. Our
artisans in Manchester think nothing of giving one,
two, and three pounds for a single bird. On a
Saturday afternoon and night the market and shops,
iS well as the public-houses nsed for the purpose,
are crowded with men and lads, having either birds
to sell, or looking on and watching what is going
on around them. The veriest tyro in the business
thinks as little of giving five or ten shillings for a

S^ The Canary.

bird as he does of giving eiglitpence for ?i pound of
steak to frizzle with his tea. The late disastrous crisis
through the want of cotton has dealt a hard blow to
the bird-fanciers in this locality, many of whom were
of course entirely out of work. Very pitiable was it
to see a man or lad obliged to part with the pets of his
household through sheer want, and then, when the
birds were gone, selling the empty cage as well. I
myself lately, more out of charity than because I really
wanted it, gave a poor lad from Stockport five shillings
for his cage, after he had sold his birds in the market,
to support his family, Avho were literally starving for
the want of food. Still it is astonishing to see the
numbers yet kept. In almost every other house, I had
nearly said in every back street in Manchester, when
the cottage-doors were open, you might see breeding
cages hanging on the walls, and hear their occupants
enlivening the gloomy desolation around. During the
darkest phase of the distress a poor woman, whom I was
visiting in order to relieve, and who nevertheless was in
great distress herself, on my pointing to a canary which
hung in what had once been a very handsome cage, and
inquiring how she could afford to keep a bird, when she
could not keep herself, replied, with tears in her eyes,
"Ah ! sir, that bird was my poor husband's. Poor
fellow, he gave fifteen shillings for it, and five for the
bird, which I thought sadly much of at the time j but
it was his only hobby, and I keep it for his sake. The
poor thing is getting old now, and does not sing so well
as it did; but I would sooner part with anything I have
in the house than it or the cage." I admired her for

Our YbrksMre Spangles and Norivich Yelloio. o3

the self-denial and feeling love which she thus mani-
fested in her widowhood and distress for the aged song-
ster, who thus recalled the recollection of better times
and brighter hopes, and gladly gave her a portion of
that bounty which had been entrusted to my charge.
So far as I could see, it appeared to be

" The one green spot in her memory's waste,"

and long may it be ere this remaining link in her life's
existence be severed from her grasp. How sweetly does
Mrs. Hemans sing those alone can understand who,
like Byron, have felt solitary " amidst the crowd and
hum and shock of men :

" Give me but
Something whereunto I may bind my heart,
Something to love, to rest upon — to clasp
Affection's tendrils round !"

This is no solitary instance. The poor bird will often,
we feel convinced, be the last thing parted with by
those long-enduring and heroically patient men. Any-
how, the breeding of them is, as we have said, an
enthusiastic and often profitable pursuit. Exhibitions
are held and prizes are given by societies formed for the
purpose, which, as the ' Times' lately remarked, is a
vast step in the way of civilisation, and infinitely in
advance of the cock-fighting and bull-baiting of former
days. For lack of support by the upper classes of
society, and for want of suitable room anywhere else,
I am sorry to say these are chiefly held at some public-
house or tavern, whose landlord finds it to his interest
to give a considerable sum, that the meetings may be
held at his house. Tlius I have now before me a bill

3

34 The Canary.

announcing a grand annual show of Belgian canaries,
whicli was to take place last Whit-Saturday, at a
certain public-house in this town, whose landlord gives
£4 IO5., on condition that the show is held at his
house, that he have the appointment of the judges, that
the birds shown remain for exhibition until the night
following the day of showing — Avhicli, of course, is
Sunday — and that every member spend (Sd. each
monthly meeting night, which, I am sorry to add, is
also on a Sunday, previous to the show, whether he
be present or not.

Now, objectionable as much of tliis is, it is worse
than useless to rail at the amusements of the people,
unless we provide them with others equally attractive.
By a little countenance from the classes above them,
and by a little judicious management and attention,
surely a recreation so harmless in itself might be divested
of the attendant evils at present surrounding it, and
made subservient to the education and refinement of
the people. The free use of one or more rooms con-
nected with our public institutions, and the giving of a
few pounds towards the prizes, like the worldly-wise
publican above, would surely induce these poor men to
hold their meetings during tlie week day, and leave the
Sabbath for bodily rest and spiritual sustenance of their
soul. By so doing, I, for my part, cannot but believe
Nhat much would be done towards counteracting the
attractions of the public-house and its attendant evils,
much towards enabling the working classes to overcome
the pernicious habit of frequenting them, much towards
fostering in their breasts a love for healthier and purer

Our Yorkshire Spangles and Norivich Yellotv. 35

scenes, much towards making tliem feel that there was
a time for all things, and that the Sabbath most
assuredly belonged to the Lord their God. The exhi-
bition and breeding of these beautiful birds is certainly
a pursuit to be encouraged ; and I believe that if the
religious portion of the community would only encourage
these and such like innocent and rational modes of
amusement among the working classes, the latter would
not be long insensible to the kindness and sympathy
shown in their behalf. By degrees they would be re-
claimed from the haunts of vice and crime ; by degrees
they would imitate the example of those above them^:
by degrees they would be found filling our churches
and keeping the Sabbath, as it should be kept by every
man professing to be a Christian, " holy unto the Lord."
As William Cowper truly sings :

*' Eeligion does not censure or exclude
Unnumbered pleasures harmlessly pursued;
To study, culture, and with artful toil
To meliorate and turn the stubborn soil ;
To give dissimilar yet fruitful lands
The grain or herb, or plant that each demands;
To cherish virtue in an humble state,
And share the joys your bounty may create :

w- w ^ ^ •?? ?(!

These, these are arts pursued without a crime,
That leave no stain upon the wing of time."

36 The Canary,

CHAPTER VI.

OUR LONDON FANCY BIRDS.

F all the varieties of the canary, perhaps this
is the most beautiful of any. It is known in
the trade as the London fancy, because it is
there that it is chiefly bred. They are of a rich golden
yellow or deep orange, with black wings and tail, like
the bird represented on the opposite page. About their
breeding there is much mystery and some peculiarity
■which fanciers like to keep to themselves. To get into
these secrets is almost, if not quite, as diihcult a matter
as to penetrate into the mysteries of training a race-
horse for the Derby or St. Leger. One thing is certain,
that to produce them in a state fit for exhibition at the
annual show at Sydenham, as much training and atten-
tion, united with skill, is required as is necessary to
bring a high-bred racer to the post. Not only must the
bird be fed on the most nutritious and dainty food, but
the sides of his cage must be encased with glass to
shade him from every draught of wind ; and he must be
kept at a high temperature, like the race -horse, to pro-
duce that condition and glossiness in his plumage which
shall enable his owner to obtain the prize. That it is
strictly a cross-bred bird I have no doubt, inasmuch as
there is this peculiarity about it, that when quite young
it is mottled all over on the back something after the
fashion of a Lizard, and that it only acquires its clear
golden yellow after its moulting, and then retains only
the pure black of its wings and tail the first year. The

THE LONDON PiUZE 'JAXARY.

BRILLIANT AND BLANCHE.

Our London Fancy Birds, Bl

second autumnal moulting introduces white or grey into
these latter, which at once disqualifies it for the pur-
poses of exhibition, and increases year by year till it
becomes merely an ordinary plain bird we see every
day. To be a prize bird there must not be a foul
feather — that is, either white amongst the black, or
black or grey amongst the yellow, found in its body.
The latter also must be a rich golden yellow or deep
orange, without any approach to a paler or mealy tinge,
which at once would be fatal to its chance of success
when exhibited in competition with others. Such being
the case, we need scarcely say that a bird possessing
such qualifications is comparatively rare, and fetches a
high price. A guinea and upwards is the ordinary
price asked by dealers for these beautiful specimens ol
canary land, though good birds, with here and there a
foul marking disqualifying them for exhibition, may
often be purchased for half that sum. For my own
part, I believe this beautiful variety has been produced
by crossing a Lizard cock with a French hen, whose
colour is a beautiful bright yellow, with an intermixture
of jet-black spots, and but little or no white in them —
a variety which was first introduced into this country
some few years ago, or vice versa, as the case may be. By
judicious crossing and recrossing in. this way, I have no
doubt the London fancy bird of which we are speaking
has been obtained and preserved ; and any one fond of
making experiments of this nature so doing would, I
feel persuaded, be rewarded with success for his pains.
This, however, it must be understood is merely a private
opinion of my own, countenanced^ nevertheless, by men

38 The Canary.

well versed in the breeding of birds here ; for, as I said
before, those engaged in the matter are very mysterious
about their operations, and little inclined to impart
their secret to the world.

Well, our great desire now was to obtain a pair of
this beautiful variety for our aviary. This was brought
about by reading in the newspapers of the day an
account of the beautiful birds exhibited at the Syden-
ham show, and seeing a picture of this lovely variety in
the work of a popular author of tlie day, which also
informed us that it was almost peculiar to London and
its vicinity. I now recollected that I once myself bred
a single brood having jet black wings, tail, and head,
from a pair of apparently common-looking birds, which
my brother brought home when he came from Harrow
School, and which Avere the uiost beautiful of any I had
ever then seen. Unfortunately, however, they all met
with a sad fate, and I never succeeded in rearing any
more of the kind. Being so exceedingly beautiful I
brought them from the room in which they were bred,
and placed them in a large cage which stood in our
entrance-hall, on a pedestal for the purpose. As might
naturally be expected they were the admiration, if not
envy, of all who saw them, but alas ! this did not last
long, for one night either a mouse or rat got into the
cage, and killed every bird in it, so that when the
servant opened the shutters in the morning, there was
nothing but a few feathers and mangled remains of the
poor little things left. It was a sad misfortune, and
grieved us all very much at the time, but it was one
Arhich we could not have foreseen^ and scarcely have

Oii7' London Fancy Bhds. S9

provided against. When there is any suspicion that
there is any such vermin about, care should be taken
not to place the cage against anything by which they
may climb up, or a fate similar to that which befel our
birds will assuredly be the consequence. The best
plan, where practicable, is to hang the cage on a hook
for the purpose in the ceiling, which precludes the pos-
sibility of accidents of this nature, and places them at
once beyond the reach of danger.

Many years had passed since then, and I had never
seen any canaries either like my own or those depicted
and described as being now exhibited at the Crystal
Palace, and peculiar to London. In vain I inquired
for them in Manchester, in vain I asked where they
were to be obtained, the only response being that they
were seldom seen anywhere but at the great shows held
in the miCtropolis, where they were highly prized.
Judge then of my delight when, one day calling at our
bird-dealer's shop for some seed, he told me he had two
or three birds of the London breed down at his other
place, in another part of the town. Thither I accord-
ingly repaired, and soon descried three splendid-coloured
birds in a cage in the shop-window; two of them were
somewhat irregularly marked, but one answered my pur-
pose in every respect, being of a beautiful golden yellow
or orange, with black wings and tail, and having only a
very faint tinge of grey on one side of his neck. I at
once determined to secure him, but unfortunately the
man left in charge of the shop was gone out, and there
was only a little girl, who knew nothing about the
price, in. Dinner-time was fast approaching, and I

40 The Canarxj.

could not wait till his return, and so I reluctantly left
the hird behind, not daring to say anything about his
purchase until I knew his price.

I carried the ncAVS home, however, which immediately
created the intensest excitement amongst the children.
It would never do to let such an opportunity pass by,
without attempting to buy him. Judy urged that im-
mediate steps should be taken in the matter, lest some
one else should step in, and deprive us of our much-
coveted prize. This we thought not at all unlikely,
and so decided to return immediately after dinner, for
the purpose of seeing, at all events, whether he was
within the reach of our pockets, if we did not actually
buy. Dinner, as might have been expected, now
became of little consequence in their eyes, the meal
was soon despatched, and Judy and I started upon the
exciting errand. Though it was a dark sombre after-
noon, and more than two miles and a half off, we started
very willingly in a thick drizzling rain to purchase this
much-desired and lovely specimen of canaria. Before
we arrived at our journey's end the wind blew quite a
hurricane, and the rain poured down, whilst many were
the misgivings we had by the way, lest, after all, our
labour should be lost, and the bird be gone. With as
much joy as feels the tempest-tossed mariner who sees
the friendly port, and descries the haven where he
would be, we at last reached our destination, and found
the birds were still there. Judy was enchanted, the
price moderate, the opportunity favorable, so we were
not long in securing the great object of our search.
We chose the more regularly marked bird of the three

Our London Fancy Birds. 41

for a cock, and a mealy hen, according to general re-
commendation, with a dark-crested head, for his com-
panion, which we put into two paper-hags, and started
back on our return. But the wind again blew a hurri-
cane, and the rain poured down incessantly, so that
Judy and I could hardly make head against it. To
secure the birds, therefore, from the violence of the
tempest, I transferred them to my hat, which I pressed
firmly on my head. In this way we wended our weary
uphill way back, bravely bearing up against the pitiless
storm, and darkening night, c-aring little for either
wind or weather. Though the distance was full five
miles, Judy declared she would have walked twice as
much, rather than have lost the chance of securing such
a prize. At length we reached home, where a cheerful
fire and comfortable tea were awaiting our arrival,
and made us soon forget all the discomforts of our
journey.

Before bit or drop, however, was tasted, a host ot
inquiries had to be answered, and the eyes of the ex-
pectant group, who now gathered clamorously around
us to knoAV the result of our expedition, must be
gratified ! No sooner did they see the well-known
little bags produced than, as might have been anti-
cipated, their anxiety knew no bounds, to catch a
glimpse of the expected prize ! Every foot-fall for
some time had been listened to with anxious expecta-
tion, and now they could wait no longer. So whilst
we pull off our wet clothes, they williugly prepare a
cage, and into it we soon turn our much-prized trea-
sures. The rich plumage of the one, and tlie sprightly

i2 The Canary,.

liveliness of the other, at once captivated all hearts, so
that Agnes at once bestowed npon them the very
appropriate names of Brilliant and Beauty, which they
have ever since retained, and still deserve. But, alas,
the former is evidently all the worse for his journey ; he
sets up his feathers, and rolls about the bottom of the
cage like a drunken man ; with great difficulty he can
sit upon his perch, and it is plain, from some cause or
other, that he is very ill altogether. Though his case
looked bad, and there was obviously considerable danger
of our labour being lost by his death, mamma could
not help joking us about the loss of our money, and
tlie enthusiasm we had displayed. We were in no
mind, however, to lose him so easily, or to give him up
without making an attempt to cure him of his malady.
Judging that he had been made giddy by the length of
his journey, and the close confinement and want of
air he must necessarily have experienced in my hat, I
immediately took down my homoeopathic medicine-
chest, and prescribed what I thought would be likely
to suit his case. Mixing four or five drops of tincture
of belladonna in his water, I placed it in his cage, when
he immediately freely and frequently drank of its
contents, which seemed to revive and bring him about
at once. By degrees he became able to retain his seat
on the perch, so that by the time we went to bed we
had little or no anxiety about his recovering. The
next morning he was evidently much better, though
still far from well. We continued, therefore, his medi-
cine, clianging it in a day or two to. china in order to
recruit his strength, when, after a little time^ I am

THE HELGIAX CANARY.

SULTAN AND SULTANA.

Our Belgians. 43

glad to say, " Richard was himself again." It was a
narrow escape certainly, and I would advise every one
to be cautious in putting a bird into their hats for any
long distance. The practice, I know, is very common,
and answers very v/ell for a short journey, and where
there is plenty of ventilation, but it becomes dangerous
wlien either tlie distance is long, or the ventilation
stopped or imperfect. We had now, however, got our
heart's great desire, and the portraits we have given of
the birds themselves will show that their beauty is not
over-rated, and that we did well to encounter so long
and rough a journey for their acquisition. We knew
full well the value of opportunity, and profited by our
know^ledge. The lesson this little incident may teach
we hope will not be lost upon our youthful readers, for
most assuredly, as Shakespeare sings—

" There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat ;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures/^

CHAPTER VIT.

OUR BELGIANS.

iAVING thus secured a pair of Lizr.rds, a pair
of Yorkshire spangles, and a pair of London
fancy birds, we were no longer satisfied wdtli
the little short, ill- shaped^ common canary usually met

44 The Canary,

with, but raised our thoughts at still higher game.
Christmas had now arrived, and brought with it the
usual foreign importations from Belgium and Ger-
many. Accordingly, one bright December morning,
Agnes and I set off to our bird-dealer's to see what
there was to be seen. There we found a numerous and
splendid collection of beautiful and high-priced birds from
Belgium awaiting our inspection, and with whose lovely
colour and noble bearing we were at once delighted.
There was as much difference between these birds and
an ordinary English canary as there is between an old-
fashioned Northamptonshire cart-horse and a pure bred
Arabian of the desert. Nor is the comparison inappro-
priate; on the contrary, it serves to point out the
essential differences existing between them. Thus, as
in the horse, so in the bird, whereas the head of the
more common breed is thick, and round, and narrow,
that of the Belgian is square, and wide, and flat, the
skull and back forming an exact triangle, instead of
the narrow oval usually found in the foreheads of the
common breed ; whereas the neck and throat of our
English birds are short, and thick, and clumsy-looking,
that of the Belgians is long, tapering, and elegant;
whereas the whole body of the former is short and
stumpy, that of the latter is long, tapering, and slender;
whereas the colour of the former is, comparatively
speaking, poor and mealy (we are speaking now only
of the common varieties), that of the latter is rich, and
bright, and pure, many of them presenting as much
difference in the matter of colour as exists between a
ripe orange and an ordinary lemon. The great feature.

Our Belgians. 45

however, tliat distinguishes this elegant breed from all
others is their high square shoulders, and erect position
when standing on their perch as represented in our
illustration. This gives them a remarkable and pecu-
liar appearance, which is produced by the pinions of
their wings being placed higher up on their backs than
those of any other variety, and which thus consequently
distinguishes them from all others.

Though so much esteemed by Fanciers, and fetching
far higher prices than any other breed, it is surprising
how seldom and briefly they are mentioned by those
who have written specially upon the subject. Bechstein
says literally nothing about them at all, whilst all the
authors of the present day it has been our fortune to
meet with, either follow his example, or their remarks
are so short and so general, if not absolutely untrue,
that it is clear they can have little practical acquaintance
with this department of their subject. Thus, a popular
London writer who was, at one time, regarded as a great
authority on the subject, writes thus, " Of late years
the Belgian canaries have come into repute with some
fanciers. They are long-bodied, and anything but
elegant in form and carriage. They are, however,
strong, healthy birds, and by pairing a cock of that
breed with a Norfolk or Yorkshire hen, which is of a
more compact shape for sitting on the eggs, a fine race
is the issue. Their song does not excel that of the
breeds just mentioned, but they assist in forming a
variety." Having thus oracularly delivered himself he
then dismisses the whole subject as unworthy any
further notice whatever. Now, if we state that the

46 The Canary,

reverse of all this is the case, we shall be simply stating
the truth, as our readers will gather from the description
and illustration already before them. The Belgian, in-
stead of being, as this author describes them, " anything
but elegant in form and carriage," is, on the contrary,
extremely and necessarily elegant, not only in the out-
line of his figure, but when animated or excited also
in the bearing of his carriage. Drawing a line from
the point of his beak, over the crown of his head, taking
in the curve of his neck, and the rise of his shoulders,
and proceeding down his back to the tip end of his tail, he
presents a series of curves as nearly as possible approach-
ing to that waving line of beauty which Hogarth, in his
ideal of elegance, sketched upon his palette. View him
as you will, from above or below, from his shoulders or
his chest, the lines become " fine by degrees and beau-
tifully less," utterly forbidding any loop-hole of escape
in the oft-repeated but false dictum that, after all,
" such tilings are a mere matter of taste." Beauty of
form indeed is a matter of taste, but not of fanciful
taste or mere whim and caprice, and is as much
regulated by well-defined and well-understood laws as
any which regulate any other matter of art or science.
Had the writer in question, however, stopped here, no
great harm would have been done, as people in this
matter could judge for themselves; but when he goes
on to say that " they are, however, strong healthy
birds," he says that which is the reverse of true, and
which, in the nature of things, is calculated to lead
people astray. So far from their being anything of the
kind, I believe every bird-dealer in the kingdon. who

Our Belgians. 4.7

has liad any experience in the matter, will bear me out
when I say, that of all the various breeds as yet in-
troduced into our country, the Belgian is by far the
most tender of any. Indeed it requires no great know-
ledge of physical anatomy to understand that such, from
the conformation of the bird, must necessarily be the
case. The extreme narrowness of their chest abso-
lutely precludes them from being otherwise than very
delicate, for to be healthy and strong, we all know, a
wide expansion of chest is absolutely requisite in bird,
beast, and man. In this there can be neither exception
nor qualification ; to talk therefore of their being either
^^ strong" or "healthy^' is simply ridiculous, and
betrays not only great ignorance, but almost makes us
doubt whether a man so talking could ever have seen
one in his life. My ow^n experience has already con-
firmed w^hat reason and information had already told
me was the case, and I repeat again that of all the
various breeds of the canary hitherto known in this
country, that of the Belgian is the most tender and
delicate to manage of any.

Well, a splendid show of these remarkable birds had
just been imported direct by our bird merchant, who
goes himself periodically to make their selection. Where
all is beautiful it is difficult to make a choice, and this
time Agnes and I felt very much like the ass between
two bundles of hay recorded in the fable ; our choice,
however, was not so extensive as it seemed, for, besides
the beauty of the birds their price also had to be con-
sidered, and this had a considerable influence in guiding
us to a choice. Indeed, this was the greatest obstacle

48 The Canary.

in our way, for, in reply to our inquiry into this rather
delicate affair, we were very politely told that our friend
had nothing under thirty shillings apiece in this cage,
and that, while for particular individuals he should
want two, three, and as much as five and eight pounds
each ! At this we opened our eyes, and stared rather
widely, as you may suppose, not being as yet prepared
to give more than as many shillings for a canary. To
our untutored eyes there was little apparent difference
among them, but that there was such we had con-
vincing demonstration by seeing several ordinary work-
ing mechanics come in, and, picking them out, give
their two and three pounds for a bird, without the least
demur or hesitation. In fact, Mr. M — assured me that
he had just sold three birds at the respective prices of
five, eight, and nine pounds each, whilst he had known
as much as twenty-four pounds sterling to be given for
one in its native country. Such prices, I need scarcely
say, did not suit our pocket, and were given only for
birds specially designed for exhibition. He had, how-
ever, others, which he had taken in exchange for those
newly imported, and which he could sell much cheaper ;
so with these we were fain to be content. Half a dozen
birds of this description, and which for the purposes of
breeding were, perhaps, little inferior to their higher-
priced brethren, were soon separated by the aid of his
magician wand from the rest, and drafted out from a
host of others into as many little black cages for our in-
spection. Proudly did they stretch out their long thin
necks and snake-like heads, as they stood erect upou
their perches, demanding our homage ! Truly, it was

Our Belgians. 49

a beauteous sight. Agnes was at once all eyes, whilst
I was in raptures of delight ! This bird excelled in
form, that in the richness of his colour, a third had a
finer carriage, a fourth a greater development of tht,
shoulder, a fifth is more animated in his movements,
whilst a sixth is more lengthy and taper in his body.
How shall we decide? Among such a profusion of
charms, how make a selection ? Agnes goes for elegance
of figure. I am captivated with the colour. She pleads
for a tapering figure. I insist ujDon squareness of head
and development of shoulder. Minutely do we scan
their respective beauties, and canvass their various
charms. At length we compromise the matter by
choosing a very lengthy hen and a deep golden-coloured
cock with a beautiful snake-formed head, high shoulders,
and deep body, for which we give the comparatively small
sum of fifteen shillings the two. Home we carry them^
highly pleased at the success of our mission and the
cheapness of our bargain. Of all the Christmas shows
we had yet seen this eclipsed all ; nothing in the way of
feathers, we thought, could ever come up to it. To
transfer them to their new abode was but the work of a
few minutes on arriving at home : the next thing was
to cast about for names befitting their high dignity and
station. Towering far above all others, and excelling
them in the gorgeous richness of their yellow plumage
as much as do the beams of the morning sun the calmer
rays of the queen of night, we at once placed them in
the regal rank. There being no others to dispute their
possession to the royal throne, they were at once ad-
mitted to their new palace, amidst a general chorus of

4

50 TJie Canary,

song and twitterings of delight, where they reigned as
the undisputed " Sultan" and " Sultana" of their race.

"And let the good be named 'The Good;'

The true, 'The True ;' the brave, ' The Brave;"—

Titles not bought and sold for blood,

Like those our war-girt monarchs gave —

And let the just be still 'The Just/

So men shall know wherein they trust.

" Look on our noble once again, —

None nobler graced the ranks of old;
No death-strewn fields his honours stain ;

He battles not for fii'.ne nor gold ;
But with an earnest, loving heart.
He Cometh still, and plays his part.

*'No painted badge, no tinsel star.

Lie idly glittering on his breast ;
But — nobler, grander, worthier far —

Truth's light stands in his eyes confest:
And round the broad brow proudly plays.
That glows and brightens in its blaze !

"This brave, high homage, spirit-paid.

Shall shrine the worth of woman too,
Fitly entitling wife and maid,

' The Meek,' ' The Tender,' or ' The True,'
And she whose brow small beauty wears,
May yet well grace the name she bears.

" Is this a dream ? No ! — by the past.

With its dense darkness — pierced at length--
And by the present — brightening fast —

And by the future's noon-day strength,
Earth's truly Great and Good sliall be
Her last, best aristocracy !"

THE GREEN CANARY,

DANDY.

Our Green Birds, 51

CHAPTER VIII.

OUR GIIEEN BIRDS.

AVING thus got so many distinct varieties of
breed, we now desire to add to our little collec-
tion specimens of every description of colour.
In our Yorkshire and Norwich birds we had the
spangled white and plain yellow, in the lizards the
dark grey and green gold, in the London fancy the rich
yellow contrasting with the jet black, and in our Bel-
gians the pure golden orange. There were two others
we particularly desired to meet with, viz., a pure grass
green and the exquisite fawn. With regard to the first
of these we did not suppose we should have much
trouble, though in this we were destined to be deceived ;
whilst with regard to the latter we stood in considerable
doubts whether we should be able to obtain one at all,
as we knew it to be the rarest of any. Though green
birds are as plentiful as blackberries, thej were all, we
soon found, more of a dingy brown than a real green,
and for the most part very ugly, ill-shaped birds, into
the bargain. Scores and scores did we see with heads
and necks thick as those of the common house- sparrow,
and whose plumage was more like that of the linnet
than a canary. With such short, stumpy, ill-favoured,
and dingy-feathered birds we would have nothing to do.
When we said we wanted a green canary, we meant one
whose colour was as green as the grass or the leaf of an
ash-tree, coupled with a form long, tapering, and
slender as that of the Belgian. On this we had set our

5S Tlie Canary.

minds, and this or none we would have. Long had we
to wait, many a journey into the bird-market on a
Saturday morning, and many a look into the bird-
dealers' shop-windows did we take before we could
meet with one anything approaching to the idea we had
in our mind's eye. At length Mr. M — had a batch of
the description we were in search of, and we had the
first pick of the lot ; unfortunately there were no hens,
but all cocks. We soon, however, made our choice, for
our eye immediately fell on a bird which united in him-
self all the qualifications we required. Brilliant in
colour, snake-like in head, and lengthy and tapering in
body, as well as animated and lively in his movements,
we soon saw he would be all that we could desire. He
was as unlike the ordinary birds of his kind we had
hitherto seen offered for sale as it is possible for two birds
of the same species to be. There was not the slightest
resemblance to the linnet-like tribe we have described ;
but his elegant form and vivid colour at once proclaimed
his near alliance to the Belgian blood. Strutting about
in his bright green coat, interlaced with long dark
stripes down the back, and in his vest of safi'ron-yellow,
no sooner was he introduced to the palace of the sultan
than his high breeding was recognised at once, and he
became quite the exquisite of the court. On this
account we gave him the name of " Dandy," from the
somewhat foppish character of his gait, though he is by
no means effeminate ', on the contrary, he is robust and
energetic in all his actions, foremost in every fray, sings
a capital song, is very sociable in his disposition, and
quite a jovial character every way. Every one thought

Our Green Birds. 53

him quite an acquisition to our select circle of canaria,
where his striking appearance makes him ever the
observed of all observers.

It was again a long time before we could find a
spouse fit for so beautiful a bird. Many were the visits
we paid to the market, many were the peeps we took at
the bird-shops, ere Ave could meet with a hen to our
liking. At length, however, we vOs^X with one quite
accidentally, as we were passing by the arches under
the railway station on the London Road, where my ear
was suddenly attracted by tlie well-known ^' sound as
of many waters," from a hundred little German throats,
and which told me that a fresh arrival of canaries had
taken place. Soon I espied a window full of those little
wooden cages in which these charming songsters are
annually imported into this country, and below them
one or two apparently English-bred birds, which induced
me to enter. The place was stifling hot, being pur-
posely so kept by means of a stove, in order to make
the German birds maintain a continual gush of song
during the short time their wandering proprietor might
stay, but which, I need scarcely say, is a practice no
less contrary to nature than it is injurious to the bird,
and the cause of much complaint and disappointment
to the purchaser. The effect already produced on some
of the English birds was plainly perceptible, and many
of them looked languid and drooping, from the great
heat to which they were exposed. Among them, how-
ever, were two birds which, from their colour, I par-
ticularly desired to possess, one of which was a green
hen, exactly answering the description of bird wo

54 The Canary.

Avanted as a mate for our bachelor " Dandy." She was
a beautiful dark grass-green, with well-defined clear
black markings down the back, and without a white
feather about her at the time. I say at the time em-
phatically, for I afterwards discovered one had been
plucked from her tail by the crafty German, in order to
enhance her value in the eyes of an unwary purchaser.
This trick is a very common one, I believe, with low,
unprincipled dealers, Avho besides often paiut their
birds into the bargain, so that it requires a very prac-
tised eye to detect the imposition. In London, I am
told, this very reprehensible practice is carried to a great
extent, even by dealers of long standing and position,
and who w^ould be very much surprised and highly
indignant if they were told they were neither honest
nor respectable ! Yet such is the fact, and I mention
it, not only to put the unwary on their guard, but to
call the attention of such dealers and the public to the
subject, that the one may be ashamed of its publicity,
and the other exercise its power to put it down.

But to return. The bird before us, besides being
suitable for our purpose as regarded her colour, was
equally so in point of breeding and shape. Like that
of her destined lord, the elegance of her figure, the
fineness of her head, and the length of her body,
bespoke at once her alliance to the Belgian strain. She,
however, looked languid and drooping, which, though
I knew was the effect of the high temperature of the
room, still made me hesitate about her purchase. It
was in vain that they assured me in the shop she was
quite well and in perfect health, for my eyes told me at

Our Green Birds. 55

a glance that she was nothing of the sort. There she
sat languid and listless on her perch, evidently quite
overpowered by the heat, if not absolutely ill from
other causes. Still the German stuck to his text, or
rather her text, for it was a woman I had to do with,
and to every objection that I advanced she made a
counter-assertion in the opposition direction . So, like the
man who goes into a horse-dealer's yard, and ventures
to think that the animal he is shown turns i?z his toes a
trifle too much, and is shut up at once by the fierce off-
hand dictum of the dealer that so far from anything of
the sort, that worthy thinks if there is any fault at all
in this respect he rather turns them out, I began to
think that perhaps after all there was not much in it,
and so concluded the purchase. On my way home,
however, I called and showed her to Mr. M — , men-
tioning my suspicions, which he immediately confirmed
on taking her into his hand, from her feeling soft and
spongy, instead of firm and hard to the touch, as a
bird in good health and condition invariably is. My
worst fears were soon verified on our arrival at home^
when she had to be consigned to the hospital at once,
instead of being introduced to her intended lord, for
whom she would otherwise have been a most excellent
match. I kept her some time during the winter, and
tried every remedy I could think of to cure her, but she
proved in the end asthmatical and finally died after I
had parted with her in the spring.

Thus we wasted our time, and lost our money, and
were no forwarder than when we first began our search
for a mate worthy the exquisite Dandy. Winter passei^

56 The Canary,

and spring came, without our seeing another at all
suitaMe as his match, and we hegan to despair of ever
meeting with a hird of the description we wanted, when
one morning Judy and I casually called at Mr. M — 's to
see if anything fresh had come in, and met with the thing
we desired. He had just received two well-bred green
birds from the country without a foul feather about
them. We chose the neatest and most sprightly of the
two, and immediately introduced her to her future lord,
who took to her at once, and seemed highly pleased
with our choice. Though a beautiful little bird, and a
great favourite with us all, she has never arrived at the
dignity of a name, which she certainly ought to have
had, but continues to this day to be known only by the
title of " the little green hen." For this, however, she
is none the worse, she makes Dandy an excellent little
wife, and is as exemplary as she is beautiful. By way
of concluding the present subject, let us listen therefore
to the excellent advice so charmingly given by Edwin
Henry Burrington in a volume entitled ' Revelations of
the Beautiful ' —

" Walk with the Beautiful and with the Grand,
Let nothing on the earth thy feet deter;
Sorrow may lead thee weeping by the hand,
But give not all the bosom-thoughts to her ;
Walk with the BeautifuL

** I hear thee say, ' The Beautiful ' ! what is it ?
O, thou art darkly ignorant ! Be sure
'Tfs no long weary road its form to visit.

For thou canst make it smile beside thy door;
Then love the Beautiful I

Our Green Birds. 61

"Aj, love it; 'tis a sister that will bless,

And teacli thee patience when the heart is lonely,
The angels love it, for they wear its dress.
And thou art made a little lower only :
Then love the Beautiful !

■* Sigh for it ; — clasp it when 'tis in thy way !
Be its idolator, as of a maiden !
Thy parents bent to it, and more than they ;
Be thou its worshipper. Another Eden

Comes with the Beautiful !

" Some boast its presence in a Grecian face ;
Some, on a favourite warbler of the skies !
Bat be not fool'd ! Where'er thine eyes might trace.
Seeking the Beautiful, it will arise !

Then seek it everywhere.

**Thy bosom is its merit, the workmen are

Thy thoughts, and they must coin for thee : believing
The beautiful exists in every star,
Thou mak'st it so ; and art thyself deceiving,
If otherwise thy faith.

" Thou seest Beauty in the violet's cup ; —

I'll teach thee mii'acles ! Walk on this heath,
And say to the neglected floiver, ' Look up,
And be thou Beautiful !' If thou hast faith.
It will obey thy word.

" One thing I warn thee : bow no knee to gold|
Less innocent it makes the guileless tongue^
^t turns the feelings prematurely old ;
And they who keep their best afl'ections yi-'uiig.
Best love the Beautiful !"

58 The Canary.

CHAPTIili IX.

OUR CINNAMONS.

HE first cinnamon, or fawn-colourea Cdnary wa
ever saw, was one in the old bird-fancier's cage
who stood in the market at the time of our
visit recorded in our second chapter. At that time we
had not yet formed any definite idea in our minds as to
breeding, or indeed of having an aviary at all. But
now this had taken place, and become as the French
say un fait accompli, we sorely regretted the opportu-
nity we had missed in not making a purchase. As our
i^lan of operations developed itself, and breeds of different
localities and countries, as well as varieties of colour,
were decided upon, we sighed to think that we might
never have such a chance again. Weeks and months
passed on without our seeing anything of the kind,
when, calling one day at Mr. M — 's shop, what should
we see in a cage just brought in by a countryman for
sale, but the very bird we had let slip in the market
some months before ! Here was a piece of good luck,
I thought, which could never have been expected !
Unfortunately, however, Mr. M — was out of town,
and the stranger had only contingently offered the
birds for sale in a lot, and had now departed. As he
v/as an entire stranger, and they knew neither his
name nor address, I left word with the man in charge
of the shop to be sure and tell Mr. M — to buy the
cinnamon bird specially for me. The next day we all

THE CIXNAMOX CAKAIU',

m

SERAPH AND SYLPH.

Our Ci7inamo7is. 59

went down to look at tliis cliarming bird agaln^ and
higlily delighted we all were at the thought she would
soon he our own, as we did not doubt about easily
coming to terms as to her price. The day following
Mr. M — had returned, but the owner of the birds had
not been. Saturday, and he Avas sure to come, when
our fondest wishes ^vould be realised ! Judge then of
our disappointment when, on calling the first thing on
Monday morning, we heard that Mr. M — had not been
able to comply with our wishes, as the man insisted
that all his birds were cocks, whereas Mr. M — con-
sidered them to be all hens, which made a considerable
difference in their value ! The worst of it was the man
was quite a stranger to Mr. M— also, who knew not
who he was, or where he came from, and now the birds
were gone, and our much coveted cinnamon was, to all
appearance, a second time, if not for ever, again beyond
our reach ! Great was the lamentation over this
mishap ; Mr. M — tried to console our chagrin by telling
us the bird would have done us no good, as it had been
kept in too warm a place, and was already beginning
to moult, and consequently would not breed this season.
No doubt what he said was in some measure true, but
we felt it was but sorry comfort after all. We had set
our hearts upon having so rare and beautiful a specimen
of canaria, and just as we thought we had secured the
prize there came the unexpected " slip betwixt the cup
and the lip !"

Time passed on, but instead of bringing balm to our
wounded feelings, it rather increased our grief. The
more we thought about the matter, the more beautiful

60 The Canary.

did our imagination paint the lost one in our eyes, and
the more convinced we became that we should nevei
look upon her like again. We tried to think that as
there was ^^ more fish still in the sea than ever came
out of it/' so it might be with the feathered tribe, and
we might therefore yet retrieve our loss. Weeks glided
away when, passing down a street in a distant part of
the town bent on other business, Judy and I espied
another bird-dealer's shop, when the thought occurred
to us to inquire if they had any cinnamon canaries on
sale. At first the reply was in the negative, but on
our lingering and repeating the question, the man began
to scratch his head, and think over the matter, and
then turning short round, and reaching down a cage
full of birds immediately behind him, he added in a
way that gave us to understand he should not give
himself much trouble about the matter, he thought
there was a hen of this kind among them, which assu-
redly there was. The birds were wretchedly dirty and
looked very miserable and forlorn through long neglect,
but a glance showed us the bird we were in search of.
There could be no mistake about the matter. Though
she was now quite changed and hardly recognisable
from filth, we felt sure that it was the very bird we had
seen at Mr. M — 's shop, and in the market some weeks
before, as she had a peculiar narrow white stripe at the
back of her head, something like that of a young
cuckoo. Judy recognised her at once, but prudently
kept her own counsel, only giving me a significant look
and nudge. Besides, on closely inspecting the others
we further recognised two of her companions aswell»so

Our Cinnamons, 61

without betraying our inexpressible delight, we care-
lessly asked the price, which was now only two shillings.
We made a slight demur on account of the w^retchedness
of her condition, and bid eighteenpence, but seeing the
man would not take less, and that he had actually put
the birds back again on the shelf, we at length gave an
apparently reluctant assent to his terms, though nothing
was further from our thoughts than a thiid time losing
the opportunity of securing such a prize. We threw
down the money on the counter, and the bird was soon
put into a bag, when Judy and I hastened out of the
shop with mutual congratulations on our good luck.
Not only had we got the bird we had so much desired,
but we had obtained her at a less price than we could
have bought her at Mr. M — 's, or in the market where
we had first seen her.

*' She was a phantom of delight
When first she gleamed upon my sight;
A lovely apparition, sent
To he a moment's ornainent;
Her eyes as stars of twilight fair;
Like twilight too, her dusky hair;
But all things else ahout her drawn,
From May-time and the cheerful dawn ;
A dancing shape, an image gay.
To haunt, to startle, and waylay."

It was some time before I could meet with a mate
suitable for this beautiful and peculiar-coloured bird.
We saw four or five at various times, but they were all
very common-bred, ill-shaped birds, and nothing
approaching to the delicate shade of our own bird. At
length I met with a strong, healthy bird, handsomely

6^ The Cananj.

marked, and of the colour required, at the German
store alluded to in the preceding cliapter. He was not
altogether what I should have liked, being pied instead
of self-coloured like the hen we possessed. Still he
was a very handsome bird, very evenly marked on his
head, back, and wings, with a reddish faAvn, with a
white body, set off with patches of golden yellow on his
cheeks, throat and rump. He was said to have been
bred in Yorkshire, which is very probable, as I have
since learned that Barnsley is known among dealers as
the place of all others where this particular variety is
bred. Although he had been only a fcAV days among
the Germans, so apt was he at learning, and so reten-
tive his memory, that he acquired a considerable portion
of their peculiar song, which he sings most lustily with
his own at this present time. From the beauty and
excellence of his song, and the delicate hue of his
plumage, we named him Seraph and his wife Sylph,
and a charming and very singular variety of the canary
they are ! Take them away from their well-known
brethren, and place them in a cage by themselves in
any drawing-room in England, and very few of our
lady visitors, we will venture to say, would ever dream
of their being of the same kith and kin as the yellow
specimen so familiar to us all. Whence, then, it may
naturally be asked, comes this great diiference, and how
has it been brought about ? We candidly admit we do
not know. All that we can say is that the original
stock was of a uniform green, as we have already stated
in another chapter, and that the rest are iji some way
the result of its domestication. A short glance, how-

Our Cinnamons, 63

ever, of the several theories advanced by various writers
may be neither uninteresting nor unprofitable to my
young readers, whilst at the same time it may set them
thinking upon a subject which has perplexed much wiser
heads than our own, and if it serve no other purpose^
this will be an advantage in itself.

About the origin of these several varieties and great
difference of colour found in the canary much diversity
of opinion, as might naturally be expected from a subject
so obscure, exists. Some ascribe it to locality, others
to food, and others again to cross-breeding with birds
of a kindred tribe. Thus Adamson, in support of the
former of these ideas, says, " I have observed that the
canary, which becomes white in France, is at TeiierifFe
of a grey, almost as dark as that of a linnet." Again,
Beckstein says that " 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 ana-
logous to it (in Italy with the citril-finch, the serin ;
in our country [that is, Germany] with the linnet, the
green-finch, the siskin, and the goldfinch), that nor/ vre
have canaries of all colours. If we had not sufficient
proof that canaries came originally from the Fortunate
Islands, w^e should think that the citril-finch, the serin,
and the siskin, v^'-ere the wild stock of this domesticated
race. I have seen a bird, whose parent birds were a
siskin and serin, which perfectly resembled a variety of
the canary, which is called the green. I have also seen
mules from a female grey canary in which was no trace
of their true parentage. The grey, the yellow, the

64 The Canary.

white, the hlackish, and the chesnut, are the principal
varieties, and it is from their comhination and from
their tints that we derive the numerous varieties that we
now possess." Others again would ascribe the dif-
ference to a difference of food, saying that some birds
fed entirely upon hemp-seed have been known to lose
their natural colour, and to become black, and that
such was proved to be the fact most conclusively by an
experiment made upon a nest of young bullfinches, who
grew up to be entirely black instead of their usual
varied plumage. These gentlemen forget, however,
because it is not convenient to remember, that in the
case thus so conclusively cited the birds on the very
first moulting, after they had had different food, at once
regained their natural colour, and thus really demon-
strated the fallacy of the theory which they were at first
supposed to substantiate.

That these and all similar notions have not the least
foundation in fact, it will be sufficient to observe that
the wild birds themselves vary almost as much as the
domestic, and yet have necessarily the same food, and
that in reality there is no bird in a domesticated state
whose food is less various than that of the canary in
every country where it is known. But even were
such not the case, we challenge the authors and sup-
porters of such a fimciful notion to produce a single
instance in either bird or beast where any particular
food has been known either to change white into yellow,
yellow into green, or green into grey, or grey into
chesnut, or produced stripes in one case and spots in
another. The idea is really too absurd, we think, to be

Our Cinnamons. 65

entertained for a moment by any one laying claim to
the title of a rational creature.

Equally erroneous is the idea of climate or locality
having anything to do with the matter. A.S in the case
of the foodj so it may be answered, all the varieties are
found in every climate and country, and not separately
in each. The yellow, the grey, and the chesnut, as well
as the green and the white, are found as often in Russia
as they are in Italy, or France, or England. Climate,
therefore, cannot have any influence in this respect
upon the bird, any more than it has upon man himself.
" Place an Anglo-Saxon," says a well-known writer on
the various races of men,* " with his flaxen hair and
blue eyes under the most burning sun, and no length
of time will change him or his oflspring into a negro.
The Saxon of to-day is identical with the Saxon of the
most ancient times. They follow the law of hereditary
descent ; climate exercises no influence over them.
Two hundred years of Java, three hundred years of
Southern Africa aflect them not ; alter their health it
may, it does, withering up the frame, rendering the
body thin and juiceless, wasting the adipose cellular
tissue, relaxing the muscles and injuring the complexion
by altering the condition of the blood and secretions ;
all this may be admitted, but they produce no per-
manent results. The Saxon is fair, not because he
lives in a temperate or cold climate, but because he is a
Saxon. The Esquimaux are nearly black, yet they live
amidst eternal snows ; the Tasmanian is, if possible,
darker than the Negro, under a climate as mild as
* Pr. ICnox.

5

66 The Canary.

England. Climate has no influence in permanently
altering the varieties or races of men ; destroy them it
may and does, but it cannot convert them into any
other race." Now if this be true, as we think it un-
questionably is, in the case of man, it must be equally
true of the feathered tribes in general, and of the
canary in particular. Climate, therefore, we repeat
cannot have anything to do with the alteration of their
plumage, any more than the food which they eat, and
to which, it must again be observed, they are all equally
exposed alike.

Still more preposterous is the idea that all this variety
in their colour has been produced by cross-breeding
with other varieties of the Finch tribe. We do not
doubt for a moment the possibility of breeding a mule
between a canary and a linnet, a canary and a goldfinch,
or a canary and a siskin, for we ourselves have both
seen and done it. Nor do we doubt that occasionally
cases may be found where these hybrids have bred
again, for the Rev. Mr. Wood, in his delightful book
entitled ' My Feathered Friends,' gives the result of
two interesting experiments he made upon the subject,
and in which he succeeded in obtaining a young bird
from a hybrid canary-goldfinch paired with a pure hen
canary, and also another from a pair who were them-
selves both hybrids. But still, what we say is this,
that these are only to be regarded as exceptions to the
general rule and law of nature, and that their very
farity only makes the rule the stronger. There is no
abrogation, and never can be, of that wise law which
Providence has ordained alike for every animal under

Our Cinnamons, 67

the sun, and AvMch restricts species to species and
stamps sterility on every hybrid. If there be one thing
more certain than another^ it is undoubtedly the fact
that there is no such thing to be found in nature as a
hybrid or mixed race springing up, and becoming a
permanent variety. Even in the case of man, with all
the arts and appliances of civilisation, and therefore with
the most favorable circumstances to aid him, it has
ever been found impossible. After a few generations
they either die out altogether, or the dominant race
regains its natural purity. How much less, then, can
we suppose such a thing to have taken place in the
case of the canary, delicate and tender as it is by nature,
and impossible as it is to further it by the aid of man.
No ; neither cross-breeding, nor food, nor climate, we
may rest assured, has the least influence in changing
a green bird into a white, a brown into a yellow, or a
chesnut to a grey, any more than it has in changing
spots into stripes, or stripes into spots. As yet, man is
ignorant of these mysterious changes, though in the
pride of his intellect he would fain ascribe a reason for
all he sees. This, however, seems to be beyond his
reach ; such knowledge is too high for him ; he cannot
attain unto it; beyond the fact that so many different
varieties exist he positively knows nothing. It is a
sealed page in the book of nature, which he cannot
decipher or interpret. To those, therefore, who would
fain be wise above what is written, we would say " Stand
still, and consider the wondrous works of God." Yes,
we would ask all such in the sublime language of Holy
Writ — " Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words

68 The Canary.

without knowledge? Gavest thou the goodly wings
unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the
ostrich ? Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch
her wings toward the south ? Doth the eagle mount
up at thy command, and make her nest on high ?"

THE BELGIAN CANARY.

PRINCE CHARMING AND THE CHARMING PRINCESS.

PrinoB Charming and his Charming Prmeess. 09

CHAPTER X.

PRINCE CHAUMING AND HIS CHAHMING PRINCESS.

EBE.UARY had now arrived, and with it came
a few warm sunshiny days which soon had a
visible effect upon our birds, and told us that
the sooner we got our full complement together the
better. Instead of making them more happy and
peacefully inclined, it seemed to stir up all the wildest
passions of their nature, as it were, in a moment, so
that they were now perpetually quarrelling and fighting
with each other. This told us that we must not only
separate those birds which we wished to pair with each
other, but also that it would soon become positively
dangerous to introduce a new member into their society.
To do so would be to expose him not merely to the
loss of the best part of his wardrobe, but probably of
his life ; for when the pairing mania once begins, the
canary becomes as pugnacious and savage as any of
the feathered tribe. To avoid this risk, all birds that
are intended to live together should be introduced not
later than the first or second week in February, when
usually the first symptoms of spring begin to appear.
Up to this time our own birds had lived together in the
most peaceful harmony possible, but two or three days
of warm sunshine which occurred, as we have said,
about this date, had the effect of converting the whole

70 The Canary.

establishment into a scene of unceasing uproar and
confusion. We had still to find, however, another pair
and a half to make up what we had decided should be
the full complement of our number. What kind or
variety these should be we had not positively determined,
but left it an open question to be decided by the chance
and circumstance of the hour. One day I saw in the
shop one of the richest and deepest orange-coloured
birds I ever looked upon, and Mr. M — strongly re-
covniueiHled. me to buy him. I hesitated, however,
about the price, which was ten shillings, not because I
thought the bird too dear, but because I wished to
spend as little more money over them as I could. We
thought over the matter for a day or two, when we
finally decided to stretch a point for the occasion, and
for this purpose Judy and I went down that day to buy
him. Alas ! we had driven the matter off too lonff,
for just as we had entered the shop, Mr. M — was tying
up the very bird w^e had come to purchase, in a parcel
for another purchaser who had just bought him. We
were much disappointed, and very vexed at our own
delay, but it was of no use, the bird was actually sold.
He was of the Belgian breed, and though not possess-
hig very great development of shoulder, or points for a
fimcier's eye, yet one of the most beautiful and elegant
birds I ever saw. In colour, he was a deep orange, not
the least inclining to yellow, but quite red, whilst his
feathers were of that silky flossy texture which, when
met wuth in full perfection, is the climax of beauty.
In so saying, however, I would not be understood as
advocating the choice of a weak-feathered bird, or as

p7nnce Charming and his Charming Princess. 71

depreciating the hard and close-feathered kindj which,
as a general rule, I think are to he preferred. The
latter are much more easily obtained, and got into fine
feather than the former ; hut if you can get a bird
whose plumage is this flossy texture and not broken,
or thin and weak, but lying on it like a heavy piece of
wool, and of the colour I have described above, we
think you should not neglect the opportunity of pur-
chasing if you Avish to have a beautiful canary; at all
events, we sorely repented neglecting the cliance we
had, and have never seen another since at all to equal
him in the richness of his colour.

Weeks passed away without seeing anything that
particularly attracted our notice, or incited our in-
clination to purchase, when at length Mr. M — bought
a large lot of birds of a breeder in Yorkshire, and
amongst them a bird very nearly resembling the one
we have just described. Indeed, with the exception
that he was not quite so deep in his colour, he was all
that we could desire. Though of the Belgian breed,
and very beautiful, he was not what would be called a
fancier's bird, having no great development in that in-
dispensable point, the shoulder. Still, take him for all
in all, with the exception of the bird just mentioned, I
think he is as handsome a canary as I ever saw in my
life. Full seven inches in length, he has the appear-
ance and drooping shape of a peacock when at rest,
the curving outlines of his body being of the most
elegant and tapering form ; with a head like a snake
and an eye like a hawk, he bears himself proudly
amongst his fellovfs, over whom he exercises a lordly

tS The Canary,

sway, showing unmistakably the high nobility of his
birth. Of a pure rich golden yellow, at times deep-
ening into orange, and wearing a long beautifully got-
up curly shirt frill all down his breast, he stands out
'inrivalled and conspicuous amongst all the rest for both
elegance of form and beauty of colour We bestowed
on him, as was most due, the honorable and appro-
priate title of " Prince Charming," a name as appro-
priate as it is deserved, for a very charming fellow I
assure my readers he is. At the same time, we pro-
cured for him a fitting spouse, in the person of a high-
bred, elegant little lady, who accordingly assumed the
title of " The Charming Princess," whom he almost
immediately espoused, and with whom he has ever since
lived on the most affectionate and loving terms. We
hope their union may be blessed by as large and nume-
rous and as happy a family as that of our beloved
queen, and that the young princes and princesses which
may spring from Prince Charming and his charming
princess may not only do credit to their parents, but
hand down the race another generation with increasing
beauty and honour to themselves.

We had now only one bird without a mate, viz., our
old original maiden lady purchased to replace the one
that died first given to Judy by her granny. She had
been so long unwedded, and seemed so little disposed
to change her state of single blessedness, that we had
well nigh left her to her fate. Indeed, she was gene-
rally considered as a confirmed spinster, and seemed
rather to pride herself in keeping aloof from all inter-
course with any of the gentlemen of her race. In fact.

Prince Charming and his Charming Princess. 73

if any of the latter through politeness offered her a
hemp seed, or other little delicate attention, she either
pointedly resented their advances, or sullenly took her-
self off to another quarter of the cage, evidently affronted
at their presumption. With the Lizards, the York-
shire, the London, or the cinnamon birds she would not
associate at all, and was always, whilst in their com^
pany, mopish and dull. But taking her aw^ay from
these, and placing her in company with the Belgian
and Belgian-bred birds, she all at once became visibly
more lively and sociable, so that I thought it a pity so
much loveliness should be " born to blush unseen, and
waste its fragrance on the desert air."

Observing this peculiarity in her disposition, and re-
membering how the proverb said that " birds of a fea-
ther always flock together," I at once got a clue to guide
me in the choice of her mate. She was evidently of
Belgian extraction herself, so I determined at once to
buy the first mealy coloured, or, as they are called by
fanciers, buff Belgian cock that I liked for her lord.
This we soon afterwards accomplished at Mr. M — 's,
making up eight pairs of very different and beautiful
birds. Our last purchase proved a charming bird, of
very amiable disposition and sociable manners, taking
seed from our hand, and repaying us with a flood of
song, drooping his wings the while like some angelic
spirit about to soar aloft to heaven. Very beautiful is
it to see his quivering pinions bending in a graceful
curving arch towards his brenst, as dancing with delight
he greets you with a passionate address, and

* Shakes out of bis little throat floods of delicious music.**

T4 The Canary.

Being of an aristocratic order we gave liim at once
the title of " The Marquis/' and without any further
ceremony introduced him to his future bride. Fortu-
nately, the lady proved not insensible to his charms,
but after a short bashfulness necessary to the occasion,
accepted him as a favoured lover. The courtship was
soon completed, and the lovely Dickey consented to
change her name to " Daisy," and so cheated those who
had looked upon her as the single old maid of the
family. Great was the rejoicing on the occasion of the
wedding which thus relieved the lady from a somewhat
unenviable position, and at the same time secured to
the gentleman an amount of domestic bliss and comfort
which poor bachelors cannot possibly have the fiiintest
idea of. The change was highly beneficial to both
parties ; Daisy became as happy and sprightly as the
best, though she had long been dull and mopish as one
deserted and forlorn, whilst the Marquis was the gayest
of the gay. As we do not suppose any are old maids
from choice, for the benefit of the bachelors we will
only sing the praises of a thrifty wife, and advise all
such to get one as soon as they possibly can.

" I am a cheerful fellow, altho' a married man,
And in this age of folly pursue a saving plan :
Though wives are thought expensive, yet who can live alone ?
Then since they are Dear creatures, 'tis best to have hut one.
My choice discovers clearly my prudence and my taste,
I've a very little wife, with a very little waste.

" Marriage is a draught we take for better or for worse.
And wise is he who can prevent the drafts upon his purso;
But evils are much lessened when wives are well inclined ;
For if they come across us, they shape them to our mind :

Prince Charming and his Charming Princess. T5

"When matters are well managed, no need to be strait-laced^
You may with little danger increase the little waste.

" Tho' Spousy's so discreet, still eacli fashion she'll display.
Her bosom, Heaven bless her ! is open as the day j
Her garment (may I venture a simile to beg ?)
Hangs loosely from her shoulder like a gown upon a pegj
Yet fearful of expenses, she shortens tbem so small —
And if she goes on shortening, there'll be no waste at all."

76 The Canary,

CHAPTER XI.

OUR TURNCRESTS.

HEUE is yet another variety of our favorite
songster w^hich I must not omit to mention, or
which, perhaps, more correctly speaking, may
be found as it were by accident in most or all the kinds
we have named, to wit, the Turncrest. With some
people these are great favorites, more especially with
the lower classes of bird fanciers from whom anything
curious or novel appears to possess a great charm.
Their peculiarity consists in having a crest of feathers
on the top of the head turned, as it were, the wrong
way, and hanging down over the beak and eyes, some-
thing like an old-fashioned wool mop, or, if the asso-
ciation be not too irreverent, like the crop of a Cister-
cian monk. In general, as might be expected from the
above remarks, they will be found most plentiful
amongst the common low-bred birds of the country
districts, and associated with the greatest amount of
ugliness in the outline of their figure. To any one
with a cultivated taste or with a natural eye for beauty
of form, this condemns them at once ; but in propor-
tion as you can find this elegant appendage in birds of
more aristocratic breed, such as in the Belgians ; of
course, this objection loses its point, and you will have
a bird of peculiar elegance and beauty. Such an one

THE TURN-CRESTED CANARY.

KING PEPIN.

Our Turncrests. 77

was our own King Pepin wliose portrait we have given
at the head of this chapter. Of gigantic stature and
Herculean proportion of limb, he united singular excel-
lence in the gracefulness of his contour, with great
richness of colour. But such birds are by no means
common, few having so great a degree of Belgian blood
in their veins, which can alone give the snake-like head,
long neck, and taper form of body peculiar to them
alone. The majority we fear will be found to possess
the worst properties of the commonest English birds,
and, therefore, by no means to be considered an acqui-
sition. On the contrary, if all such were to be exter-
minated by act of parliament, or a canary jockey club,
or any other power to-morrow, we hold it would be one
of the greatest boons that could possibly be conferred
on the canary-loving community. We might then
start afresh with birds of superior form, and breed only
from those who united in themselves elegance of form
with beauty of colour, when in a few years we doubt
not the canary of England would be as superior to
those of all other lands, as the English horse has been
made to excel every other in the known world. This
may seem Utopian, but it is not so. It is only from
ignorance and the business of breeders being left for
the most part in the hands of some of the most uncul-
tivated taste, that the present multitude of ill-shaped
ugly birds that are everywhere to be seen have come into
being. Let any one once see a high bred Belgian bird,
and note the elegance of his shape, and then contrast
it with the stumpy English specimens he has hitherto
been breeding, and we will answer for it he will never

78 The Canary.

be satisfied again with the latter. To the great mass
of people, however, the former is a bird still unknown ;
but we trust now that the show at Sydenham is an
established reality, his excellences will soon become
more widely known, and his breed be sought after to
improve our own. Associated with this breed, the
Turncrest will then be indeed a beautiful acquisition, as
may be seen from the portrait of our own King Pepin,
and to be desired will then need only to be seen.

In breeding birds of this description, most people in
order to obtain the greatest development of crest pos-
sible, would naturally select a male and female remark-
able for the size and shape of this elegant appendage,
and expect to see their offspring still more highly fa-
voured in this respect than themselves. But experience
teaches otherwise, and emphatically says that if we do
thus, the result Avill in all probability be in diametrical
opposition to our wishes. All writers, and every breeder
I have spoken to upon the subject, unanimously declare
that if we pair two crested birds together, the majority
of their offspring, so far from being more highly favoured
than their parents, will absolutely be more or less de-
ficient in this appendage so much desired, if their heads
are not positively bald ! Why this should be the case
I cannot tell, nor could I ever obtain any satisfactory
explanation of the matter, or, indeed, any reason at all
beyond that it is so, which, therefore, I must beg my
readers to take as conclusive upon the subject, adding
that I myself have never personally put the matter to
the test, which, however, after the assurances I have
received from practical men, I should be sorry to doubt.

Our Turncrests. 79

To obtain birds with fine crests, the practice is to select
one parent only with this appendage, which signifies little,
though for my part I should prefer it to be the hen, as we
know from many careful experiments that have been
made, that it is the male that contributes for the most part
the bones and what maybe termed the locomotive organs,
and the female the internal organs on which depend the
skin, and, consequently, the feathers, which, of course,
form the crest. As in the human being, experience
often shows that minds formed of the most opposite
attributes more forcibly attract each other than those
which appear cast in the same mould, so we suppose a
similar efiect is produced in the bodily organism of our
pets, and that in the case of our turncrests the rule of
contraries, is more potent than the rule of harmonies.
The greater the contrast the greater the fascination, and
the more likelihood of success. In this respect, ex-
tremes shall meet, and a beauteous oifspring of crested
birds shall spring from a crested cock and smooth-
headed hen, or from a crested hen and smooth-headed
cock, which reminds me of that striking contrast drawn
by an anonymous poet between man and woman in the
following very beautiful lines :

" Man is the rugged, lofty pine,

Tiiat frowns on many a wave-beat shore j

Woman, the slender, graceful vine,

Whose circling tendrils round it twine,
And deck its rough bark sweetly o'er.

** Man is the rock whose towering crest

Nods o'er the mountain's barren side|
Woman, the soft and mossy nest
That loves to clasp the sterile breast.

And wreathe its brow in verdant pride.

80 The Canary.

" Man is the cloud of coming storm,
Dark as the raven's murliy plume,
Save where the sunbeam, light and waroij
Of woman's soul and woman's form,

Beams brightly o'er the gathering gloom.

** Yes, lovely sex, to you 'tis given

To rule our hearts with angel sway :
Blend with each woe a blissful leaveu —
Change earth into an embryo heaven—
And sweetly smile our cares away."

'--^---'^i^^^^'

,^"

THE GERMAN CANARY.

THE DOMINIE.

The Domime and the Germans, ^

CHAPTER XII.

THE DOMINIE AND THE GERMANS.

E had now completed our stock of canaries for
breeding, having eight pairs, four for each com-
partment of our aviary. We had thus speci-
mens of every kind of breed, and almost every variety
of colour. Belgians v^^ith their fine orange yellow and
peculiar form, lizards with their beautifully speckled
plumage of grey and yellow green ; the London fancy
with its burnished golden body and jet black wings and
tail ; Yorkshire spangles with their gaily marked heads
and Avings ; the pure grass green, the mealy white or
buff, and the beautiful chesnut, fawn, or cinnamon, as
they are more commonly called. We had thus far been
highly successful in realising the plan we had sketched
out for ourselves, and now possessed birds of almost
every form and colour. To make our establishment
quite complete, there was one thing still wanting, viz.,
an accomplished vocalist ; for, though we had several
very excellent singers amongst our gentlemen canaries,
yet their song was only the uncultivated and inartistic
ditty of England. But as the time was fast approach-
ing when we hoped to have a numerous progeny of
young princes and scions of noble blood, we felt it a
duty to provide a suitable master for their vocal educa-

8^ The Canary.

tion. As we knew we should look in vain for such
among our English birds, we turned to the land of
song and music, and sought what we wanted in the
fatherland of Germany.

In respect of song, the German birds are as much
superior to those of England, or, indeed, of any country
I am acquainted wdth, as the high-bred Belgian is in
form to the little short stumpy canary we see in every
market. The reason of this is very simple. On the
one hand, the Germans pay great attention, and bestow
much pains on the education of these little songsters ;
whereas, on the other, the Englishman leaves all to
chance, never troubling his head about the matter.
With us a bird is left entirely to its own resources,
scarcely ever hearing any other note than that of its
parent, from one generation to another, so that we need
scarcely be surprised to find the same piercing loud and
harsh song handed down from father to son without the
least change or improvement. Far different is it, how-
ever, in Germany, Avhere the breeding of canaries is
quite a trade, and which, therefore, to make it profit-
able, requires and receives as much attention and thought
as any other. There the greatest pains are taken to
teach the young birds an artificial song ; and such has
been their success that it has enhanced their value
some twenty per cent. Indeed, w^ere it not that they
have no rivals in the matter of song, ihey would never
be able to sell the little ordinary variety, Avhich alone
they breed, in England at all. As it is, thousands are
now annually imported into our country, and find a
ready sale at prices varying from ten to five and twenty

The Dominie and the Germans. 83

shillings each, which but for their song would not make
more than eighceen pence at the most. Instead of the
high piercing note continued for some time by the
English bird without intermission, rising higher and
higher, or modified only by a succession of noisy bursts,
the German begins with a low sweet trill, like the
sibilating sound of the grasshopper on a summer's eve,
and with a silvery sonoroils voice regularly descends
through all the tones of an octave, introducing from
time to time a bell-like succession of notes, or the song
of the woodlark and the nightingale as the case may
be. So great is the difference between the two, and
such is the result of careful painstaking teaching, as
compared with the let-alone, give-myself-no-trouble
plan adopted by English breeders.

The same writer who, as I have shown elsewhere,
exhibited so much ignorance about the Belgian canary,
betrays equal want of knowledge about the German,
when he talks about their wholesale manufacture by
simply putting English birds into little wooden cages
similar to those in which the real Germans are always im-
ported. No doubt John Bull is a very stupid creature
in many things, but we fancy he is not quite such a fool
as to believe such stuff as this. The writer alluded to
would have us believe that there is little or no difference
between an English bird and a German in the matter
of song, so that a purchaser may be easily imposed
upon. All that we can say is, that anyone who has once
heard any number of German birds sing, could not
possibly be taken in, and that a man would hardly be
such a fool, we think, as to buy a bird for his song with-

84 The Canary.

out hearing liim sing. No one, we will venture to say.
could be possibly taken in by so silly a trick as tlie one
thus asserted to be commonly practised by dealers.
Moreover, for a man to do so systematically, even could
similar cages and birds be made and obtained sufficiently
cheap to make it worth the while, which I very much
doubt, would most assuredly be the shortest way to
ruin he could possibly devise. He might, perhaps,
succeed in taking in an uuAvary customer once, but
would any one in his senses suffer himself thus to be
duped a second time ? Most assuredly not ; but setting
this palpable fact aside, Ave say again the song is utterly
unlike that of the English bird in every respect; once
heard it can never be mistaken, even by the most un-
musical ear ; and to be appreciated it requires, we are
sure, only to be heard. If I wanted a bird merely for
its song, I would rather give a pound for a German
than I would give half-a-crown for an English bird, or,
indeed, have one given me for nothing. The best are
said to come from the Tyrol and the Ilartz, where
large numbers are annually reared and sent into every
part of Europe. For many years past four Tyrolese
alone have been known to bring over as many as sixteen
hundred birds, each in a separate little wooden cage
about six inches square, in which he has to travel more
than one thousand miles, and live till he is sold to some
purchaser in a dealer's shop in England. The trade in-
creases steadily almost every year, as their song is ap-
preciated by the English public, and their price main-
tains its position in the market, for almost every pro-
prietor of a gin-palace finds it to his interest to have

The Dominie and the Germans. 85

one or two in his place, so great is their attraction in
the eyes of the people who are thus privileged to hear
them sing.

Observing that Seraph, whom we purchased from a
German dealer, had, though full-grown, acquired in a
very short time the song of the German birds with
whom he had been only accidentally associated, I felt
persuaded that we had only to get a good songster from
the fatherland, and to place our young birds under his
tuition, and they would soon be as proficient as their
teacher. I determined, therefore, to get one the first
opportunity I might have, and at all events make the
experiment. For this we had not long to wait, as
about the end of February, Mr. M — set off for the con-
tinent and brought back a large number of Germans,
amongst which were some excellent songsters. As I
entered the shop, one gush of melody burst upon my
enraptured ear, each bird striving to outdo its neigh-
bour in the length and beauty of its song. It seemed,
indeed, like the rippling of a thousand streams mur-
muring in silvery and liquid tones over some pebbly
bed, so exquisitely soft and incessant was the strain.
But how amongst so many shall we even attempt to
make a choice ? Amongst so much excellence how are
we to proceed ? Surely it must be to a great extent a
matter of chance whether we get the bird wdiose song
we like most to hear. One bird may be better than
another for its melody or its looks, or mce versa, as the
case may be — how amongst so many obtain the one most
to our liking ? Well, there is no chance in the matter,
the nature and quality of each bird's song is accurately

86 The Cajiary.

known. Each bird has a separate number marked on
his cage, which is duly registered in a book, which thus
indicates the name of the breeder, the particular cha-
racter of the song all his birds are taught, which again
is chequed by the private mark of the dealer or dealers
through whose hand he has passed. You have, there-
fore, only to separate one or two birds at a time, and
take them into another room by themselves and hear
them sing, and make your choice between the various
songs you may hear. Having done this, you may then
select from all the birds bearing this number the one
whose appearance you like best, and you will obtain
without much difficulty the bird you most desire. All
bred by one breeder have the same song, and one is
better than another only in the accidents of the quality
of his'voice, the pleasing appearance of his looks or
the soundness of his constitution. Most of them are
very plain-looking birds, being mealy in their colour',
and very short and stumpy in their figure. They are,
therefore, very small and inelegant, to use only a mild
term, compared with either the Belgian or the more
highly-bred birds among the English. '^ Handsome,
however, is he that handsome does," assuredly applies
to the little German from the Tyrol or the Hartz, and
for a parlour companion he easily bears away the bell.
Some talk about his being more delicate than the
English, and requiring much more care and attention
to keep him in full song. My own experience proves
the contrary. My own bird is as hardy, if not the
hardiest, of any canary that we have, though kept in
.a small cage by himself, instead of having a roomy

The Dominie and the Germans. 87

aviary for exercise. Moreover, his food has been of the
simplest and most ordinary kind, viz., common canary
seed mixed with a little rape, with now and then a
few hemp for a relish, or a bit of apple or lettuce as
the season may be, and a bit of sopped toast every
morning as v/e sit down to breakfast. He has never
been either sick or sorry, not even whilst moulting,
whilst his song is almost incessant all day long, singing
even at night by candle-light, waking up even at mid-
night for the purpose whenever he is placed upon the
table. I cannot, therefore, believe that they are at all
more delicate or difficult to keep than any other, but
that where ordinary care and attention, in the matter
of proper food and temperature are bestowed upon
them, they will be found as hardy as any of our
English, and much more hardy than the Belgian
varieties we have yet met with.

As I intended ours to be a parlour bird, I naturally
desired to unite beauty of appearance and excellence of
song in the same bird. In this I happily succeeded,
choosing a very sprightly, strong-looking little bird,
prettily marked on the head and back, with rich
chesnut brown, who happened to be an excellent
singer as well. Highly pleased with my bargain I
hasten to transport him home, when he immediately
treated us to a song. The success of his first dehut
was complete ! all who heard him were enraptured
with his performance, and pronounced him to be truly
a master in his art. He thus graduated in high honours
as a Doctor of Music, and was at once elected as pro-
fessor and tutor to the young princes and nobles in our

88 The Canary,

aviary. The office conferred upon him as well a name
which he continues to maintain with the dignity due
to his position. Without more to-do, then, let me
introduce to my readers, the now famous and much-
admired " Dominie."

•' Much did I grieve, on that ill-fated morn,
When I was first to school reluctant borne ;
Severe I thought the dame, though oft she tried
To soothe my swelling spirits when I sighed:
And oft, when harshly she reproved, I wept.
To my lone corner, broken-hearted crept.
And thought of tender home, where anger never kept.

" But soon inured to alphabetic toils.
Alert I met the dame with jocund smiles ;
First at the form, my task for ever true,
A little favorite rapidly I grew ;
And oft she stroked my head with fond delight,
Held me a pattern to the dunce's sight.
And, as she gave my diligence its praise.
Talked of the honours of my future days."

*xesNC>X^XC^^Xr>-^:3>*

On Mules, 89

CHAPTER XIIL

ON MULES.

OR some people anything that is incongruous
or grotesque, or that in any way is a departure
from the ordinary laws of nature, appears to
possess a peculiar charm. This is more especially
observable in the less educated classes of society, who
delight in the monsters usually exhibited at country
fairs, and for whom what may be termed a freak of
nature has a hundred times more attraction than the
most perfect form, or the greatest combination of excel-
lence and quality. Nor is this so much to be wondered
at, for to appreciate the latter qualities implies a mind
educated to admire, and able to compare and weigh
whatever is superior to the common standard, whereas
to admire the former requires only the stupid gaze
of astonishment and wonder. Hence the rage among
such people for everything that is out of the ordinary
track of nature, and their frequent attempts to mar her
handiwork by mating birds of different species with
each other. A mule or hybrid for them has a charm
and value far beyond the most perfect specimen of a
true bred bird, though neither in colour, shape, or song
can it possibly have the .least claim to be compared.
With such tastes and feelings it is needless to say we
have little sympathy ; still, as some of my readers, by

90 The Canary.

no means open to the charge implied in the above
remarks, may desire to make a few experiments for
themselves, we will say a few words upon the most
desirable birds to begin with, and the results most likely
to be attained.

According to Bechstein, the species which succeed
best with the canary are the serin, the citril,the siskin,
the goldfinch, and the linnet. The greenfinch, the
chaffinch, the bullfinch, and yellowhammer, he adds,
have been tried, but the difficulty augments with the
difference of species and food ; for example I have
never seen a male canary very fond of a female yellow-
hammer, nor a male of the latter kind of a female
canary, though the plumage may be selected so as to
offer a striking resemblance. An ardent bullfinch
will sometimes yield to the allurements of a very
ardent hen canary. I have myself witnessed it ; but
with every care it is seldom the eggs are very fruitful,
and produce young. Dr. Jassy, however, writes me
from Frankfort that he has obtained mules of a bullfinch
and canary, by making other canaries sit on the eggs,
and bring up the young, and that this plan is pursued
in Bohemia. My bullfinch, he adds, is so attached to
the female canary that he mourns all the time they are
separated, and cannot bear any other bird.

Although Bechstein enumerates the yellow-hammer
as a mate for the canary in the list given above, we
ourselves can amply bear out the qualifying remark he
makes as to the unlikelihood of a matcli — as we have
repeatedly made the experiment with birds between
whom there was very little difference of colour, and

On Mules. 91

always with the like result. Although thls^ at first
sight may seem somewhat strange, it is readily accounted
for when we remember that the yellowhammer is not a
finchj but a hunting, and consequently that the two
birds belong to two different species w^hich have little
or no affinity with each other.

The same remark holds good also with regard to the
greenfinch, which together with its congener, the bull-
finch, although commonly called finches, do not belong
to the finch tribe, but are members of the gros-beak
species, which we think is sufficient to put it also out
of the category of desirable or likely mates for the
canary.

The serin, the citril, and the siskin, not being common
in England, we can say little about, never having tried
the two former, whilst we have possessed two of the
latter, neither of which ever showed the least signs of
mating with any of our canaries, with whom they were
constantly kept. That others have been more successful
we do not doubt, but we think we may safely say that
the chance of success with all these is at the best but
indifferent and remote. A mule between a canary and
a citril finch, if the former is neither white nor yellow,
says Bechstein, difiers little from the common grey or
green canary, except in being more slender, and having
the beak shorter and thicker ; while a mule between a
siskin and canary, if the mother be a green canary, will
resemble a female siskin ; but if she be white or yellow
their colours are lighter, yet without differing greatly
from those of the siskin, which they always resemble in
shape.

92 The Canary.

We come then at last to tlie three English finches^
viz., the chaffinch, the linnet, and the goldfinch, as
being the most likely of any to ensure success, and as
being perhaps the most desirable when obtained.
Singularly enough, liowever, common as the chaffinch
is amongst our gardens and orchards we have never
met with one that has ever been paired with a canary,
and never heard of such a thing as a hybrid produced
from them in this country. Here, however, they are
not held in the same esteem as in Germany, where, such
is the passion for these birds, that men have been known
to travel ninety miles from home to take with bird-lime
one of these birds, distinguished for its song, and have
given one of their cows for a fine songster having what
is termed the double trill of the Hartz. We cannot
enter into all the niceties of the chaffinch's song, and
beautiful as his plumage undoubtedly is when flitting
about in our orchards and gardens, it soon loses its
freshness and colour in confinement, and hence in
England it is little prized and seldom kept, and thus
it too may be dismissed as not affording much prospect
of success.

Our choice, then, seems to lie principally between
the linnet and the goldfinch, both of which are easily
paired with the canary, and from both of which mules
are with little difficulty obtained. The offspring of
both these mixtures combine more or less the colours
of the parents, and participate in the shape of the male
linnet or goldfinch, rather than that of the female
canary. We need scarcely say, therefore, tliat the
produce of the linnet will always present a heavy

On Mules. 9S

stumpy appearance, and consequently be more or less
unsightly to the eye that has any perception of beauty
of outline, while that of the goldfinch will necessarily
have more gracefulness of figure, and a greater variety
of plumage. The colour of the former will be the
brown of the linnet, perhaps blotched with patches of
dingy white, while that of the latter will partake more
of the gay livery of the goldfinch Avith a far greater
diversity in its plumage. We ourselves have bred
specimens some of which differed little from the male
goldfinch, while others have united the beautiful scarlet
and orange head of the former, with a body of beautiful
and delicate white like a canary. We have seen others
of most exquisite shape, and most attractive colour,
from which, although no admirers of the mule tribe in
general, it were impossible to withhold our meed of praise.
'^ The miost beautiful I have seen," says Bechstein,
" was greyish ash-colour in the middle of its crest, and
silvery white on the rest of its head and nape ; a broad
orange border surrounded the beak, and the neck was
adorned with a white collar ; the back was dusky grey
with black streaks ; the rump ^Yhite, the under part of
the body of a snowy whiteness ; the under tail- coverts
the wings, and first quill-feathers white, but the others
as well as the coverts, black edged with yellow ; the
middle of the wing was also adorned with a beautiful
golden yellow spot ; the white tail had a black spot on
the sides ; the white beak was tipped with black ; the
feet were white. The mother of this beautiful bird
was white with a greenish-grey crest. In general one
may be sure of fine birds when yellow or white females

94: The Canary,

are paired with male goldfinches. The song of both
the linnet and goldfinch mule is sufHciently pleasing
and attractive, while that of all others may be said to
be the reverse, which again is a great recommendation
in their favour. After all, however, we think the trouble
and risk of disappointment are scarcely worth running
for the chance of a prize bird, which, like angels' visits,
is certain to be few and far between. For one hand-
some bird you may safely reckon on a dozen ill-
favoured, if not positively ugly. In any case if any one
wishes to make the experiment, he must remember
that whether he select the serin, the citril, the siskin,
yellowdiammer, greenfinch, bullfinch, chaffinch, linnet,
or goldfinch, to ensure success, the female must always
be a canary, and that these must not be old birds
caught by the birdcatcher as chance may direct, but be
brought up from the nest by hand ; otherwise disap-
pointment and failure will be almost certain to result.
As an occasional experiment the attempt to obtain birds
of this kind will have its charms and attractions for
many, but for ourselves we confess Ave care little for
mules in any shape or form. A wise Providence has set
the mark of sterility on all such heterogenous offspring,
and while it has thus said, as though in displeasure at
the attempt to transgress its laws, " Hitherto shalt thou
go, and no farther," on the other hand, we read on the
first page of Holy Writ how, when God commanded
the water to bring forth abundantly every living
creature that moveth, and every winged fowl, each was
to be '^ after his kind." In this way alone He bestowed
His blessing upon them and commanded them thus to

On Mules. 95

replenish the earth. '^ What God hath joined together
let no man put asunder/' and what he hath put asunder
let no man attempt to bring together.

" God spake : the waters teem with life.
The tenants of the floods ;
The many- coloured winged birds
Dart quickly through the woods.
High rushes the eagle.

On fiery wings ;
Low hid in the valley,
The nightingale sings.

" God spake : the lion, steer, and horse,
Spring from the moistened clay.
While round the breast of mother earth
Bees hum, and lambkins play.

They give life to the mountain, . ,

They swarm on the plain.
But their eyes fix'd on earth.
Must for ever remain.

** God spake : He look'd on earth and heavea.
With mild and gracious eye :
In His own image man He made,
And gave Him dignity.

He springs from the dust,
The Lord of the earth.
The chorus of heaven,

Exult at his birth.
And now creation's work was ended,

Man raised his head, he spoke;
The day of rest by God ordain'd,
The sabbath mornine; broke."

96 The Caiiary,

CHAPTER XIV.

PREPARATIONS FOR, BREEDING, TIME, MANNER, AND
OBJECT OF PAIRING.

AVING thus completed our stock of birds, tlie
time was noAV at hand for their proper assort-
ment. Notwithstanding the popular rural
tradition that on St. Valentine's Day each bird of tlie
air chooses its mate, and that we had the express
license of old Chaucer to put up the banns of union on
so auspicious a day, we decline to begin so early.
Though as anxious as any one to commence these im-
portant preliminaries, and though the weather just then
happened to be peculiarly favorable and tempting, we
thought it better to wait a little longer, for fear we
might find to our cost that in the more haste there is
often the worst speed. In vain did the oldest of our
English poets proclaim his mandate in our ears, saying,

" Foules take heed of my sentence, I pray,

And for your own ease in fordring of your need,
As fast as I may speak, I will me speed :
Ye know well how, on St. Valentine's day.

By my statute, and through my goveruaunce,
Ye do chuse your mates, and after flie away
With him, as I move you with plesaunce."

We do not believe anything is to be gained by com-
mencing operations so early, for even should a person

Preparations for Breeding, ^c. 97

succeed in getting young birds hatched by the begin-
ning or middle of March, they are invariably delicate
and tender, and difficult to rear. Moreover, should the
weather change and become cold and frosty, as it not
infrequently does about this time, not only are the
}oung birds almost sure to perish from want of the
necessary warmth of the sun, but the old birds are
unduly weakened by their exertions, and much loss of
time and disappointment are the result. In the choice
of time for pairing young birds, much, of course, must
depend upon circumstances. If the weather is very
fine and your birds strong and in good condition, the
latter end of March or beginning of April may be se-
lected if you are very anxious to begin ; but as a general
rule if you wait till the middle of the latter month, it
will be quite early enough. Young birds require great
warmth, and, it must be remembered, warmth of the sun,
too, in order to develop their feathers properly, which
fact alone, if borne in mind, will tell you when is the
most proper time to begin. Any how, we may dismiss
the popular tradition of St. Valentine's day as a popular
fallacy, more honoured in the breach than in the ob-
servance. It may be all very well for poets to sing
about this festive day, and explicitly declare, as lago
does, how thereon

" The tuneful clioir, in amorous strains,
Accost their feathered loves ;
While each fond mate, with equal pains,
The tender suit approves."

but it will scarcely do for practical men in this matter-
of-fact age_j to heed their strain. In such a case, I

7

98 The Canary,

would rather give the somewhat unpalatable advice
which Crabbe has given on a similar occasion, and say,

" Disposed to wed, e'en while you hasten, stay, —
There's great advantage in a small delay."

In order to bring about a match as we desired, for our
birds were all together, a little manoeuvring and man-
agement became necessary, or our plan of operations
would very probably have been marred. The manner
of bringing this about we accomplished in the following
way, which, as it proved both simple and effective, I
would recommend to others. Having fixed upon the
birds we wished to pair together, we separated them
from the rest, placing them by themselves in two dif-
ferent cages in another room. For a couple of days
we hung one bird above the other, in such a manner as
the one could only just get a glimpse of his neighbour.
This excited their curiosity, and caused them to begin
to call to each other, and at the same time made them
more desirous than they would otherwise have been, to
form an acquaintance with their unknown friend. Very
droll it was to watch their manoeuvres to accomplish
this desirable object, and try to overcome every diffi-
culty in the way. While the lady below clung to the
sides and roof of her cage, the gentleman above stretched
out its neck to its utmost length, if perchance he might
obtain a glimpse of her charming person. To obtain a
more perfect sight of his intended bride, the latter
would now descend to the floor of his cage, and walk
on tip-toe, looking with the intensest gaze over its ledge,
and now mount to the topmost wires of the roof, which,
alas ! improved his position but little. Then he would

Preparations for Breeding^ ^c. 99

drop down to his ordinary perch and serenade her with
a song, recounting, no doubt, in enraptured strains all
the charming qualities of her person and the intolerable
sorrows of his state. Then she would answer with a
chirp, as though she would assure him she had no ob-
jection to his suit, when again he would go his rounds
as before. The third day, knowing how " hope de-
ferred maketh the heart sick," and that it will not do
to trifle with the affections thereof too long, we placed
the two cages side by side, when for several hours they
were permitted to enjoy a cozy Ute-d-tete through the
wires. Loth to lose so golden an opportunity, the gen-
tleman, feeling that " a faint heart never wins a fair
lady," soon popped the question to his mistress, who
in reply twittered out a bashful "assent to his suit, when
a low sweet warbling declared the engagement com-
plete. The doors were then opened ; he hopped into
her apartment, and she accompanied him back to his,
when having seen all that there was to be seen, and
partaken of the daintiest morsels of his larder, they
retire to bill and coo together at their leisure, till their
happiness is complete. Substituting the cage and aviary
for the meadow and the spray, we may apply the lines
of the poet to their case.

" With cheerful hop from spray to spray,
They sport along the meads,
In social bliss together stray
Where love or fancy leads.

Through spring's gay scenes each happy pair

Their fluttering joys pursue ;
Its various charms and produce share.

For ever kind and true."

100 The Canary,

Having thus spoken of the time and manner of
pairing, we would now say a word upon the object to be
kept in view. With many persons a canary is a canary,
and so that young birds are produced they care not
what they are ; but this plan, if such it can be called,
not only necessarily prevents the attainment of excel-
lence^ but destroys, we think, half the interest and en-
joyment of the occupation. In breeding canaries, as
in all other things, the axiom of Dr. Johnson, " that
whatever is worth doing at all is Avorth doing well,'^
should ever be borne in mind. Were it only acted
upon, we should not see the number of common little,
ugly marked, ill-shaped birds we do, but all would be
more or less like the prize birds, larger in size, elegant
in shape, and rich and regular in colour. Although,
as in the case of cattle in the agricultural world, prizes
and exhibitions in London and other large towns have
done much to improve the breed of our canaries, yet
the progress is slow ; and I fear it will still be many
years before their influence is generally felt, and the
race of misshapen and irregular blotched birds are
extirpated from our land.

To every breeder, therefore, of this pretty songster, I
would say, start out with some definite object in your
own mind, and then having settled what this shall be,
devote all the skill and knowledge you possess to bring
it about. For example, study the varieties of form
peculiar to each race, settle in your own mind a higli
standard of elegance, and then select those birds alone
to breed from you think are most likely to realise it in
their produce. Do the same as to colour^ decide at the

Preparattons for Breeding, 8^0. 101

outset what this shall be, and do all you can to get it
pure and distinct. Thus, whether it be pure white,
pale lemon, or buff, bright yellow, or deep orange, grey
or green, cinnamon or mottled ; in short, whether it be
the Lizard, the London fancy, or the Yorkshire spangle,
or prize Belgian, do not miss them but keep them sepa-
I'ate, selecting such birds only as are likely in your
judgment to produce offspring still more excellent than
their parents. This, you may rest assured, will not
only be the most likely way of improving the breed to
which your special attention may chance to be directed,
but will impart an additional interest to the under-
taking, which mere chance or promiscuous breeding
would fail to yield. In our own case, excellence in
colour, and elegance of shape, song being for the most
part a matter of after education, were the two points
we specially aimed at. With regard to shape, there is
little or no difficulty to contend with, the rule of " like
producing like" invariably holding good. With regard
to colour, however, owing I imagine to the promiscuous
breeding and crossing hitherto practised, it is nothing
like so certain. Could you only obtain birds of any
given colour, whose ancestors had never been crossed
with those of any other for eight or ten generations
previously, I have little doubt but that it would be as
constant and unchanging as any other quality you could
name. But owing to the want of the systematic breed-
ing we recommend, this rule can hardly be depended
upon at present, or, indeed, any other, for all are liable
to be marred by vagaries which the breeder could not
possibly anticipate. Hence also the discrepancies and

102 The Canary,

conflicting advice given by various writers upon the
subject, such being true probably as regards bis own
unlimited experience, but scarcely to be relied on as an
unalterable rule for all. Thus, one writer whom we
have consulted lays down the law clearly and tersely :
" If you wish very high-coloured birds, breed jonque
and jonque," that is, bright yellow with bright yellow,
whilst another as confidently asserts that such a mode
of proceeding will never do, but that " a fine full-
coloured yellow bird is most likely to be obtained from
the union of a clear-bred jonque cock with a large per-
fect mealy hen." Who shall decide when doctors dis-
agree ? As in the matter of medicine, the homoeopaths
and the allopaths are diametrically opposed in the prin-
ciples on which their practice is based, the one asserting
tbat like cures like, and the other clinging as strictly
to the contraries, so do authors who treat upon the
breeding of the canary. One party asserts without
fear of contradiction, " that the union of opposites are
productive of the most harmonious results," the other
that their experience teaches the very contrary. For
my own part, I believe much depends upon the parti-
cular circumstances of each case. Wherever we can
obtain pure bred birds from a pure stock of several ge-
nerations I have no doubt about the soundness and
wisdom of the homoeopathic principle of " like producing
like. " But where birds have been cross bred with others
of diff'erent colour, or where it is desirable to infuse a
harder texture into the soft and flossy silkiness of
feather usually found in very high-coloured birds, a
cross with a close-feathered mealy hen may be more

Preparations for Breeding^ ^c, 103

desirable. As an instance of tlie rule of contraries, it is
universally admitted that two mop-headed, or turned -
down-crested birds, will produce bald-pated offspring.
Why, I believe, is not understood. Of the truth oi
this I cannot personally speak of my own knowledge^
never having made the experiment. However^ whilst
adhering to the maxim of like producing like, it is only
fair to state the caution I received from the German
importer when I bought my green hen to match with a
cock of simiLar colour. " You do tink," said my in-
formant in quaint and broken English, ^' you do tink
to have green birds by pairing dis green hen with a
cock like her." " Certainly," I replied. " Well, me
do tink no such ting; me tink you will have clear
yellow ones." "Well," 1 rejoined, " we shall see ; at
all events I will try and make the experiment, for,
after all, there is nothing like personal experience in
such matters." Though I have not succeeded in rearing
any from the birds in question, yet we succeeded in
having several young birds hatched and reared until
they had fine feathers on their back, all of which were
exceedingly dark, and showed no approach to anything
like yellow. Mr. Adams in his ^ Cage and Singing
Birds,' says good Lizards, are obtained by matching a
strongly marked grey cock with a dark-splashed hen, and
if you put together a strong grey or green-coloured cock
with a clear mealy hen, you will most likely have what
are called cinnamon birds ; the lightest tinted of this
variety are termed quakers ; and if you match a quaker
hen with a clear greenish cock, you get what is called
the dove canary, from the soft, subdued colour of its

104 The Canary,

plumage. If you pair for several seasons the lightest
mealies procurable, you will have white and flaxen-
coloured birds, and so you may go on producing varie-
ties innumerable. For our own part, however, we
recommend the system of like producing like, keeping
these clear and distinct, rather than crossing and re-
crossing as above described ; but, above all, the breeding
of self-coloured birds rather than of irregularly or
fancifully marked birds we now too often see.

" Rejoice, my merry little mate.

The blithesome spring is coming,
When thou shalt roam, with heart elate.

To hear the wild bee humming;
To hear the wild bee humming round

The primrose sweetly blowing.
And listen to each gentle sound

Of gladsome music flowing.

" The birds shall sing from many a bower

Joy like thy own obeying;
And round full many a blooming flower

The butterfly be playing —
Be playing, love, on Avings as light

As heart in thy young bosom.
And showing tints as fair and bright

As does the opening blossom.

" The snowdrops by our garden walk

Long since to life have started —
They wither now upon the stalk ;

Their beauty is departed —
Their beauty is departed. But

Flowers in the fields are springing.
Which by and bye shall ope and shut

As to the glad birds singing.

Preparations for Breeding, ^c, 105

" Spring is to me no happy time.

Its smiles are touch'd with sadness ;
For vanish'd, with life's early prime.

Is much that gave it gladness.
Yet, merry playmate, for thy sake,

I will not sing of sorrow ;
But since thou canst its joys partake,

I would 'twere spring to-morrow/'

-^Mmi^^^^^

106 The Canary,

CHAPTER Xy.

NEST-BOXES AND NESTS.

.WING paired all our birds, and returned them
to the aviary, the next thing that became
necessary was to provide them with the means
of making their nest. When wild the canary, as we
have already stated, loves to build its nest in the
branches of the orange-tree on the banks of some silver
stream, where the perfume of the flowers seems most
grateful to its taste. To gratify this very natural pro-
pensity of their nature was wholly out of our power, we
having neither orange-trees nor greenhouse to offer
them. Use, however, we knew was second nature, and
therefore as the latter is proverbially accommodating to
the circumstances in which it finds itself, we did not
despair of inducing our feathered friends to put up
with a much more humble and unromantic situation.
Their locality was fixed, and from that there was no
escape. If it could not be said to be quite so poetical
as the banks of a stream, or the perfumed orangery of
a greenhouse, still it was light, cheerful, airy, and
above all of even temperature, and altogether free from
cold and chilling draughts, points specially to be
attended to in the breeding and keeping of the canary.
Nothing is more injurious to their health than great

Nest-hoxes and Nests. lOT

and sudden changes in the temperature, and nothing
kills them so soon as the exposure to a cold draught.
Too much heat is to be avoided as much as too little,
the former making the hens sickly, produces weakening
perspirations very injurious to their own health, as well
as causes their young to be weak and difficnlt to rear.
As we had no trees, or anything that could be taken as
an apology for one, two things were manifestly re
quired, viz., materials wherewith to make their nest,
and something wherein the nest might be made in.
"VVe looked about, and saw, both in the market and in
the shop-windows of the dealers, pretty little wicker-
work baskets, a trifle larger than the panniers usually
placed on the back of a toy -jackass, with building
materials corresponding to their size. We were too
practical to be taken in with such toys, and abjured
them from the first with as much contempt as would a
true disciple of old Isaac the tempting flies and taking
gear usually found in a fashionable fishing-tackle shop
in town. In lieu thereof we had a number of wooden
boxes made, of the following proportions, viz., three
and three quarter inches long, by three and a quarter
wide, and two deep, in fact, common kitchen soap-
boxes, the back finishing in a point, and having a long
hole so as to take on and off a hook placed in the wall
for that purpose. These were both neat in their
appearance, and commodious for the birds, requiring
indeed a little more material to fill them, but prevent-
ing the risk of the young birds falling out of their nest,
and coming to an untimely end, at the same time that
they weie easy to exchange and keep clean.

108 The Canary.

Placing one in each corner of tlie aviary, and others
midway between, we left each bird to select his own
plot of building-ground, as whim or fancy might direct.
Very amusing was it to watch each newly-married
couple setting off on a house-hunting expedition. With
critical eye and searching glance they mspected all the
ins and outs of their future domicile, weighing the
advantages and drawbacks to each with discriminating
wisdom and caution. One pair evidently liked to see
all that was going on in the bustling and busy scene of
the little world around them, and chose a handsome
villa residence close to the wire fencing which formed
the boundary of their domain ; another, more shy and
retiring, selected a quiet cozy-looking domicile in an
out-of-the-way corner at the back, into which no in-
quisitive passer-by might look or intrude ; a third
evidently looked out for a bright and cheerful aspect,
having an eye to the early rays of the morning sun ;
while a fourth, reflecting how all their domestic comfort
might be destroyed, could every idle, gossiping neigh-
bour overlook their house, selected the highest situation
they could find, from whence they could look down with
an air of conscious superiority on all below. In a word,
some liked light, and some shade, some the activity of
the world, some the retirement of the cloister, and thus
it came to pass, one way or other, each selected the
spot that pleased them best; and though there was but
one vase of water for each four houses, the ladies con-
trived to live in harmony and peace, instead of, as is
too often the case under such circumstances with the
human race, wasting many hard words ove»* a little

Nest-hoxes and Nests. 109

soft water, and striving hard like echo to have the
last word.

Well, but after all, you will saj^, these wooden boxes
are but the bricks and mortar of their residence, the
bare walls, as it were, of their house, how did they fit
them up and furnish them ? In human families, most
of us know, when a little stranger is expected, great
preparations are made for his proper reception. There
is a nice wicker cradle, a soft and downy mattress for
his bed, fine warm woollen blankets to keep him warm,
to say nothing of the white pincushion with its pink or
blue ribbon, and customary salutation inscribed in
pinny type, saying, " Welcome little stranger !" What
have you then to correspond with all this ? Where did
you go a shopping ? Who was your upholsterer and
cabinet-maker, and how did you provide for their
wants ? Happily all these questions are soon answered ;
we had no suites of expensive mahogany, rosewood, or
walnut, to purchase ; there was no perplexity in
choosing between oak and maple-painted or japan
ware ; we had no anxiety about either the colour of our
curtains, or the texture of our carpets ; lace and muslin,
damask or chintz, silk or moreen, had no charms for
our newly-married couples. No, they cared not a rush
for Axminster or Turkey, Brussels or velvet pile,
Scotch or Kidderminster, felt or drugget, cocoa-nut or
oilcloth for their flooring. Having no windows they
required neither Venetians for their blinds, or white or
buff hollands to keep out the sun. Gold cornices and
rods were alike dispensed with ; being always on the
wing they wanted neither staircase nor other carpet in

no The Canary.

their bedroom, or rocking-chair to lull them to sleep.
No, the furnishing of their house was a much more
simple and inexpensive a matter. A little moss from
some old forest tree, a little hair from the cow with the
crumpled horn, and a little raw cotton given me by a
kind friend, notwithstanding half the mills in Man-
chester were either on the point of stopping or of
putting their hands on short time, through lack of
sufficient material to carry on their business, owing to
the mortal strife then going on between the Northern
and Southern States of America, was all that we
required. Having first thoroughly cleaned the moss,
and scalded the hair with boiling water, for the purpose
of killing all vermin that might be therein, we dried it
again before the fire, and then with a further addition
of cotton, put the whole in little string nets made for
the purpose, which we hung outside the wires of the
aviary, that the birds might not pull it all in pieces by
way of amusement, as otherwise they would be very
likely to do. The moss made a very good mattress,
the hair answered the purpose of a good feather bed,
whilst the cotton supplied the place of a pair of the
warmest witney blankets or eider-down quilt, shutting
out all cold, and making altogether a couch such as the
most luxurious lady of the land might envy and desire.
Unlike the English finches, to wit, the goldfinch,
chaffinch, and linnet, the canary finch is but a rough
and clumsy builder, caring comparatively little for the
external neatness of its nest, though the interior is laid
in and finished with considerable care and attention to
its appearance, Still, of its performance, no less than of

Nest-hoxes and Nests. Ill

that of these superior artists, may we say with Ilurdis,
in that beautiful poem entitled " The Village Curate/'

"But most of all, it wins my admiration,
To view the structure of this little work,
A bird's nest. Mark it well ! — within, without;
No tool had he that wrought — no knife to cut,
No nail to fix — no bodkin to insert —
No glue to join; his little beak was all.
And yet how neatly finished ! What nice hand,
With every implement and means of art.
And twenty years' apprenticeship to boot.
Could make me such another ? Fondly, then,
We boast of excellence, whose noblest skill
Instinctive genius foils."

112 The Canary

CHAPTER XVI.

OUR FIRST BIRDS.

N the 26tli of March, the weather being fine,
and our birds strong, and we ourselves all
anxiety and impatience to begin, we first put
the nest-boxes and materials for building into the
aviary. Immediately all was wonder and excitement
amongst the birds. The hens bustled about from one
box to another, curiously inspecting every nook and
corner, each apparently afraid lest her neighbour
should be first in the field. Allhouijrh in takinoj a
house many inquiries have to be made, which little girls
who live at home at ease, and which bachelors and
spinsters domiciling in lodgings ready for their use
have little conception of, it was evident, as there were
many applicants for the same tenement, they had no
time to lose. Our birds seemed to be of this opinion, and
as it usually happens in such cases, so it did with them.
The least and most energetic little hen in the whole
aviary at once decided upon the most eligible villa in
the square, and forthwith took possession by lining it
with moss and hair. Whilst others were looking about,
unable to make up their minds, or wasting their time
in picking at the hair and cotton, little Blanche had
half finished her nest. Not a moment did she lose,
though her lordly husband proved a very indifferent

Our First Birds. 113

help, and did little more than look on. So vigorously,
however, did she set to work, that by the next day the
nest was nearly completed, and on the morning of the
^Tth, only three days after the nest-boxes had been put
into the aviary, to the great joy of herself and our own
children, she had deposited her first egg ! Here was
an event ; the discovery of a new world by the Spanish
seamen could scarcely have excited greater interest or
curiosity than did the first glimpse of the little speckled
globe now in our aviary. The thrilling rapture with
which the first Crusaders gazed upon the battlements
of the Holy City, or the wild delight with which the
first settlers in the New World looked upon the Pacific
Ocean, could scarcely exceed the delirious joy excited
by this happy event in our youngsters' breasts. All
were eager to have a peep at the long-expected treasure,
though they knew they must not touch or tease the
old bird with their inquisitiveness. To gratify this
very pardonable curiosity, and as I knew they would
not abuse it afterwards, I gave permission for them all
to have a look. So, piling a number of boxes on the
window-seat, they soon mounted up one after the othei
to satisfy their curiosity, and even Polly, the youngest?
by standing on tiptoes, managed to get a glimpse of
the precious gem, which having done they all set oif
(.0 school with hearts as light and smiles as bright as
the morning breeze. The next day poor little Blanche
laid another, and the next another, then missing a day,
the following morning, a fifth. So far all went merry
as a marriage-bell J and our fondest hopes seemed in a
fair way to be shortly realised. Others began to build

8

114 The Canary.

also, and by the Saturday following, Beauty and
Buttercup had finished their nest, and on the Sunday
morning the former had deposited her first e^^^ therein.
Little Blanche was indefatigable in her maternal duties,
but her husband, I am sorry to say, who all along had
shown himself to be only an idle, shacking sort of
fellow, now exhibited himself in his true colours.
Whenever she left the nest, instead of guarding it
with jealous care against all marauders, as a good
husband should, my gentleman began to pick out the
soft cotton with which it w^as lined, and thus set a very
bad example to the others, which, I am grieved to
say, they were not slow to follow. For a day or two
this sort of thing went on without any material harm
being done, for, being an active, industrious little
bird, little Blanche soon repaired the damage done in
her absence, wdiilst she administered to the culprits
caught in the act a sound drubbing, which they richly
deserved. Often did they fly away with a flea in their
ears for their wanton and malicious attacks upon other
people's property, but alas ! one morning we found the
nest all turned upside down in the box, and though the
eggs w^ere not broken, and we tried to repair the
damage, poor little Blanche looked ^he picture of
misery, and never went near them again. Every now
and then she w^ould go and take a momentary peep at
her now desolate house, but instinct, I suppose, told
her that it v/ould be useless to return. Her fondest
hopes were evidently blighted, and the bright visions
of her callei brood were at an end ; and bitterly did
she seem to mourn over her loss, whilst her good-for-

Our First Birds. 115

nothing husband looked on with the utmost indif-
ference. The eggs and nest were, after a day or two,
utterly left and deserted, and all was mute and blank
despair. As she sat upon her perch beside her rifled
home, she seemed to ask as many another bereaved
parent has done —

" How can you bid this heart be blithe,

When blithe this heart can never be ?
I've lost the jewel from my crown —

Look round our circle, and you'll see
That there is ane out o' the ring

Who never can forgotten be.
Ay, there's a blank at my right hand.

That ne'er can be made up to me.

" 'Tis saidj as water wears the rock,

That time wears out the deepest line;
It may be true wi' hearts enow.

But never can apply to mine.
For I have learned to know and feel

(Though losses should forgotten be)
That still the blank at my right hand

Can never be made up to me.

" I blame not Providence's sway,

For I have many joys beside j
And fain would I in grateful way

Enjoy the same, whate'er betide.
A mortal thing should ne'er repine.

But stoop to God's supreme decree !
Yet oh ! the blank at my right hand

Can never be made up to me ! '*

This was a very untoward and unlooked-for disaster,
but as it was clear there was no use in crying over spilt
milk or dwelling upon it in melancholy inactivity, after
a few days poor little Blanche set to work again as

116 The Canary.

industriously as ever, and soon regained her usual
good spirits. This time she selected a box in the very-
opposite corner, and soon completed another nest as
quickly as before, whilst her mate, as if to make up
for his past misconduct, now began one on his own
account half way between the two. Each worked away
at its own box, paying an occasional visit to the
other, as though they were trying to see which could
make the best, but in no wise assisting in each other's
work. This certainly was very mysterious. AVhat
could it mean ? Did they intend to have a town and
country residence, or was one to be a cottage for the
children, whilst papa and mamma were attending to
their business at home? or did they intend to separate,
and have two distinct establishments, as some people
do who cannot agree to live together ! This they did
not choose to inform us for the present ; and so we
were left to our own conjecture and surmise. At times,
we thought Brilliant must be a hen, instead of a cock,
yet the brilliancy of his colour, his general appearance,
and his always being in the company of Blanche, forbad
the notion. Certainly it was curious that now they
should thus separate, and construct two 'habitations,
when only one could possibly be required. Hitherto,
every one who had seen him had considered him to be
a cock, and up to the time of making his first nest he
had been most assiduous in his attentions upon the
beautiful little Blanche. Day after day we watched
the denouement of this very mysterious business, and
wondered how it would ultimately end. Soon, it was
remarked, that master Spangle had suddenly become

Our First Birds. 117

suspiciously attentive to the fair Brilliant, and every-
day tended to confirm our worst surmises, when Judy
got up to see what they were really doing with their
nests, and descried three fine eggs in each ! Our
pet Brilliant had turned out an undoubted hen, and
thus all our hopes of breeding London fancy birds with
black wings and tail and pure golden bodies were for
the time at an end ! Nor was this the least part, or
the whole of our misfortune; our whole arrangement
in the upper aviary was altogether upset, for we had
now two hens without a cock, and, in all probability,
should soon have three, for master Spangle, there was
too much reason to fear, would soon desert poor Lady
Grey, of whom he had seemed passionately fond all the
winter and spring. Of this danger she appeared to be
aware, and so, thinking the best way to reclaim her
recreant lord would be to build a nest herself, she
immediately set to work and soon followed their ex-
ample. Each lady then sat upon her own eggs with-
out further molestation, and thus for a time harmony
seemed to be restored, whilst at no distant date there
appeared every probability that Mr. Spangle would have
three wives on his hand, and a numerous family to
support.

In this way time rolled on, when suddenly to our
dismay the weather, from being warm and spring-like,
became intensely cold, snow falling on the 12th of
April, and ice forming in the night of considerable
thickness. What, we naturally thought, would become
of our young birds under such circumstances? The
room in which they were was certainly as warm, or

118 The Canary.

even warmer than most ordinary rooms, but still it was
sufficiently cold, we knew, in the night time to give rise
to very serious apprehensions. We had already heard
some weeks past of young birds being hatched, and of
the almost hopeless endeavour to rear them, and now it
was colder than ever ! Well, we could not help it, the
eggs were laid, the birds were sitting, and the young
brood would soon be hatched in all human probability.
To provide flannel shirts for their little naked bodies
was impossible, and so they must take their chance.
As the expected day drew nigh when the first young-
sters should break their shells and be introduced to the
light of day, all, as might be anticipated, began to be
eager to catch a first glimpse of the long-expected
treasures ! We had calculated our first birds would
make their appearance on the fourteenth ; but just as
we were on the point of starting for church the day
before, which happened to be Palm Sunday, Judy
rushed into the parlour in the highest state of excite-
ment, saying, she was sure a young bird was hatched.
At first I doubted the fact, having calculated the period
of incubation, which lasts fourteen days, from the day
the last egg was laid. In this, however, I was wrong,
the proper time being fourteen days from the first, each
Q^^ being then consecutively hatched in the order they
are laid, which thus often makes two, three, and four
days' difference in the age of the birds. She was sure
she had seen a small beak stretched out above Beauty's
nest to be fed, and was certain her eyes had not deceived
her. Great was the joy which this startling intelli-
gence created amongst the children. For a time they

Our First Birds. 119

could think of nothing else, so that I had some doubts
as to the benefits they might get from the coming sermon.
However, my misgivings were happily ill-founded, for
on questioning them afterwards on the subject, though
Judy confessed she could not help thinking about it
whilst the bells were ringing, yet, as soon as the
service commenced, she dismissed all thoughts of sach
things out of her head, and was able to join the service
and follow the sermon throughout^ as well as though
nothing of the kind had happened. This was as it should
be with us all at all times ; and I need hardly say we
all returned home with joyous hearts and happy feel-
ings, without having allowed our earthly pleasures to
interfere with our religious duties, or permitted our re-
ligious exercises to mar or cast a gloom upon our
domestic pleasures, which surely God never intended
they should do. In the afternoon, a second was said
to have become visible, and now I hardly know which
were the most pleased, the children or the parent birds.
Beauty and Buttercup surveyed the little strangers
with the fondness of a parent's eye, and evidently viewed
them with the most exquisite delight. The news soon
spread throughout the whole aviary that some young
birds had been born into their little world, though
no penny-a-liner connected with the press was there to
publish it abroad. However, so it was ; the secret was
not to be kept long from the lady birds, who, we ob-
served, immediately flocked round the happy pair, and
had a peep at the little strangers, and, perhaps, congra-
tulated their parents on their happy lot. Having done
this, each returned to their respective homes, cheered,

120 The Canary,

no doubt, and encouraged to further perseverance by
the lovely sight, conscious that if they should only
prove equally as attentive to their maternal duties as
the happy pair before them, their labours would in due
time be similarly blessed, and themselves be equally
happy. Very cheering was it to watch these little
birds constructing with artistic skill the soft lining of
their nests ; very lovely was it to notice the self-denying
love and unwearied patience with which they brooded
over their little eggs, and tended their caller-young.
Beautifully and minutely has Erasmus Darwin sketched
the whole process when describing that of their kindred
finch, the linnet.

*' The busy birds, with nice selection, cull
Soft thistle-down, grey moss, and scattered wool;
Far from each prying eye the nest prepare.
Formed of warm aaoss, and lined with softest hair.
Week after week, regardless of her food,
Th' incumbent linnet warms her future brood ;
Each spotted ag^ witL Vory bill she turns.
Day after day with fond impatience burns —
Hears the young prisoner chirping in his cell.
And breaks in hemispheres the fragile shell !"

Our Misfortunes. 121

CHAPTEK XVII.

OUR MISFORTUNES.

HOUGH one of our cocks had turned out a
hen, and for the time disconcerted our plans,
there was not a great deal the matter, seeing
that we had now two nests full of eggs where we only
expected to have had one. After all, we thought, we
should have the hest of the bargain, and already began
to calculate our chickens, as usual, before they were
hatched. In due time, however, this important pre-
liminary to our success was brought about. Little
Brilliant hatched two fine, strong, healthy-looking birds,
whilst little Blanche had three equally promising. For
a while they throve and increased; but just as they
got well covered with pin-feathers all of a sudden they
seemed to stop in their growth, becoming pale in hue
instead of the red flesh colour which young birds in
vigorous health always are, languished a day or two,
and finally died. At first, we could not at all account
for this singular retrograde movement, seeing that they
were well supplied with excellent food, such as boiled
egg chopped up very fine, and bread soaked in milk,
besides the regular food for the old ones. On examina-
tion, however, which was further borne out by obser-
vation, we concluded that they really died of starvation,
for they had nothing in their crops, and there could be

12^ The Canary.

no doubt but that the old birds from some cause or other
had sadly neglected their tender offspring. It seems
strange that any parent should willingly do this, and
that amidst so much profusion and plenty, they should
refuse to give to their young that food which instinct
must tell them is absolutely necessary to sustain life.
I do not suppose that such a thing often happens Avith
birds in a wild state ; but, I am sorry to say, it is a
failing very prevalent amongst canaries in the tame,
and that it is especially the case with the higher bred
birds, who seem to have an especial aversion to any-
thing like work. We thought we could account for
our present disaster sufficiently well from the fact that
both were hens without mates, and that as it was the
duty of the ladies to sit on the eggs and hatch the
young, so it became in turn the duty of the males to
feed the birds so hatched, and that in point of fact this
was to a great extent invariably left to their charge.
Thus, the hens being left to themselves, and having no
one to assist them in the very arduous duty of fill-
ing so many little beaks perpetually opening and
clamouring for food every time they returned to the
nest, became tired of their ceaseless task, or followed
the instinct of their nature and left off their maternal
duties at the usual time, though they had no mates to
take them up, and so the young birds suddenly stopped
in their growth, languished a day or two, and finally
died from sheer neglect and starvation. That such is
the probable solution of the desertion cf the young in
the present case is, I think, very likely, though at the
same time it is not altogether the reason I am equally

Our Misfortunes. 123

satisfied, inasmuch as the same thing occurred to us
over and over again where the hens had no such excuse,,
but where they and their lords proved equally remiss.
As soon as we discovered that the old birds did not
sufficiently feed them, we tried to supply their place
by feeding them ourselves. In this work and labour
of love, Judy bestowed great care and patience, getting
up by four o'clock in the morning to feed them, but it
was all to little purpose. If we had begun with them
before they could see, perhaps we might have succeeded
better, but now they could open their eyes it was very
difiicult to make them open their beaks and receive the
food which we ofiered. They knew the difi'erence be-
tween the hand that gave and the beak which should have
brought them their necessary food, and, therefore, most
pertinaceously refused to take it. We did all we could
to surmount the difiiculty, and were most anxious to
supply the place of the parents, for the birds which we
now had we could already see would be beautifully
marked, and most rare in colour. Brilliant's were
splendid golden-crested lizards, Avhilst one of little
Blanche's was the most lovely and delicate fawn and
white I ever beheld. Its head and wings were just the
shade of that charming drab silk of which Quaker
ladies twenty years ago seemed to enjoy an exclusive
monopoly, but which their more fashionable successors
appear to have almost entirely forsaken. For a time
Judy's efforts seemed to prosper, and the bird to our
great delight became almost fully fledged ; but one
bitter cold night she took it up to her bed-room in
ordci to feed it as soon as it was light, when somehow

I2i The Canary.

or other it got out of the flannel in which it was
wrapped, and was found dead when she awoke. The
others did not live so long, and thus all our hopes were
dashed to the ground, and so far as they were con-
cerned, there was little better prospect for the future.

The weather, as we said, had now turned bitterly
cold again, and for some time our Belgian-bred birds
showed no symptom of building. They were evidently
in no hurry to begin, but at length, about the middle of
April, the little green hen took the lead, and set the
others a good example by making a beautiful little
nest, and depositing therein four eggs. Like Beauty
and Buttercup above, she selected a box close to the
wires in one corner, whilst Daisy soon followed her
example by choosing the one adjacent at the back.
The latter laid five eggs, much finer and larger than
any we had yet had, whilst both were most attentive
to their maternal duties, scarcely leaving their nest
for food. This augured well for our success, and
anxiously did we count the days when the period ot
incubation should be over, and more young birds
should be hatched. The tenth, eleventh, and twelfth
days passed away, the thirteenth dawned upon our
sight, when, horror of horrors, from some cause or
other, a fierce quarrel took place between these hitherto
peaceable birds, and the Avhole of the poor little green
hen's eggs were scattered on the ground, the very day
before they should and would have been hatched, for
they were all good. A second time did our little
green hen essay to redeem the misfortune of the past,
but with no better success than before. Again she

Our Misfortunes. 125

laid four eggs, but only succeeded in hatcliing two,
which, like those of Brilliant and Blanche above,
seemed to thrive and do very well until they had got
well covered over with pin-feathers, so that we could
see what colour they would be, when they, from some
cause, suddenly stopped in their growth, languished
and died. Though apparently excessively fond of
them, neither she nor Dandy would feed them suffi-
ciently, and so they died. A third time she made a
nest, laid and hatched one young one, which perished
in the same way, and then I thought she had done
enough for one season, and so took her away from her
lord. We had seen enough to show the unsoundness
of the theory propounded by our German friend as to
the colour of the offspring from two vivid green birds,
for although one had a yellow mark on his back, all
the others were undoubtedly green, thus showing that,
after all, " like Avill produce like," not only in shape
but colour.

By the beginning of June, Daisy and Marquis had
completed their second nest, and the former safely
deposited four more exceedingly fine eggs therein,
which, after due time, were all hatched, producing
four young birds. This was famous luck, and now we
thought we should surely succeed, as Daisy, we did
not doubt, would prove an exemplary mother. But
alas ! no, it was just as though an epidemic, or species
of mania, had seized the birds ; like the rest, after a
few days, she seemed tired of feeding them, and her
husband did not seem much inclined to supply her
place. Thus they shared the same fate as the others,

126 The Canary.

and out of this goodly nest-full, not one remained
alive to increase our stock by the end of the following
week.

In the upper aviary, our cinnamons gave equally as
goodly promise, as did Daisy. Seraph and Sylph like-
wise completed their nest, and the latter laid four fine
eggs, on which she duly sat, and then hatched, when
Beauty made a marauding excursion to her nest,
trying to steal the soft cotton therefrom, although
there was plenty of fresh below for her especial use.
A fierce battle accordingly ensued between these fair
ladies, the consequence of which was most disastrous
to the youthful birds, two of which were just hatched,
both being kicked out of the nest in the fray, and
drowned in the water-vase beneath. The nest was
upset, and the remaining eggs were either broken or
deserted, and thus our hopes in this direction were
again frustrated, and our rarest coloured birds were
desolate and forlorn. A second time they essayed, but
with little better success. Two birds alone were
hatched out of four eggs, but these were not sufficiently
fed, and so they shared the same fate, notwithstanding
all our efi'orts to the contrary. It was as though a
spell hung over all our proceedings, and we were never
to succeed in realising our fondly cherished dreams.

Our lizards did the worst of any, for Spangle, as we
have already stated, deserted his lawful wife at the
beginning, and took little notice of anything she did in
the way of building. However she made an attempt
notwithstanding, and laid two eggs, one of which got
broken somehow, when she deserted the other and nest

Our Misfortunes, 127

together. "We put it under another hen who was
sitting at the same time, but it came to nothing. For a
long while poor Lady Grey seemed quite sad and forlorn,
as well she might be to be so deserted by her husband,
till at length we took them both out of the aviary
together, and placed them in a breeding-cage by them-
selves. There she made another nest, but now became
ill and out of health, so that she never laid again, and
we took them with us into the country for change
of air.

July came, and now we left town for our usual visit
to the shires, and so ended all our hopes for the present
year. Although our eight hens had laid upwards of
eighty eggs, we only succeeded in rearing three birds,
which, however, was enough to make us hope for
better luck next time, and to keep us from despairing.
Our misfortunes were chiefly owing to a series of un-
toward accidents, and we felt sure that as all our birds
were young ones, and therefore having much to learn,
they would become steadier and do better a second
season. We therefore separated the cocks from the
hens, placing each by themselves for the coming winter
until spring should bring pairing- time again, when we
hope for better luck and more prosperous times. Yes,

" Sweet smile of hope, delicious tear,

The sun, the shower indeed shall come ;
The promised verdant shoots appear.
And nature bid her blossoms bloom."

We do not despair, but look forward with joy to the
prospect of returning spring, when we may again essay

us The Cananj.

to realise our dreams of canary-breeding. Thus it is
with us as it was with the farmer's boy —

** Sunshine, health, and joy.
Play round and cheer the elevated boy.
' Another spring !' his heart exulting cries ;
* Another year !' with promised blessings rise;
Eternal Powei', from wh'om those blessings flow,
Teach me still more to wonder, more to know j
Seed-time and harvest let me see again —
Wander the leaf-strewn wood, the frozen plain.
Let the first flower, corn-waving field, plain, tree.
Here round my home, still lift my soul to Thee;
And let me ever, 'midst Thy bounties, raise
An humble note of thankfulness and praise."

-"^^^^^^^mwM^^-^—

Our Infirmary. 129

CHAPTER XVIII.

OUR INFIRMARY.

HE first patient we had under our care was the
beautiful cinnamon bird, who, as we have
akeady stated, was in a most deplorable state
from dirt and neglect. The first thing we prescribed
for her was the free use of the bath, of which she
speedily and daily continued to avail herself. This
soon efi'ected a great change for the better in the general
appearance of her plumage, but now a more serious
matter demanded our attention. When she first came
into our possession her feet were mere balls of dirt,
which, though soon removed by the free use of the
bath, so inflamed them that she could hardly put one
foot to the ground. Indeed at night we discovered her
frequently on the floor, panting and heaving with pain,
sitting crumpled up in a corner instead of resting on a
perch like her companions. We bathed her foot in
warm water several times a day, and then dressed it
with glycerine, at the same time mixing a few drops of
aconite in her water to reduce the fever, which was
considerable. Although the glycerine evidently did
her foot good, yet we could not continue it, as it made
such a mess with her feathers, fco which it stuck most
pertinaciously. We then tried spermaceti ointment,
but this she invariably pecked o^ almost as soon i^s

9

180 The Canary.

applied. We then dressed it with arnica diluted in
water, in the proportion of four or five drops of the
former to half a teacupful of the latter, which soon
had the desired effect. For a time the centre toe was
quite stiff and useless, being swollen to twice the thick-
ness of the others, but by degrees we reduced this by
the arnica and the bathing, until at length a perfect
cure was effected, and now she is one of the healthiest
and cleanest, as well as most highly-prized birds in
our aviary. Such a bad case as this can only happen
through gross neglect and filthy habits ; birds may
sometimes have sore feet, however cleanly their apart-
ments may be kept, and however well they may be
supplied with water to bathe in, from the hardness of
the old scales, but these may easily be softened and
the soreness abated, by simply bathing them for five or
ten minutes in warm water a few times in the day.
In nine cases out of ten, this is all that will be found
necessary, but if not, the treatment pursued above will
soon effect a cure.

The next ailment that came under our notice was an
attack of diarrhoea, which is a somewhat dangerous
complaint, especially amongst high-bred birds. Hap-
pily for us, we had only one case, but it was the
highest personage of our aviary, in fiict no other than
Sultan, the king of the Belgians. Like all the rest of
his tribe, he was always, though very robust in his
appearance, a very tender bird. The piercing cold of
winter soon told tales about his constitution, and a
severe attack of diarrhoea was the result. Fortunately
we took it in time_j and vemoved him to the hospital-

Our Infirmary. 131

cage by himself, where we prescribed for him alternate
doses of rheum and mercurius^ mixing four or five
drops of each in two separate vases of water. At the
same time we kept him very warm, sup[)]ying him
with boiled bread and milk, and other nourishing food,
which soon brought him round, and effected a cure.
We considered ourselves very fortunate, for great
numbers of birds are carried off annually by this
disease, which sometimes rages like an epidemic
amongst the feathered tribe, as it does in the human
race. The same treatment which is found most suc-
cessful amongst the latter, will prove equally effectual
with birds. A little tincture of camphor dropped into
their water or on a lump of sugar, will also be of
service in the early stages, but if this fail, the prescrip-
tion above, I believe, will be found better than any of
the usual remedies ordinarily found in books, many of
which are as absurd as they are cruel.

The next case which called for immediate and decided
treatment was that of the Charming Princess, who,
after she had made her nest, we discovered to be eorg:-
bound. This was a dangerous case brought on by the
sudden change in the weather, which just then became
as nipping as the coldest day in winter. She was a
long while making her nest, occupying more than a
week over what some of her companions would have
finished in a couple of days. However it was com-
pleted at last, when we observed she began to look
poorly, crouching down to the ground, or sitting all of
a heap on the perches. No Qg^ was laid, and she
appeared day after day to get visibly worse, until we

133 The Canary,

came to the conclusion that she could not lay, or in
other words, was egg-bound. This, as we have said,
was a dangerous state of things, and necessitated an
immediate remedy, for if not speedily relieved, inflam-
mation would set in, and death must inevitably ensue.
Mere alterations in diet, as often recommended in such
cases, we knoAv would not only be useless, but highly
dangerous, seeing that the malady might run its course
ere these could possibly produce any eflect. Accord-
ingly we adopted a very simple and efficacious plan
which rarely or ever fails to produce the desired result,
viz., a little castor-oil applied in the following manner.
Taking a penny camel-hair paint brush, and working
it into a point, we dipped it into some castor-oil, and
gently inserted it gradually up the vent of the bird,
applying a little outside as well, over the part affected
to allay any inflammation which might exist, and at
the same time putting a drop or so in its beak. The
next morning we found an ^^g safely deposited in the
nest, which of course relieved us of all further anxiety
about the case. We have since tried the same plan
on several others, and invariably with the same result.
Indeed Mr. M — tells us, so sure a remedy is it, that
no one need lose a bird from this cause ; we can, there-
fore, confidently recommend it to others, whose birds
may be afiected with what is generally considered a
very serious^ and often fatal disease

The next disorder that came under our notice was a
very insidious one, of which we knew not for some time
either the existence or the cause. For a long time we
observed two of our Belgian birds, who, compared with

Our Infirmary. 133

other breeds, are of most indolent habits, to be getting
daily rougher in their feathers, and to begin to shed
those of the wing until the pinions became quite bare
and red. What was the matter we could not tell, and,
therefore, what to do we were entirely at a loss, until
we accidentally met with a small German pamphlet on
piping bullfinches, which at once explained the mystery.
By this, we discovered our birds were infested with a
number of small red lice, nearly invisible to the naked
eye, but which often become so numerous as to suck
their blood to such an extent that they not only speedily
become emaciated, but even died. Various remedies
I have since found are recommended in various books,
such as a pinch of Scotch snufF sprinkled under the
wing and which at best can but afford partial relief.
The one I adopted I feel convinced to be the best,
though I should only recommend it to be used by a
grown up person, as the solution is a deadly poison,
which may prove not only fatal to the bird but to ethers
if carelessly left about. Dissolving a pennyworth of
white precipitate powder into half a teacupful of
warm water, I made a solution with which by means
of a small brush I dressed each bird thoroughly all
over, taking especial care that the mixture did not get
either into his mouth or eyes. Then washing the whole
off with soap and warm water, I wrapped the bird in a
piece of flannel, and laid it before the fire until it was
partially dry, when I placed it in a cage covered over
with the same material, keeping it still before the fire
until it was thoroughly comfortable as before. They
looked wretched objects for time, indeed so much so

134 The Canary.

that Judy quite thought the first we did would never
recover, and pleaded hard for the rest going undone.
I myself had some misgivings as to the result, but the
warm flannel and comfortable fire soon dried their satu-
rated feathers, so that before night we might say of
each "Richard was himself again.""' The next day the
birds became quite cheerful and lively, and our only
regret was that we had not discovered the disorder, and
ajiplied the remedy before. We have since repeated
the application to every bird in our aviary after the
breediug season was over, when we found some of the
nest boxes to be swarming with these living pests, and
with very manifest advantage and success. Instead of
using a brush, however, we found it easier and quicker
and more effectual, to dip the bird bodily into the solu-
tion at once, taking care as before that none might get
into its beak or eyes, and then into a basin of warm
water as before. All birds, it is said, are infested more
or less with these nasty vermin, but generally manage
to keep them down by frequent bathing and dusting
themselves in sand. This I can imagine to be true,
for all the other birds at this time vrere clean and
healthy, and in good feather, having bathed daily
throughout the winter. These, however, had been in-
dolent and inactive, seldom or ever either bathing or
pluming themselves, even in the finest weather, thus
proving beyond the shadow of a doubt that in birds,
as well as in human beings, idleness and dirty habits
will inevitably bring on misery, and disease, and death.
To be healthy, we must be both cleanly in our persons
and active in our bodies ; these combined will give

Our Infirmary. 135

energy to the limbs and tone to the mind, which, toge-
ther with plain and nutritious food we take to be the
great secret of health.

The only other case which came under our treatment
was a case of asthma, which, as already stated, we failed
to cure. Bechstein says that it is a disease easily cured ;
for my own part I doubt the fact. The remedies we
used were those generally prescribed for the human
patient, and for a time they seemed to afford a tempo-
rary relief. The disease, however, appeared to us to
be untouched, and to return with every vicissitude of
the weather. Our bird, so long as she remained under
our immediate care did well enough, and might pro-
bably have lived a long while , but a few weeks in other
hands, without the special attention she had with us,
sufficed to seal her fate. The remedies we tried were
the homoeopathic preparation of ipecacuanha, phos-
phorus, bryonia, and sulphur, in tinctures of the first
dilution ; but though some appeared to give relief for
a time, they did not effect a cure. I have seen many
birds similarly affected, and variously treated but with
the same result. Still Bechstein says '^ a favorite
linnet and goldfinch when attacked with very bad
asthma, were relieved and preserved for several years
by the following method. The first thing was entirely
to leave off hemp-seed, reducing them to rape- seed only ;
but giving them at the same time abundance of bread
soaked in pure water and then pressed ; lettuce, endive
or watercresses, according to the seasons, twice a week,
giving them boiled bread and milk about the size of a
nutmeg. This is made by throwing a piece of the crum

136 The Cmiary.

of white bread, about the size of a nut, into a teacupful of
milk, boiling it and stirring it all the time with a wooden
spoon till it is of the consistency of pap. It must be
quite cold before it is given to the birds, and must
ahvays be made fresh, for if sour it will prove injurious.
This paste, which they are very fond of, purges them
sufficiently, and sensibly relieves them. In very violent
attacks nothing but this paste ought to be given for two
or three days following, and this will soon give the de-
sired relief. When the disease is only slight or only
begun, it is sufficient to give the bread and milk once
in three or four days. When employed under similar
circumstances this treatment has cured several very
valuable birds." We give the remedy as we find it, as
it is one easily tried, but we ourselves have little faith
in its efficacy, if the disease be anything but a tempo-
rary effect of some external cause, such as the giving
of too much hemp-seed or the exposure to too much
heat, which, of course, will vanish with the removal of
the cause. Beyond this, we doubt w^hether there be
any cure for a disease which has its seat in the delicate
organs of the throat and chest, and which though re-
lieved almost invariably lasts as long as the patient is
alive, "whether it be man, bird, or beast.

This completed the list of cases in our infirmary,
and these, under ordinary circumstances, will be found
to be the chief ailments of the canary. The medicines
we used were the homoeopathic tinctures, which are far
more convenient and efficacious than any other form of
medicine for the feathered tribe. As we have proved
their efficacy in the case of man and beast for many

Our Infirmary. 137

years, we can confidently recommend their use to others.
Canaries, though to a certain extent tender birds,
require little in the way of medicine. Only give them
plenty of good sound canary and rape seed, with now
and then a little hemp as a treat, and not as their
general food ; a little green food, such as lettuce, mus-
tard and cress, or apple or boiled carrot according to
the season, with plenty of clean water and red sand to
bathe and dust themselves in, and you will have little
trouble about doctoring. Provided you keep them in
an equal temperature, away from all cold draughts of
air, than which nothing kills them sooner, in a light
cheerful cage in which there is plenty of room, and
where there is the cheering warmth of the morning
sun, no birds will be found hardier or require less care
or attention. We would advise no one, however, to
keep canaries, or, indeed, any other bird or animal
that is deprived of the means of taking care of itself,
who is not really naturally fond of such things, for if it
be only taken up from fashion, or through a momen-
tary Avhim, depend upon it after the novelty is over,
the attention they require will soon become a trouble,
and the trouble will cause neglect, and neglect will
cause much misery and suffering, if not actual death to
the once charming pet. No, to take a real pleasure in
such things you must be " born, as it were, to love pigs
and poultry ;" it is a taste which cannot be acquired,
but being innate, will cause the necessary trouble it
entails to be a pleasure, and the care " a Avoik and
labour of love."

138 The Canary.

CHAPTER XIX.

ON CAGES.

AGES suitable and proper for a canary are not
altogether so much mere matters of taste as
ii some people are apt to imagine. They may
be too small or too large, too ornamental or too elabo-
rate in their workmanship, and in either or all of these
cases they do not answer the purpose required. If a
cage be too small it is cruel to the bird you desire to
pet, while if it be toolarge, a single bird will not only
appear lost in it, but in all probability it will have the
effect of making him less disposed to treat you with his
song. On the other hand, if a cage be too elaborate
and ornamental in its design and workmanship, the
effect will be to fasten the attention rather on the
casket than on the jewel it is meant to enshrine. Since
the first Great Exhibition in Hyde Park we have had
bird-cages of every form and description. Swiss
cottages, Chinese pagodas, Gothic churches, and Indian
temples, with their painted domes and minarets, all
doing great credit to the taste and enterprise of our
workers in tin, but utterly un adapted to the purpose
required. To do this satisftictorily we maintain that
the cage should always be subordinate to the bird, and
its main object be to set off to tlie greatest advantage
the plumage of the latter, and just in proportion as it

On Cages. 139

does tKis will it come up to our heau ideal of what a
cage should be. Whenever w^e see a beautiful canary
imprisoned in one of these gorgeously got up gimcracks
of zinc, we always feel very much what an artist in
some picture exhibition, standing near his own produc-
tion to hear the criticisms of the public, may he sup-
posed to feel, as he hears some unsophisticated party
exclaim, " Oh, my ! what a beautiful frame !" No,
this is surely putting the cart before the horse, and
therefore at once disposes of all these pretty toys, as
fit and proper habitations for our pet. No one who
has had a bird fit to be called a canary will ever
hide him in one of these, whilst those who possess
the lowest kind of the species only will hardly think
them to be worthy of so expensive a domicile.

For single birds the two cages we should recom-
mend are the japanned bell-shaped cage, and the plain
square white tinned sort. The former is light, airy
and elegant, and answers well for a single bird, who
always looks well in it. It has the recommendation of
being easily cleaned, and of affording the least possible
screen for those pests and scourges of the canary, red-
lice. The only drawback is, that its shape precludes
it from being hung up against a wall, but for a stand,
or to be suspended from a ceiling nothing can be better
for the purpose. In this, as in all other wares, there
are inferior kinds, of which I would fain put my readers
on their guard, for the cheaper imitations of the real
article being badly japanned and painted with the
worst of paint, and therefore easily picked off, as we
have experienced to our sorrow, are often the unsus-

140

The Canary,

On Cages. 141

pected cause of ill-health, and death of many a valued and
valuable bird. Of course the only way to guard against
this disaster is to go to the best makers, or the leading
bird-dealers, who are sure to patronise the best articles.

But the cage to set off a canary to the greatest
advantage, and which therefore we recommend before
all others, is the plain square- topped cage, made of
white tin wire without any wood-work at all, except
the bottom, which should be of polished ebony, or at
least, if of other wood, stained black. This suits alike
all birds of whatever colour they may be, but we need
hardly say sets off the pale yellow or the deep orange
to the very greatest advantage. It is far beyond the
common mahogany, as any one may judge for himself
if he will only contrast any substance of red and yellow
together, beside yellow and black. All fanciers when
they w^ish to exhibit their birds to a purchaser or
otherwise, invariably use a black cage .and not a maho-
gany one, which speaks for itself. And yet how few
such cages do you see exhibited for sale ; if you
wish for one, it is ten to one that you will have
specially to order it, and yet its greater superiority for
exhibiting a canary off to the best advantage over all
the japanned pagodas and Swiss cottages that ever were
made is beyond dispute, and requires only to be seen to
be at once admitted.

For the purpose of breeding of course a cage of a
totally different construction is required, and the ordi-
nary shape will answer every end. The double one,
however, will probably be most convenient, its size
being soniething like the following dimensions^, viz..

142 The Canary.

three feet six inches long, one foot wide, and two feet
liigh. This will be quite large enough, divided by a
wooden partition in the centre, for two pair of birds,
and it will be tar better in the end to have a number of
these according to the extent of your breeding esta-
blishment, than to put two or more pairs together in a
larger cage, as they are almost sure to fight, when the
hazard of breaking their eggs, or killing the young, we
need scarcely say, is very great. Under any circum-
stances we hold prevention to be far better than cure,
and even if Ave had a room at our disposal for the
purpose, we should prefer a number of separate cages
or compartments for each pair of birds, rather than
turn them into it promiscuously. We speak from our
own experience in this matter, and confidently recom-
mend a separate cage such as we have described above,
to all who wish to unite the greatest amount of success
with the minimmn of disaster.

When the young birds are to be weaned, or when a
number of old birds, after the breeding season is over,
have to be kept together, a third cage of a still different
construction is required. This is an oblong wire cage of
goodly size, according to the number of birds to be put
into it, and sufficiently large for the young birds to flj
about in, and exercise the muscles of their wings and
body. This is a matter of the very greatest importance,
for without exercise, and strong exercise too, young
birds can never be healthy or strong. Our own cage
is of the following dimensions, and one of the best for
the purpose we have seen, viz., four feet long, eighteen
inches wide, and twenty-two inches high. Every one

On Cages. 143

may not have room enough for so large a cage, but the
nearer their cage approaches these dimensions, most
assuredly the better it will be for tlieir young birds.
These cannot have too much room for exercise, and on
the quantity they are able to get when first taken
away from their parents, will their health and vigour
greatly depend.

Possessing cages of the several kinds we have
described, you will have every requisite necessary for
the exhibition, breeding, and weaning of your canaries.
In any case, whether you have one or all, be sure that
the wire of which they are made be not brass, for this
produces verdigris which I need scarcely say, if eaten,
will be fatal to your pets. Let the drinking font be
the pear-shaped glass font, which is ever self-supplying
and whose neck being inside the cage will preserve your
birds from the risk of being left without w^ater. For the
ordinary seed I recommend the open drawer, with a
smaller one for a little hemp or other dainty. These
with a tin pan for sopped bread, or e^^ in breeding-
time will complete the fittings-up of your cages, and
leave nothing to be desired.

With this advice, and hoping my readers may profit
by the experience set forth in these pages, I will now
bid them Farewell.

144 The Canary

FAREWELL.

** Thou *rt bearing hence thy roses.
Glad summer, fare thee well !
Thou 'rt singing thy last melodies
In every wood and dell.

" But ere the golden sunset
Of thy latest lingering day,
Oh ! tell me, o'er this chequered earth.
How hast thou passed away ?

" Brightly, sweet summer, brightly
Thine hours have floated by,
To the joyous birds of the woodland boughs.
The rangers of the sky.

'• And brightly in the forests

To the wild deer wandering free ;
And brightly 'mid the garden flowers
To the happy murmuring bee.

" But how to human bosoms.

With all their hopes and fears.
And thoughts that make their eagle-wings
To pierce the unborn years ?

Farewell. 145

Sweet summer ! to the captive

Thou hast flown in burning dreams
Of the woods, with all their whispering leaves,

And the blue rejoicing streams;

" To the wasted and the weary,
On the bed of sickness bound.
In swift delirious fantasies,

That changed with every wound ;

" To the sailor on the billows.
In longings wild and vain
For the gushing founts and breezy hills,
And the homes of earth again !

" And unto me, glad summer.
How hast thou flown to me I
My chainless footsteps naught hath kept
From thy haunts of song and glee !

" Thou hast flown in wayward visions,
In memories of the dead —
In shadows from a troubled heart
O'er thy sunny pathway shed.

" In brief and sudden strivings
To fling a weight aside —
'Midst these thy melodies have ceased,
And all thy roses died.

" But oh, thou gentle summer !

If I greet thy flowers once more,
Bring me again the buoyancy
Wherewith my soul should soar.

10

146 The Canary.

** Give me to hail thy sunshine.
With song and spirit free j
Or in a purer air than this
May that next meeting be."

• --f^^^K^^^rv^^—

Printed by dalziel brothers, camden press, London, n.w.