© let er a We Fe io a “Aias , te J CHARLES F. HOLDEN. HENRY REICHE. CHARLES REICHE. HOLDEN’S BOOK ON BIRDS. BY CHARLES F. HOLDEN. SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED. ‘Tf you have knowledge, let others light their candles at it.”’ — FULLER. ‘* Little dewdrops of celestial melody.” — CARLYLE, ‘*T envy no man that knows more than myself, but pity them that know less.” —Srr THOMAS BROWNE, 17 PUBLISHED BY ra | CHARLES REICHE AND BROTHER, 55 CHATHAM STREET, NEW York, 9 BowpDoIN SQuARE, BosTon. MDCCCLXXIII. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, By CHARLES F. HOLDEN, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. BosTon : Ranp, Avery, & Co., STEREOTYPERS AND PRINTERS. emeere es oe! ah. Tite 6 INTRODUCTION : . TE Advice to Purchasers . : 77 Avadavat. - = - 62 Amandava : F ‘ 64 Australian Paroquets : 56 For treatment, see Parrot . 53 Ants’ Eggs : : S 43 | Appetite, “loss of = : 24 Aldom’s Spring Perch, end of book and 81 Aquaritim, end of book Sr Artificial Mother, end of book “S81 Adams’s Express . - : 72 Breeding, Establishment of C. Reiche . : - . 18 Bulfinch . r - : = 2 Black-Cap - = - . 38 Blackbird . A - : 2 41 Brazilian Cardinal . : - 57 Bobolink . e “ ° 2 47 Bishop-finch . - : - 67 Banded Finch . < 4 64 Bird-Lice c : - 235 48 Best Singers 2 - 79 Bird-Seed A = 69 Bird-Cages : - 80 Breeding Cages . 5 ‘ 27 Bird Call . . $ FE 74 Birds’ Prison-life . enc 79 @anary >. . F 17 Canary, Longbreed Cardinal Brazilian Chaffinch . a Courdon Bluefinch . Fs : 62 3 Cardinal Bird . : F : 47 PAGE, Cut-throat < é seals 65 Celestial . ° 5 p * 65 Cuba ; : d : 64 Cause of Disease ° . 20 Colds = - = =o 202 Costiveness ° : 22 Claws, require cutting . A 24 Caged Prisoner : ° : 79 Cracked Corn . - 71 Cracked Wheat - : 71 Cannon, Birds fire . - - 76 Cleansing Brass Cages . 82 Crowley, David - ° qt Cage, one suitable . F . 80 Diamond Sparrow . - + 65 Diarrhea. - Dogs, Diseases and Training, end of book Egg-bound ~ - - ‘ 22 | Egg-paste : . ° : a i Eggs, Priceof. . ' Fountain 5 | Epilepsy . : end of bade Express, Safetyof . 71 Fire-Bird . & : A 5 50 Fire-Finch 2 - : 5 64 | Fascinated Finch . .. : 65 Finches for Aviary . 62 | Female Canary, will mate with. 27 Food for Birds. ‘ 26 end of book. Goldfinch . : < : b3t 34 Goldfinch Mules. “ ‘ 35 Goldfinch Diseases . ° 35 Grosbeak, Rose-breasted. 49 4 CONTENTS. Grosbeak, Cardinal. A ; 47 German Rape-seed . : - 69 Gunther,G. . $ end of book Gravel Paper (Singers) . B 81 Good behavior . 5 : : 75 Hatching-Birds - 2 28 Handsome Birds, how raised | 26 -Hartz Mountains . : : 18 Hemp-Seed . = - ° 69 Hildreth and Rice . end of book Indigo-Bird . . ° Indian Sparrow . ° : 65 Indian Silver-bill . c : - Insects for soft-bill Birds . Incubator. . : end of oak Java Sparrow . - 5 - 58 Lark, Sky and Wood . : 39 Linnet, Gray or Green . 30, 36 Linnet, Red . : > isp Little Doctor (finch) - OS Loss of voice : 21 Lice on Birds . . 20, 45 Lindeman’s Cages ‘ end of book Ladies’ Dress . - 4 79 Mocking-bird . A “ ; 42 Magpie-finch . 65 Moulting, when a bird should. 23, 29 Mating Birds . : é - 26, 28 Mating Fever . ° . - 25, 45 My Bird is Sick : 5 5 20 Mockingbird-Seed . - - 43 Maw-Seed : 5 7O Meal Worms, how raised. . 44 Nightingale . ° ° ° 37 Nonpareil. 4 . E 48 Negro Finch 5 - : 64 Nun ss : 2 F 2 65 Osborn’s Cages : end of book Parrot, Gray and Green . “ Yellow-head : > «* Suitable food : *¢ Pulling out Feathers . a Diarrhoea: 1: : ‘* Sore-feet . 4 . 55 e ‘* Lice and Fits. Ss Paroquets, for Treatment, se Parrot. d Paradise Whydah Bird . - 66 Patience in Training : . 73 (yo ee a PRR Postage on Seed. ° Poor Luck with Birds . Queen Island Finch : Quaker Finch . ° . Raising Birds . : Robin Redbreast (English) Robin (American) . . Robin, Golden 5 Red Bird . : ° Rockhampton F inch : Red-tail . - ° Ringing a Bell. ° . Song most admired Siskine 2. : Song-Sparrow . Sparrow, Java. Sparrow, English Poemon . Starling . Spotted-sided Finch Saffron. 5 Silver-bill St. Helena Wax-bill Spice-bird 5 : Sexual Desire . : Selecting Birds : ** Smothering’’ Birds Seed for Birds . 3 Sicily Canary cc German Rape s¢ Hemp. : #5 Millet . 4 ss Maw, or Poppy cf Paddy. . oa Cracked Corn ee ee Wheat. Spring Perch © 0 8) 06. oe. 31, 37 Singer’s Gravel Paper vend of book Temperature fora Bird . Troopial, South American Thrush, Song , : : Taming Birds . . ‘Traming, ***. - ° Teaching “ , > Virginia Nightingale . Waxbill . ° Wrapping up Birds a Young Birds - ° ‘ Yellow- birds - e = Your Bird-store 5 CONTENTS OF APPENDIX. Birds will not Bathe A . 85 | Nightingale . ‘© Desert their Young é 86 | Swollen and Sore Limbs" ‘* Brought up by Hand . 86 | Sky and Wood Lark “Bristle up s : 84| Scaleson Limbs . * Bathe whilst mated : 87 | Sparrow, English Bird-Lime 2 . 3 = go | Sore Feet ° Saffron . . Eggs, Birdseatthem . . 85 : Trapping Birds eet ce Feathers off Head’. «...». 83) Trap-Caze 2.05 + PREFACE, THERE are few persons who have not, during some portion of their lives, nourished and cherished a pet of some kind; and birds, from their elegant and beautiful coloring, the graceful ease of their flight, their beautiful music, their -tender solicitude for their young, their susceptibility of domestication, and engaging instincts, have for ages attracted the universal attention of the human family; and to those who treat them kindly they become greatly attached, and manifest much affection, and without doubt stand foremost of the entire range of ani- mated nature. To those who love these, ‘God’s joyous warblers,” the succeeding pages of this book are dedicated. If the bird-fancier of mature years or the younger student in ornithology can find one new idea, or if our little caged prisoner can be made more happy, 6 PREFACE, 7 ‘or the causes of its illness removed, or the prop- agation of caged birds be reduced to a satisfactory result, — then the work of the author has not been in vain. The publication of this book has been in the author’s mind for many years ; and it is now placed before the public, not with the finish of the classical scholar, but of as an every-day affair of life. In - its arrangement, I do not claim to have consulted any authors, either ancient or modern, and believe the pages devoted to the mocking-bird and parrot to be the first treatment ever written on these much- loved and universally-kept birds. Before closing these prefatory remarks, I would embrace the opportunity here offered to thank the numerous admirers of the “bird family ” with whom I have been brought into business relations during the last three years for their admiration of the feathered pets intrusted to my care, and would modestly suggest the hope that their interest may ever continue. | To the gentlemen of the press in Boston and the New-England States, I am under obligations that cannot easily be setaside. Had it not been for their earnest efforts in behalf of the * Little dewdrops of celestial melody,” 8 PREFACE. my efforts would have indeed been futile. It is a _ pleasure for me. to here publicly express the in- debtedness under which I am placed, and to beg that they will, one and all, accept the heartfelt thanks of a THE AUTHOR, PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. | —$—$__+)—__—_—_. ° Ir is scarcely two months since the author pre- sented to the public the results of his labors. He then printed an edition of five thousand copies ; and, being thus early called upon for a second edition, he embraces this opportunity to revise, where revision is necessary, the text of his first work. There have been many additions made, which will be found in the Appendix. These additions have been, in part, suggested by those who have consulted the first edition ; and the author, in returning his thanks for such assistance, cannot refrain from ex- pressing the great satisfaction afforded him by the conviction that the work has filled a place in the niche of natural history that has for so long a time been only partially filled. The lovers of the feath- ered creation have shown their appreciation of his efforts, and their admiration of the wonderful works 9 Lk 10 PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. of God, by the constantly-increasing demand and ‘extended inquiries in regard to the peculiarities of the various birds of song and plumage. The departure made by the author, in his first edition, in not following all previous writers, by giving uninteresting scientific descriptions of the various birds, has met the full approval of the public. While he will ever respect and admire the writings of Wilson, Audubon, Samuels, and other American ornithologists, and read with reverence the writings of those eminent German naturalists, Bartlett, Dr. Brehn, Reiche, Bodinus, Cabanis, Cronan, Finsch, Geoffroy, Girtanner, Griissner, A von Homeyer, Adolf, and Carl Miiller, Bekemans, and very many others, still, at the present time, in this fast American age, the public desire results condensed to the fewest possible words ; and, if the author has succeeded in giving to the demand just what it desired, then his wish has been fully realized. | The book is now presented to the bird-lovers of America; and the author has reasons for believing that all information ever desired in regard to cage- birds can be found within its pages. Boston, September, 1873. INTRODUCTION. THE author has studiously avoided in this work the habit, or error, of all other authors on works of a similar character, — of copying bodily from Bech- stein and other European authors ; and as this error has been repeatedly made, and the history of the discovery of the canary-bird, &c., told so many times, this Introduction will bring before the public Messrs. CHARLES and HENRY REICHE, to whom every portion of the civilized world is indebted for birds of song from foreign countries as well as its own. In the spring of 1842, Mr. Charles Reiche ven- tured to export birds from Germany to America, it being the first enterprise of the kind that had ever been undertaken. Of course they had to be sent in a sailing-vessel ; and the voyage lasted several months, landing the first importation of canaries that ever reached America, in quantity sufficient to call it an importation, at New Orleans. But the II 12 INTRODUCTION. taste for foreign, and especially German, singing: birds was as yet only shared by a few; and it re- quired the most strenuous exertions to dispose of this first lot of one thousand. There were no cages to be had, and there was a great scarcity of bird-food: the people did not know how to treat them, and failed to appreciate their music ; but it required only afew years to change all this, and the fashion of keeping singing-birds is now _universal and constantly increasing. In 1843 the second exportation of birds was made; part being landed in Charleston, S.C., and part in New-York City. This was a successful operation ; and in 1846 Mr. Charles Reiche associated with him his brother Henry, and the business of export- ing birds began to be carried on in a strictly system- atic manner, and was encouraged by a constantly- increasing sale. In 1849 the first large lot of birds was landed in Boston ; and the formerly well-known bird-store in Scollay’s Building was opened by Mr. Henry Reiche, who, after a most successful business, sold out to the late well-known Henry Bradshaw, who for so many years dealt in baked beans, birds, doughnuts, cages, soft-bottom apple-pies, and bird-seed, in a stall ad- joining the fish department in Quincy Market. In 1852 the now well-known Mr. Henry Reiche, of 55 Chatham Street, New York, made his first trip to California, w@ the Old Nicaragua Route, start- ing with an invoice composed in part of canaries, goldfinches, and bulfinches, the total value of the INTRODUCTION. — 13 shipment being thirteen hundred and fifty dollars, After all kinds of ill-luck, and the discouraging ad- vice of his brother Charles, some eight years his senior, who looked upon the speculation as one that must prove a total loss, he, neither discouraged nor disheartened, started on his (then a long) journey, and reached California with half the number of birds he started with,—a stranger and in a strange land. But imagine his surprise and delight at hearing his name called out from a window in the Bank of California by a clerk, formerly an old resident of Boston, who, after the ordinary congratulations, ‘told him “he had struck gold.” And indeed it so proved, for none of his birds were sold for less than twenty dollars, many for a much larger sum; and, losing but one steamer, he returned to New York, and counted out to his brother over five thousand dollars in gold. This cash was then as much to them as is fifty thousand dollars to-day: it gave them their first start in business in a large way. * In 1853 there were 10,000 birds imported; in 1860, 15,000 ; in 1865, 30,000 ; and the imports since July, 1872, of canaries alone, amount to 65,000. And, when it is known that the total number raised for the American market cannot exceed 95,000, it leaves the house of Reiche the bird-dealers for America. And it is not canaries alone, but all other kinds of European birds of song and plumage, which were imported this bird-year, 1872-73, to the number of 15,000. The greatest drawback to the Messrs. Reiche in 14 * INTRODUCTION. their early days was to find cages of any kind, much more those of a suitable kind. Mr. G. Gunther of New-York City was the first man who could be in- duced to make a cage. He was finally persuaded, and is now one of the largest, as well as the oldest, manufacturers in the country. His japanned cages, as well as his recently-improved brass cages, are found on sale in all parts of the United States. This cage business has become of such immense dimensions, that several large firms are constantly engaged in their manufacture, employing hundreds of operatives, and using a capital of nearly a quarter of a million of dollars. The most prominent ones are Messrs. O. Lindeman & Co. and the Osborn Manufacturing Company, whose unique brass cages are always found in all well-kept bird and house- furnishing-goods stores; the American Cage Co., -Messrs. Maxheimer & Co., besides several others, all of whom carry on the business in New-York City, and whose business-cards will be found in the back part of this book. But it is not the trade with birds in North America alone that has attracted their attention ; for, aside from the thousands annually sold in Germany, many thousands each year find their way to England and Russia, and quite as many are every year exported ‘to South America, to the Indies, and Australia ; so that from 200,000 to 250,000 canary-birds are ex- ported from Germany to trans-oceanic ports every year. In the month of January, 1873, Mr. Henry Reiche - INTRODUCTION. 15 sent, in charge of several competent men, a car- load of birds and cages to Salt Lake, Denver City, and other places in that vicinity ; and, aside from his early California experience, these were the first birds that were ever shipped west of the Mississippi River. Messrs. Reiche may well look back with pride at the time when they first commenced business ; the base of their operations being St. Petersburg, Russia. Since that time they have sent birds to Lisbon, Rome, Turkey, Cape-Town, Bombay, Cal- cutta, Singapore, Pekin, Melbourne, Sydney, and other prominent places in the Eastern Hemisphere ; and to Lima, Peru, Rio Janeiro, Venezuela, and other places in South America; as well as to the more prominent points in the West Indies; and from all of which places, not omitting Japan, they - have always brought back beautiful birds. These two brothers have made three trips round the world ; and the elder one, Mr. Charles Reiche, is now, and has been since 1858, permanently located at Alfeld, Germany ; and Mr. Henry Reiche, with a sufficient accumulation of this world’s goods, makes his permanent home in New York. He is at No. 55, Chatham Street, daily ; and his frequent companions during the winter and early spring are the great showmen of America, who are constantly importing animals through this firm, who are the only animal-dealers in America. Without offering an apology for the seeming length of this Introduction, the author feels that 16 INTRODUCTION. those who have been so instrumental in making many firesides happy are at least entitled to suffi- cient prominence to record, for the first time, the important part they have taken in supplying to the world “‘God’s sweet and joyous warblers.” THE CANARY. THE original home of this bird is the Canary Islands, where, in the later part of the fifteenth century, they were wont to breed on the banks of the island rivulets, and would have continued so to do, had not bird-catchers (there were bird-catchers even in those days) trapped them, and sent them to various parts of Europe, mostly, however, into Ger- many, where, as you have been informed in the Introduction, they have been massed, and exported to all parts of the habitable globe. And we might with truth say, that, among the musicians who come to our shores to charm us with their notes, the largest orchestra is that of the singing-birds. They ask very little of our money, and never demand a Music Hall as the only theatre worthy their per- formance. A few dollars will buy one of these sweet singers, and a few more will build or buy a Music Hall for its performances. It charges 2* 17 18 THE CANARY. nothing for its singing, and is not fastidious as to its accommodations, carolling just as sweetly in the attic of the tired sewing-woman as in the’ boudoir of the fashionable lady. It becomes a friend to the lonely, and a comforter to such as are in trouble. From his cage, as well as from the wildwood, it sings of the love and care of Him without whose . knowledge not one of its feathered friends can fall to the ground. Like flowers, birds are a beautiful gift to a friend, with this advantage over them, — they live longer, and, by their constant voice, recall to mind the giver. Very few persons have any idea of the trade carried on in these frail wares between our own and foreign countries ; and how few of our readers that are the possessors of some favorite songster ever gave a moment’s thought to where they come from or how they came! We refer now to that established, universal favorite, the canary. Reader, let me take you across the Atlantic to Ger- many, to a famous place called the Hartz Moun- tains. And -now that you are here with us, we will take you to the immense breeding-establishment of Mr. Charles Reiche, which, in its arrangements, is similar to all other establishments. Here you will observe a quantity of rooms arranged very much after the style of the sleeping-apartments of a hotel. Each of the rooms is properly furnished with light, ventilation, a quantity of small trees, feeding-boxes, water for bathing and drinking, and on the sides _of the room a quantity of nests, and the floor covered with fine sand to the depth of three or more inches. THE CANARY. 19 In this room are placed twenty or more male birds, and three times their number of females ; and from this large feminine family every male chooses his mate, — and, reader, don’t blush, for some of them choose even three and four mates, —all of which will hatch their young peacefully, and live one large, happy family together. The young birds (males) are taken at the age of six weeks, as they can then crack seed (and we will here remark, that, when they are fully feathered, they commence to warble ; that is, they fill their throats in the same manner as an old singing-bird: and this is the only way that male birds can be told from females when so very young), and placed in large cages, say twenty-five birds to a cage, and kept in rooms (these rooms hold about twenty such cages) until they are through moulting ; for a young bird, as soon as he is in full feather, commences to moult, or shed his body feathers: his tail and wing feathers he sheds the second season. This moulting process requires about six weeks, after which they are taken into a room away from the sound of all singing canaries, this room only having a small opening in the top ; and in the room above them there is kept a nightingale, skylark, or some other fine whistling bird, the best of his species, who acts as instructor for the young birds ; and it is from this instructor that they get these beautiful notes, the bow-trill, the bell-note, the flute, the water-note, &c., which are so much admired, At the age of six months they become adepts at sing- ing, and are then taken to the immense warehouse 20 CARE OF CANARY. of Charles Reiche & Bro., situated at Alfeld, Ger- many, and placed in the little willow cages seen in all bird-stores, seven birds in a row or string. They are then placed in boxes or crates, four rows wide and six rows high, or a hundred and sixty- eight birds to a crate. They’are then sent, in charge of a competent man, — who ordinarily takes twelve hundred birds, — overland to Bremen or Hamburg,. and then shipped to the New-York house of Charles Reiche & Bro., located at 55 Chatham Street. The birds are cleaned, fed, and watered every day. And for this ocean business the Messrs. Reiche keep no less than eighteen men constantly employed. The very general desire of the public to know how to take the best possible care of their pets, and the wish of the whole bird-trade for a treatise that could be implicitly relied upon, free from all the scientific attainments so freely shown in large works, and at a popular price, has led the author to publish what has been his own experience through a num- ber of years. First, we will commence with sick birds and their treatment. ‘“ My bird is sick: what shall I do for it?” This question is asked at the bird-stores times without number daily ; and it is just as easy an- swered, without knowing what ails the bird, as it is for a physician to prescribe accurately for a disease when simply informed that a member of the family is sick, “and please send up some medicine at once.” | THE CAUSE OF MOST DISEASE is colds, which are EOSS OF VOICE, . 2I occasioned by either hanging a bird in a draught of air, near a loose-fitting window, or keeping him ina very hot room (sixty degrees is the proper tempera- ture for a bird) through the day, and then in a cool one at night, —a variation of perhaps forty degrees in twenty-four hours. This cold, if not cured-—at once, leads to asthma, and from that to a disease known as the gapes. The best cure for the cold is to feed, in addition to their regular seed, rape and canary (no hemp), a paste made from a hard-boiled egg and one pulverized cracker, thoroughly mixed - together, the same as you feed to birds when sitting. Sometimes a bird seems hoarse, and apparently has Lost His Voice.— This is occasioned by over- singing: a little pure rock-candy, not flavored, dis- solved in the drinking-water, and a few kernels of red pepper put into the paste described above, will usually effect’ a cure. If, however, the cold is al- lowed to remain for several days without any atten- tion or cure, it will pass rapidly from cold to asthma, and from that to gapes, which is best described by saying that the bird looks like a little puff-ball, with -a constant panting, and his bill almost constantly opening and shutting, as if to catch breath. His food should be the same as described above. Many bird-fanciers have given small pieces of salt-pork with a very little red pepper thereon, and with beneficial effect. Messrs. Charles Reiche & Bro., however, can say, that, with nearly forty years’ experience as bird-fanciers, importers, and dealers, they have, as yet, never found a cure for this disease. 22 DIARRHG@A. — EGG-BOUND. BIRDS ‘TROUBLED WITH A DiaARRHEA can be greatly relieved, and many times a permanent cure effected, by placing a rusty nail in their drinking-water ; and, should a bird be troubled with the reverse of this complaint, —costiveness, —a piece of sweet apple, a little chickweed, lettuce, or any green food, will usually afford full relief. Most ailments of birds commence with a cold ; and the old adage of the “ ounce of prevention,” &c., is peculiarly applicable to the bird family. Dealers in birds are constantly visited by owners of feathered pets to seek information on a subject to which their human instinct should ‘furnish the answer. This is particularly the case in breeding- season ; and a question asked daily is, — “ My Birp 1s Ecc-BounD: what shall I do for it?” A few questions from the dealer reveals the fact that the female has been fed upon dry seed and food of a clogging nature ; and the information given at once is, Feed your bird some green stuff or a piece of apple, thereby loosening it (which should have been done before mating), and, carefully taking the bird out, rub the passage gently with warm sweet-oil: At times birds are egg-bound from having taken cold: should this be the case, apply also the reme- dies for a cold. Birds, when proper care is taken of them, are rarely attacked with disease. If owners of feathered pets would first see that the cage is perfectly clean and well supplied with plenty of gravel or gravel- paper for the bird to pick upon, and that, the seed LICE. — MOULTING. 23 is of the very best quality, and that they are fed and given a bath at a regular hour daily, —then your birds, if kept from draughts of air, and no trash, such as sugar, candy, figs, raisins, cake, &c., fed them, will sing from ten to eleven months out of the year, which they always do with the poor families in Ger- many, who find it impossible to get such luxuries. It is only the wealthy and better classes that have so- Called “poor luck with birds.” And why? Because they kill them with kindness, — though it is very un- kind to the bird, — never, never by neglect. One source of great annoyance to a bird and also to his owner is the . LITTLE RED BrrD-LICE. — Messrs. Reiche now put up a powder which can be sprinkled on the bottom of the cage, and effectually rid the bird of these annoying pests. It is put up in envelopes, and will be sent to any address by mail, prepaid, on receipt of twenty-five cents. Another way to rid the bird of them is to place at night a white towel on top of the cage; and, when you arise in the morning, you will find it well cov- ered. These should be shaken into the stove, and the same thing repeated every night; and in two weeks, at farthest, you will be entirely free from them. ; A question often asked is, — WHEN SHOULD A BirD MOULT?— Most birds shed their feathers in the months of September and Oc- tober ; and though it is perfectly natural for them so to do, still the operation is accompanied with a 24% BIRDS’ CLAWS. — LOSS OF APPETITE. slight disease. They should be fed on the soft paste before described ; and, as they are not well covered with feathers, great care should be taken to keep them out of all draughts of air, but kept where it is comfortably warm. With these precautions, a bird will fully moult in from four to six weeks. Should a bird not shed his wing and tail feathers readily, it is well to pull them out, — pulling, how- ever, only one at a time. It often happens that a BirD’s CLAWS GROW -VERY LONG, and require cut- ting. This is a particular operation ; and care should be taken not to cut up into the blood-veins, which can be easily seen by holding the bird’s claw in front of a strong light, and then not cutting within at least a sixteenth of an inch of the red vein. Occasionally a canary is troubled with epilepsy. A sure cure for this has. never been discovered. The author has taken a bulfinch and other birds af- fected, and cut the birds’ claws, —one on each foot, — just sufficient to draw the blood, and, holding the foot in warm (not hot) water until the blood ceased to flow ; then a slight sprinkling — with the hand — with cold- water: feeding only on rape-seed which had been previously soaked in water, and a liberal supply of apple and green-stuff, as recommended above, has generally effected a cure. During and after moulting, and sometimes after _ breeding, a bird will seem to have Lost H1s APPETITE. — At such times, it is well to give a very little hemp, and all the millet-seed a MATING, FEVER. —~ RAISING BIRDS. 25 bird will eat; and, if convenient, change the loca- tion of his cage to a more cheerful place. . From the 14th of February to the middle of May, all birds have what is known as the MATING FEVER. — This fever, or sexual desire, is the strongest during the latter part of April and early in May; and, if not mated, they sit moping with ruffled feathers, cease singing entirely, refuse their food, and often, in their silent sorrow, pine away and die. If their attention can be diverted from this “lovesickness,’” it should always be done. iehe/better cure is to mate your bird, -lf this is inconvenient, place him in the cheerful sunlight, tempt him with dainty morsels of food, talk and whistle to him; and, if you have a friend who owns a bird, let your bird visit him, and cheerful company will soon restore him; or a better way still is to leave him at a well-kept bird-store. These comprise about all the diseases that the canary is subject to ; and we will here state, that all of the family of seed-eating birds have about the same ailments, and require similar treatment. As many who own birds have a desire to breed them, a little information may-not be amiss to the new beginner. AMERICANS RAISE Bees “wholly for pleasure ; and it certainly is a pleasure. What greater amuse- ment can be furnished children, and, in fact, chil- dren of a larger growth, than the mating and rearing of a nest of beautiful young canaries; to watch the busy weavers make their nest; the 3 26 TO RAISE A HANDSOME BIRD. constant care and attention given to it by the moth- er-bird during the season of “sitting,” who is so regu- larly relieved by her loving mate, who ever and anon covers the eggs while she is seeking food or rest? Alas! our little canary-bird has taught many a les- son to the human family; and the constancy of a bird to its mate is rarely equalled by the lords of creation. : IN MATING BirDs, a young male and old female produce mostly male birds ; and those of about the same age produce about equal proportions of both males and females. The food for your birds, in addition to their regu- lar canary and rape seed, —o hemp, —should be the following: one hard-boiled egg—the whole egg— grated on a coarse horseradish grater, and one common soft cracker, rolled fine with a rolling-pin, or carefully grated, and then mixed together, and fed to the birds in small quantities at least twice per day; and this food must be continued to the old birds until you are through breeding ; and the same food must be continued to the Younc Brrps ‘until they can crack seed, which they can do with ease at the age of six weeks. It is, however, an advantage to soak some rape-seed, and put it in for the young birds as soon as they leave the nest. TO PRODUCE A HANDSOME YELLOW Birp, your male should be a Jonquil, which is a deep-yellow bird with almost an orange crown, and the female a mealy bird, which is a whitish yellow, and has the . MATING BIRDS. 27 appearance of being frosted or powdered all over. A clear yellow male and a mealy female will usually produce a pure yellow bird; while a clear yellow male mated with a gray or green female will usually produce a very handsome mottled bird. A deep vel- low or orange-colored male with a very dark-green female: often produces the highly-prized cinnamon bird. A FEMALE CANARY WILL MATE with the follow- ing birds, and produce a very beautiful songster, which is known as a mule, —the linnet, goldfinch, bulfinch, siskin, our native bobolink, indigo bird, and other birds of a similar size; and the male from these birds is very highly prized on account of his beauty and song. A suitable cage for breeding can be either of wood, wired, or the ordinary japanned tin cage, or brass. Should you use an old wooden cage, it should be thoroughly scalded with hot soda-water, to kill all vermin, and then varnished over. ‘The “birds should have a nest—wire is the best—se- curcly fastened into one corner of the cage, first covering the nest with canton, or cotton and wool flannel, and hung up against the wall, at least a foot above your head, and in a southern aspect if possi- ble, and not moved until you are through breeding for the season. There should always be placed in the cage, from a wall of some very old building that is being torn down, a piece of mortar to make egg- shells from, as, without this, the female would lay soft-shell eggs. 28 HOW HATCHED. Another question often asked at bird-stores is, “How DO YOU MATE A PalR OF Birps?” —The reader is supposed to own a male canary. - If such supposition be true, then go to a first-class bird- store, and buy a female canary and breeding-cage ; and the very best way to mate a pair of birds is to place the female in the breeding-cage and hang it up on one side of the room; and, /aving the male bird zz Azs cage, hang him up on the other side, and within sight of her. If he sings and calls to her, and she calls back in return, as much as to say, ““May I come in your cage?” then you can put them together ; and, though they may quarrel at first, this will be only of short duration, and they will very soon mate. After mating your birds, a period of only seven to eight days elapses before the female commences to lay; and she will lay from four to seven eggs, ‘one each day, at about the same hour, and sit upon them for thirteen days, when the operation of hatch- ing commences; and the ; BIRDS ARE HATCHED ONE EACH Day, until all the eggs are hatched. If it should happen that one or more eggs remain in the nest, and do not hatch at the proper time, it would be well to take them (the eggs) out of the nest carefully, using for this purpose a teaspoon, so as not to handle the eggs, and hold them before a strong light; and, if there is the appearance of blood-veins in the egg, place it back carefully ; for it may yet be hatched. If, upon the other hand, the egg be clear and transparent, it DOES A YOUNG BIRD MOULT? 29 can be thrown away as worthless. It is a rule in Europe to never throw away an egg until it has been laid at least twenty-one days. From the time the young birds are born, the male bird helps feed them, if he is a good father, and so partially relieves thé female. If he should at times seem quarrelsome with his mate, or show “00 much attention of a loving kind to her, it would be well to separate them, putting him in his own cage until the young birds are nearly feathered, when, after they have perched a few nights, they can be removed to other cages, and the male returned, and another brood raised; and the same operation repeated. Cases have been known of raising seven broods in a season. We are often asked the question, — “Does A YOUNG BirRD MOULT?” — Our answeris, Yes.