Song birds of Great Britain. Pt.1 The resident song birds of Great Britain.

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THE RESIDENT

SONG BIRDS

GREAT BRITAIN;

CONTAINING

DELINEATIONS OF SIXTEEN BIRDS
OF THE SIZE OF LIFE,
(TOGETHER WITH THE EGG OF EACH SPECIES,)
WITH
A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THEIR GENERAL HABITS, AND OCCASIONAL

DIRECTIONS FOR THEIR TREATMENT IN CONFINEMENT.

By JOHN COTTON, F.ZS.

LONDON:

M-DCCC.XXXV.

The present publication i: ‘tended to form a portion of a
volume on the Song Birds of * eat Britain.

The remaining part will a prise the summer-migrant Song
Birds of this country, and wil) contain figures and descriptions of
about the same number of sj © °: as the present.

The figures have been dre” cenerally from the life, and are of
the natural size.

London: Printed by Samuel Bentley, Dorset-street.

PREFACE »

TO THE FIRST PART.

Ir may probably be expected that some apology
should be offered for the present publication, which
contains so little of novelty. ‘There are few to
whom the birds whose portraitures are here at-
tempted to be faithfully given are not familiar :
but who, that is thus acquainted with them, does
not admire the cheerful melody of their little
throats, and, thus admiring, would not acknowledge
a humble tribute made at the shrine of gratitude
for the delight and pleasure they afford him?

There is no other class throughout the whole
range of animated nature that affords such peculiar
sources of wonder and gratification to man, whether
in his youth or in the maturity of age, as that of
birds. Who that has observed the bold daring of the
Falcon, or the majestic stoop of the Kagle—the rapid
evolutions of the Swift, or the tenderness of the
Dove, can fail to admire these wonderful efforts of
creative wisdom, and to adore the great Author of
all things who called them into being ?

The birds of song seem more especially created
to cheer man in his labour as tiller of the ground,
by the music of their notes.

That heart must indeed be callous which is not

A 2

PREFACE.

awakened to feelings of tenderness and joy on hear-
ing the gladsome warblings of these feathered
songsters of the air. Ever more numerous and
rich in song where the soil is most productive, they
would appear to hold out an inducement to man
to cultivate the ground by the increased delight
he would obtain from their exhilarating presence.

The swarthy rustic who plods across the fields
at early dawn, bearing his keg and frugal meal,
and whistling as he goes, must feel his heart warm-
ed to joy and thanksgiving when he hears the
sweetly warbled orisons of the Skylark, which he
sees mounting up, up into the celestial blue above,
as if he would approach the very throne of Him
who made him, and sing his praises there. His
heavy toil finished for the day,

“‘ The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,”
and by the coppice side hears the delicious vespers
of the Woodlark.

In the dreary season of the year, when clouds and
mists thicken the atmosphere, or snow spreads a
mantle over the ground, the Redbreast haunts the
cottage garden, and, perched on some leafless
shrub or solitary stump, carols forth his cheerful
ditty, and reminds the inmates that although his
ordinary food is for a time lost to him, yet they
can give him plenty. Amid the levelled timber,
through which the woodman’s axe resounds, he
sings his sweetest song, and cheers the sturdy
labourer in his toil.

Should the sun’s brightening rays dispel the
chilling mist, and warm the surface atmosphere, the

PREFACE.

Wren exerts its little throat and hops about the
woodpile as if awakened from a dream to thoughts
of nuptial bliss.

The sprightly Chaffinch is one of the first to
indicate the approach of spring ; and who will there-
fore say its song is not delightful to the ear ?

Every coppice-wood and grove throughout the
greater part of the year re-echoes with the sonorous
whistle and melodious chanting of the Mavis and
the Merle: and frequently amid the hedge in early
spring the Dunnock’s gentle chant is heard.

The golden-blossomed furze, which overspreads
the waste and open common, is filled with melody
by the Linnet’s measured lay, and the more tender
warble of Stonechat; and many a fruitless search
has been made by truant schoolboys for the nest
and eggs, so well concealed beneath the prickly
bush.

The Stormcock’s early song foretells the rising
tempest from a lofty perch in the wood or pine-
forest, where the tiny Goldcrest flits about the
twigs and sprays, uttering its delicately warbled
lay.

The Goldfinch, Bullfinch, Siskin, though deprived
of their liberty and pent within a cage, still retain
their attractive qualities, and fill our homes with
harmony and song. They return the attentions
shown them by areciprocal attachment ; are taught
to pipe our favourite airs, or display amusing tricks.
The Canary alone may strictly be called a domestic
songster: bred for so many years in confinement,
one might imagine it had lost all desire to roam,

PREFACE.

and would covet no other abode than its prison-
house of wire.

There are several other birds resident amongst
us, whose music-notes, though they can scarcely be
called song, yet form a pleasing variety in the gene-
ral chorus of the groves. Such are the Greenfinch
(Loxia chloris ), the Yellowhammer ( Emberiza citri-
nella), the Cornbunting (Emberiza miliaria), and
‘some others. ‘The Titmice and the Stares, the
Woodpeckers, Rooks, and Jays, contribute their
portion of delight, and animate the sylvan scene
by their peculiar calls.

Most birds, however, give utterance to some
notes or other, expressive of joyous feelings or
social invitation, that seldom fail to delight the
ear when the eye is contemplating the beauties of
sylvan scenery.

It now only remains to add, that as the choicest
resident song-birds of this country have been here
selected for delineation, so have some of the most
pleasing and authentic passages been culled from
the writings of various authors in illustration of
their history and habits.

THE RESIDENT

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

THE WREN.
SYLVIA TROGLODYTES, LATH.

Tus interesting little bird is a native of every
part of Europe. It is familiarly called Cutty, Katy,
or Kitty Wren. It measures about four inches from
the point of the bill, which is full half an inch long,
to the tip of the tail. In form it is short and
dumpy, and carries the tail in an erect posture.
It is found in hedges or trees in the vicinity of
farmyards, and is often seen hopping, or creeping,
mouselike, about an ivied stump, or the small twigs
at the base of a willow, or other tree by the
side of a stream. Like the Redbreast, this pretty
warbler frequently approaches the habitation of
man, and enlivens his garden with its song. Pen-
nant says, it may be placed among the finest of our
singing birds. ‘The loudness of its note is remark-
able, considering the size of the bird.

A contributor to Loudon’s Magazine of Natural
History (J. Main) well describes the Wren as “ one
of the smallest and most vivacious of birds: fami-

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

liar without impudence, busy and bustling in action,
and extremely gallant in manners; so much so,
indeed, that every mild and sunny day in winter
reminds him of </e jour des noces,’ and excites him
to pour forth his gay and lively song. This, though
short, is full of gaiety and sprightliness: it is a
burst of joy, rapturous and loud; beginning high
and graduated down to rather more than an octave,
and repeated at intervals of about a minute or
two.” So audibly loud is the song, that it may
be easily distinguished even in a full chorus. The
Wren has also a curious note of fear, resembling the
winding up of a clock, and a burring note of
rebuke.

Though the Wren is far from being a timid bird—
for it will allow one to come within arm’s length of
it, while it is hopping about in pursuit of flies—it
is no less wary than other birds respecting its nest,
and will scold most outrageously—calling “ cheek!
cheek !” in rapid succession, when any one intrudes
within its boundaries ; and will even pursue a boy
or polecat to some distance with loud manifesta-
tions of anger—tanta@ne animis exiguis ire ?*

It begins to make a nest early in the spring, but
frequently deserts it before it is lined, and searches
for a more secure situation. It is frequently made
under the thatch of outbuildings, against the side
of a mossy tree, or against an impending bank
that secures it from the rain; sometimes in a low
thick bush. But what is remarkable, the mate-
rials of the nest are generally adapted to the

* Ornithological Dictionary.

WREN.

place: if built beside a hay-rick, it is composed of
hay; if against the side of a tree covered with
white moss, it is made of that material ; and with
green moss, if against a tree covered with the
same. Within, it is usually lined with hair and
feathers.* The nest is of an oval shape, very
deep and thick, with a small hole towards the top
for ingress and egress. It is probably from the
form of its nest, that this bird derives its specific
denomination “ troglodytes.” +

Mr. Rennie observes, that the Wren does not
begin at the bottom of its nest first, which is usual
with most birds; but if against a tree, first traces
the outline of the nest, which is of an oval shape,
and by that means fastens it equally strong to all
parts, and afterwards encloses the sides and top,
leaving only a small hole near the top for entrance.
If the nest is placed under a bank, the top is
first begun, and well secured in some small cavity,
by which the fabric is suspended.

The eggs are seven or eight in number ; though
some naturalists allege that it occasionally lays
as many as eighteen eggs.t ‘They are white, spa-
ringly marked with small reddish spots, most com-
monly at the larger end.

The food of this species is insects, which it finds
in abundance to support life even in the severest
winters. Wrens, however, often perish in very

* Ornithological Dictionary.

+ The Troglodytz were an ancient race of people inhabiting
Ethiopia, who are reported to have lived in caverns.

tf See Pennant’s British Zoology.

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

severe winters, particularly when the ground is
for any considerable period covered with snow.
“* Under these circumstances,” says Selby, “‘ they re-
tire for shelter into holes of walls, and to the eaves
of corn and hay stacks; and I have frequently
found the bodies of several together in old nests,
which they had entered for additional warmth and
protection during severe storms.”

The Wren is a difficult bird to keep in confine-
ment. Bechstein says, he has never preserved one
more than a year. In the house, he says, on account
of its liveliness, it is given rather a large cage, the
bars of which should be very near together. As
soon as it is brought into the house, it should
be plentifully supplied with meal worms, flies,
elderberries, and then gradually add nightingales’
paste, which will soon become its ordinary food.
The nightingales’ paste is composed of dried, or
rather roasted ox-heart and carrot, both grated,
and then mixed with dried ants’ eggs.

Se |

THE GOLD-CRESTED WREN.

SYLVIA REGULUS, LaTH.

Tuts is the least of all British birds, its weight
seldom exceeding eighty grains. Its length is
about three inches and a half. It may readily be
distinguished from all other birds, not only by its
size, but by the beautiful golden-coloured crest
on the head. The crest is composed of a double
series of feathers arising from each side, and almost
meeting at their points; the exterior are black, the
interior bright yellow; between which, on the
crown, the feathers are shorter, and of a fine deep
orange. The female has the head rather less crest-
ed, and the crown is bright yellow where in the
male it is orange. Though so small a bird, it
endures the severe winters of our climate. It is
seen in autumn as far north as the Shetland Isles,
but quits that country before the cold season.

Bechstein informs us that these beautiful birds
are spread over the whole of Europe and Asia;
their favourite haunts being the extensive pine and
fir forests of the north of Europe, from whence they
migrate towards the south on the approach of
winter. In the month of October, they are observ-
ed in Germany, passing towards the south, and
returning again in the month of March towards the
north. In that country, however, flocks of them

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

reside during the whole year, uniting together as
the year advances, and searching out those spots
where their food, which consists of small insects, is
abundant.

The song of this little chorister is a short strain
repeated at intervals; weak yet agreeable; sung
inwardly in such a manner, that though the tiny
warbler may be in the nearest bush, the notes seem
to come from a considerable distance ; but it can
only be heard when near, except in very calm wea-
ther. It sings only in the spring months ; and it
is most frequently seen in that season among the
lower branches of fir-trees, where it seeks its food,
and every now and then warbles its fairy strain.*
Pennant says he has often observed this bird sus-
pended in the air for a considerable time over a bush
or flower, whilst it sung very melodiously. In win-
ter it may be distinguished by its shrill squeak, which
somewhat resembles the cricking of a grasshopper.
It is very agile, and is almost constantly in motion,
fluttering from branch to branch, creeping on
all sides of the trees, clinging to them in all ways,
and often hanging with its back downward like
a titmouse.

Bechstein says these birds are easily taken, by
cautiously approaching the branch on which they
are perched, and touching them softly with a limed
twig, attached to a stick of sufficient length to reach
them, when the gentle creatures become unre-
sisting prisoners. When taken, they are easily

* J. Main, in Magazine of Natural History.

- GOLD-CRESTED WREN

tamed, and will in a very short time take their
food from the hand ; but such is their extreme deli-
cacy, that many die before one can be reared : once
accustomed to confinement, they have been known
to live a considerable time.

The number of these birds indigenous to this
country is at times considerably augmented during
the autumnal and hyemal months by a body of
strangers from the more northern provinces of
Europe, making these shores their winter resort.

“The Gold-crested Wren,” says Professor Rennie,
“appears to know how to accommodate its nest
to the locality chosen. When it selects a spot
where there is a natural canopy, it does not take
the trouble to build one ; but when this is wanting,
it forms as neat a dome, with a small side entrance,
as any of the other British Wrens. It is the only
native bird, I believe, which ever suspends its
-nest like so many of the tropical birds ; for though it
is said not unfrequently to build against the trunk
of a tree covered with ivy, I have always found
it hanging under the broad bough of a spruce
fir or cedar, or a yew tree; the thick flat dispo-
sition of the leaves forming a sort of umbrella over
the opening. The materials of the nest are the
same as those of the Goldfinch and Chaffinch ;—
namely, green moss, or lichens, felted together
very neatly with wool, and lined with the down of
willows and other plants, or very soft feathers.” *
The eggs are from seven to ten in number, of

* Architecture of Birds.

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

a brownish white, rather darker at the larger end ;
their weight, nine or ten grains.

In confinement, Bechstein says the Goldcrests
are soon accustomed to the nightingales’ paste,
by throwing amongst it at first flies deprived of
their wings or half dead, and at length they will
be satisfied with bruised hemp-seed ; but they must
have insects occasionally, flies, meal-worms cut
small, ants’ eggs, &c.: finally, to keep them healthy,
their paste should be neither too stiff nor too
moist; and care must be taken to avoid their
swallowing rape or camelin seed, which would
immediately kill them.

They will likewise thrive upon a paste made
of the crumb of white bread, dried in an oven and
powdered: a tea-spoonful of this, with three tea-
spoonfuls of hot milk poured over it, and made

fresh every day.

|

THE DARTFORD WARBLER.

SYLVIA PROVINCIALIS, 'TEMMINCK.

Tuis is one of the least known among the British
Warblers. It is rather larger than the common
Wren, but much longer by reason of its tail,
which is one half its length nearly. It is called
the Dartford Warbler from having been first dis-
covered in England near that place.

Mr. Sweet says it is “one of the rarest of the
British species of this tribe, but mentioned by
Montagu as not uncommon about Kingsbridge,
Devon, and in the neighbourhood of Truro, Corn-
wall: it is also occasionally met with on Bexley
Heath, near Dartford, Kent; also on Blackheath,
-and on Wandsworth and Wimbledon Commons ;
where it is said to breed in the furze-bushes, and
feeds on grasshoppers, moths, butterflies, cater-
pillars, ants, and various other insects.*

The habits of this bird are very little known.
Dr. Latham informs us several were shot in the
winter of 1783, on a common near Wandsworth
in Surrey; from which circumstance that author
very justly observes, that if it is found here only as
a winter migrant, he cannot reconcile the circum-
stance of its breeding in France, (which has been
said to be the case,) as all migratory birds go north-

* British Warblers.
B

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

ward to breed, not to a warmer climate. In the
month of September 1796, (says Montagu,) we
observed many of these birds about Falmouth in
Cornwall, frequenting the furzy hills, and killed
several from that time to the 24th of December,
when a sudden fall of snow, that covered the ground
for some time, drove them from that part.

It has been found, however, to breed in this
country; Montagu having discovered a nest on the
17th of July, on a large furze common. It was
placed among the dead branches of the thickest
furze, about two feet from the ground, slightly
fastened between the main stems, not in the fork.

The nest is composed of dry vegetable stalks,
particularly goose-grass, mixed with the tender dead
branches of furze, not sufficiently hardened to be-
come prickly: these are put together in a very
loose manner, and intermixed very sparingly with
wool. In one of the nests which he discovered was
a single partridge’s feather. The lining is equally
sparing, for it consists only of a few dry stalks of
some fine species of carer, without a single leaf
of the plant, and only two or three of the panicles.
This thin flimsy structure, which the eye pervades
in all parts, much resembles the nest of the White-
throat. The eggs are also somewhat similar to
those of the Whitethroat, but rather less, weigh-
ing only twenty-two grains: like the eggs of that
species, they possess a slight tinge of green, and
are fully speckled all over with olivaceous brown,
and cinerous, on a greenish white ground; the

.

DARTFORD WARBLER.

markings becoming more dense, and forming a
zone at the larger end.

The song (says Montagu) is different from any-
thing of the kind I ever heard, but in part re-
sembles most that of the Stonechat.

An amusing writer in the Magazine of Natural
History says: “ If you have ever watched a common
Wren, (a Kitty Wren we call her,) you must have
observed that she cocked her tail bolt upright,
strained her little beak at right angles, and her
throat in the same fashion, to make the most of
her fizgig of a song, and kept on jumping and
jerking and frisking about, for all the world as
though she worked by steam: well, that’s the
precise character of the Dartford Warbler, or, as
we call it (at Godalming), the “ Furze Wren.”
When the leaves are off the trees, and the chill
winter winds have driven the summer birds to the
olive-gardens of Spain, or across the Straits, the
Furze Wren is in the height of his enjoyment. I
have seen them by dozens skipping about the furze,
lighting for a moment upon the very point of the
sprigs, and instantly diving out of sight again,
singing out their angry impatient ditty, for ever
the same. They prefer those places where the
furze is very thick, high, and difficult to get in.”

Colonel Montagu, in describing the habits of
some nestlings of this species which he reared
in a cage, says, “ Nothing can exceed the activity
of these little creatures; they are in perpetual
motion the whole day, throwing themselves into

B 2

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

various attitudes and gesticulations, erecting the
tail and crest at intervals, accompanied by a double
or triple cry, which seems to express the words
cha, cha, cha. They frequently take their food
while suspended to the wires with their heads
downwards, and not unusually turn over back-
wards on the perch.”

Buffon, who appears to have been the first,
if not the only person on the Continent who knew
anything of the Dartford Warbler, as a naturalist,
seems to have known very little more than that
such a bird existed, and that it had been found in
Provence (as his name of Le Pitchou de Provence
evinces), but he knew nothing of its habits.

THE REDBREAST.

SYLVIA RUBECULA, LatTu.

Tue Repsreast, or Rosin, as he is occasionally
denominated, is familiar with us from childhood.
Before we can read we learn to repeat the fabled
story of poor Cock Robin’s death and burial. In
all countries he is a favourite, and has what may be
called a pet name. The inhabitants of Bornholm
call him “‘ Tommi-Liden ;” the Norwegians, “ Peter
Ronsmed ;” the Germans, “ Thomas Gierdet ;” and
in England he is called by the more familiar appel-
lation of < Bob.” Wordsworth thus poetically
addresses the Redbreast :—

Art thou the bird whom man loves best,
The pious bird with the scarlet breast,
Our little English Robin ;
The bird that comes about our doors
When autumn winds are sobbing ?
Art thou the Peter of Norway boors ?
Their Thomas in Finland
And Russia far inland ?
The bird who by some name or other
All men who know thee call thee brother,
The darling of children and men ?—

The melodious notes of this little favourite are well
known. Its song is sweet and well supported, and
is continued almost throughout the year. During
spring the Redbreast haunts the wood, the grove,

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

and the garden; it generally retires to thick hedge-
rows or other secluded spots to breed in, and is
then seldom heard till autumn ; when, on the retire-
ment of our summer visitors, he again makes his
appearance about our houses, and awakens our
former attachment by pouring out his soft liquid
carol, perched on some neighbouring shrub. It
becomes the companion of the gardener, or faggot-
maker in the woods, fluttering around and chirping
its slender “ pip.” But when the cold grows more
severe, and thick snow covers the ground, or frost
hardens its surface, it approaches our houses, taps
at the closed casement, casting sidelong glances
indoors, as envious of the warm abode. It is pro-
bably attracted to the habitations of man by the
shelter that it there obtains from the rigour of the
weather, and in search of the insects that are col-
lected in great numbers by the same cause.

The bill of the Redbreast is slender and delicate ;
its eyes are large, dark, and expressive, and its
aspect mild. It is nearly six inches in length.

When wild, the Redbreast feeds on all sorts of
insects, which are pursued with great skill and
agility : sometimes, says Bechstein, this bird is
seen fiuttermg like a butterfly round a leaf on
which is a fly ; or if he sees an earthworm, he hops
forward, flapping his wings, and seizes it. In
autumn he eats different sorts of berries.

In confinement, by giving him at first some earth
or meal-worms, and in the autumn elderberries, he
soon gets accustomed to eat anything: he picks up

REDBREAST.

crumbs of bread, the little fibres of meat, and the
like; but cheese appears his favourite food.*

The Redbreast is rather an unsociable bird with
its own species, and drives away all others from his
immediate neighbourhood. Obstinate battles are
often maintained between the male birds.

The female builds her nest on the ground, at the
roots of trees, and in other concealed places. It is
formed of the same materials as that of the Wren,
but not so elaborately put together, and without a
dome to the nest. If, however, there is not a natu-
ral concealment of foliage, the birds contrive to
form an artificial one of dry leaves, under which
they may reach the nest without the precise spot
being known; and when the hen bird leaves her
eggs, she sometimes covers them in the same man-
ner; so that the strewing of leaves mentioned in
the old ballad of the Babes in the Wood is true
to the habits of the Redbreast. The eggs are yel-
lowish grey, mottled with chestnut colour, and
rarely exceed seven.

Grahame has poetically sketched the habits of
the Redbreast in the following lines :—

High is his perch, but humble is his home,

And well conceal’d ; sometimes within the sound
Of heartsome mill-clack, where the spacious door,
White-dusted, tells him plenty reigns around—
Close at the root of brier bush, that o’erhangs
The narrow stream, with shealings bedded white,

* Bechstein’s Cage Birds. + Mudie’s British Birds.

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

He fixes his abode, and lives at will.

Oft near some single cottage he prefers

To rear his little home ; there, pert and spruce,
He shares the refuse of the good-wife’s churn.

As the evergreen shrubs are seen in their great-
est beauty when other trees have lost their verdant
hue, so the Redbreast assumes a gayer dress, and
his song appears more sweet to us, when most other
birds are mute, and our summer visitors have fled.
His melody is more generally heard when the arbu-
tus, or strawberry-tree, is in all its beauty, exhibiting
at once flowers and fruit; the blossoms of the pre-
sent, with the ripe fruit of the former year. Spenser
has illustrated the exuberance of this beautiful
shrub in the following lines :— ;

aS eS ee

There is continual spring and harvest there
Continual, both meeting at one time ;
For both the boughs do laughing blossoms bear,
And with fresh colours deck the wanton prime,
And eke at once the heavy trees they climb,
Which seem to labour under their fruits load :
The whiles the joyous birds make their pastime
Amongst the shady leaves, their sweet abode,
And their true loves without suspicion tell abroad.

THE HEDGE-SPARROW.

SYLVIA MODULARIS, Latu.

Tuts well-known species, sometimes called the
Hedge-chanter, Hedge-warbler, Titling, or Dunnock,
is found in all parts of England; has a pleasing
song, and is one of the few birds of the warbler
tribe that remain with us the whole year. It be-
‘gins its song early in the year, if the weather is
mild; breeds early, making a nest in March, com-
posed of green moss and wool, and lined with hair,
which is placed in some low evergreen shrub, thick
bush, or cut-hedge; frequently builds in faggot-
piles. The eggs are four or five in number.*

In form, (says Mr. Mudie,) the Titling has some
resemblance to the Redbreast; though it is not
nearly so energetic in its expression, or so lively in
its motions. Its habits are also a good deal simi-
lar to those of the Redbreast: it comes about our
farmyards and cottages, and into the gardens and
shrubberies, in the inclement season,—not in flocks,
but hopping about singly, and picking up any food,
whether animal or vegetable, it may find. In these
gloomy times it utters its peevish cry with an appa-
rent feeling of suffering and desolation.

The Hedge-sparrow, or Shufflewing, (Mr. Knapp

observes,) not influenced by season or caprice to

* Ornithological Dictionary. + Mudie’s British Birds.

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

desert us, lives in our homesteads and our orchards
through all the year, our most domestic bird.
In the earliest spring it intimates to us, by a low
and plaintive chirp, and that peculiar shake of the
wing which at all times marks this bird, but
then is particularly observable, the approach of
the breeding season; for it appears always to live
in pairs, feeding and moving in company with
each other. It is nearly the first bird that forms a
nest; and this being placed in an almost leafless
hedge, with little art displayed in its concealment,
generally becomes the booty of every prying boy:
and the blue eggs of the Hedge-sparrow are always
found in such numbers on his string, that it is
surprising how any of the race are remaining ; espe-
cially when we consider the many casualties to
which the old birds are obnoxious from their tame-
ness, and the young that are hatched from their
situation. The plumage of this warbler is re-
markably sober and grave, and all its actions are
quiet and conformable to its appearance. Its song
is short, sweet, and gentle ; sometimes it is pro-
longed, but generally the bird perches on the sum-
mit of some bush, utters its brief modulation, and
seeks retirement again. Its chief habitation is
some hedge in the rick-yard, some cottage-garden,
or near society with man. Unobtrusive, it does
not enter our dwellings like the Redbreast, but
picks minute insects from the edges of drains and
ditches, or morsels from the door of the poorest
dwelling in the village. As an example of a house-
hold or domestic bird, none can be found with

HEDGE-SPARROW.

better pretensions to such a character than the
Hedge-sparrow.

In confinement it will eat anything that comes
to table. It is fond of German paste mixed with
the crumb of white bread, hemp, rape, and poppy-
seeds, and refuses none of these things immediately
on being imprisoned, and it soon seems as com-
pletely at ease as if accustomed to confinement.*

The Cuckoo frequently, it is said, makes choice
of this bird’s nest for the purpose of depositing
its egg, which the Sparrow heedlessly incubates
together with her own eggs. ‘The young Cuckoo,
on being hatched, destroys the young or eggs
of its foster-mother, by turning them out of the
nest. It is scarcely probable, however, that the
female Cuckoo would be in a condition to depo-
sit her egg in the Hedge-sparrow’s nest during
the incubation of her first brood, as that bird builds
in March, and the Cuckoo does not arrive in this
country till the latter end of April or the begin-—
ning of May.

* Bechstein’s Cage Birds.

THE STONECHAT, or CHICKSTONE.
I erCony RUBICOLA, LatH.

Tuts bird is about five inches and a half in
length. The throat, head, and beak are black;
from which circumstance it is sometimes known by
the name of Black-top. The breast is orange
brown, and the wings dark brown, with light edges
to the feathers. The sides of the neck, wing-
covers at the shoulders, and the under part, are
white; but on the belly the white has a tinge of
yellow. ‘The female has less white, has the brown
on the upper part lighter, the head and throat
dark brown mottled with white and yellow, and
the breast with more of a yellowish tinge.

Mr. Sweet says that they are very variable in
their colours — scarcely any two are to be seen ex-
actly alike; some of them being nearly all white,
others having a large white patch on the wings and
by the side of the neck, while others have it very
slightly : the brightness of their colours also varies
very considerably on different birds, some of them
being particularly handsome.

The Stonechat frequents commons and _ furzy
places, where it sits on the uppermost sprays, and
darts at every fly that passes, frequently returning
to the same place again.

STONECHAT, OR CHICKSTONE.

In the early part of the spring it sings very
prettily, perched on the topmost spray of a furze
bush, and at times while suspending itself for a
short period on the wing a few yards above the
bush. It is one of the first birds that makes its
nest in the spring. Its song is heard but for a
short season.

“In early spring,” observes Mr. Mudie, “ these
are very delightful birds. The furze brakes are
mostly upon the northern slopes, and above the
light fogs and exhalations of the spring; so that
they are among the first places on which the sun of
the young year shines out. ‘The green and gold of
the furze itself are exceedingly gay and cheering,
and the scent of it breathes a vernal exhalation
which never tires. The black, white, and brown of
the little bird contrast beautifully with the colours
of the furze, as he sits on the topmost and luxurious
branch, which is too elevated for being clipped and
rounded by the browzing of sheep, or the nibbling of
hares and rabbits: and he is ever and anon flinging
himself a few feet into the air, hovering over the
bushes, flitting now here, now there, like a butterfly
over a bed of flowers, or a dragon-fly over the margin
of a brook, and chanting his little song, sweet
and persuasive, but low, and tuned to the short dis-
tance at which it may be heard by his mate under
the shade of the evergreen bower.”

In confinement, Mr. Sweet says, this bird will
sing all through the winter, and a great part of the
year: it will sing frequently by night as well as by
day. It requires the same food and treatment as

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

the nightingale, — bruised hempseed and_ bread
mixed up together into a moist paste, and some
fresh raw lean beef or mutton, cut in pieces small
enough for them to swallow, mixed with it.*

Though the Stonechat (observes the author of the
British Naturalist) frequents elevated and bleak
places, it is not found in the northern parts of the
country ; but in the south it is resident, and found
in winter in more situations and greater numbers
than the Whinchat. Still it is probable that a por-
tion, and a very considerable portion, do migrate
out of the country in the autumn, as they are less
abundant in the winter than in the spring ; and, of
the little birds that are wholly resident, the majority
appear in by far the greatest numbers during win-
ter; as both the coldness of the weather and the
failure of food drive them from their summer re-
treats to the cultivated lands and the neighbour-
hood of houses, where they come in flocks, and of
course attract more attention.}

Selby says, he is inclined to think that the greater
part of the young of the year do migrate in the
course of the winter; having repeatedly noticed
(in places where the species is abundant) the dis-
appearance of the young as winter approached,
whilst the parent birds remained attached to
their favourite spot. In very severe storms of
snow, even those that winter here are sometimes
compelled to quit their usual situations, and
take refuge in more inclosed grounds or in plan-
tations.

* British Warblers. + British Naturalist.

¥en > SS ee Ra ee ee ee eer

Me

STONECHAT, OR CHICKSTONE.

The nest is placed on or very near the ground,
at the bottom of a furze, or some other bush, care-
fully concealed. It is composed of moss and bents,
lined with hair, and sometimes mixed with small
feathers. The eggs are five in number, of a blue
colour, with small rufous spots at the larger end,
which in some are faint—in which case they are
scarcely to be known from those of the Whinchat.

THE GOLDFINCH.

FRINGILLA CARDUELIS, Linn.

THE gay little Goldfinch is very generally dis-
tributed over Britain. Elegance of form and beauty
of plumage, docility of disposition and sweetness of
song, together with its natural hardiness of con-
stitution, all combine to render it a general fa-
vourite. It is known in some places by the names
of Gold-spink, Goud-spink, or Gooldie. In Staf-
fordshire it is called Proud Tailor ; and is sometimes
denominated Thistle-finch, from its fondness for
the seed of that plant.

The Goldfinch is very partial to orchards and
gardens, and shrubberies, especially if they are ill
kept; as its principal food consists of the seeds of
various weeds which grow chiefly in such situations :
those of the different thistles, the burdock, and the
dandelion are its favourite food, as well as the oily
seeds of many of the cruciform plants. To obtain
the former, it may be commonly observed clinging
in various constrained and grotesque attitudes,
often with the head downward, whilst the pappus,
or vegetable down, is made to fly in all directions.
It also feeds much upon various green leaves, more
particularly on those of chickweed and groundsel.
It is also very partial to the unopened blossoms of
furze, and to the flowers of various other plants.*

* British Cyclopedia, Natural History.

GOLDFINCH.

The song of the Goldfinch is brisk and lively,
continuous, well kept up, and extremely musical
and cheerful; and its common chirrup and call-
notes are more pleasing than those of most other
birds.

It flies in flocks or companies, but these are
never very numerous, their societies rarely exceed-
ing twenty in number. Its flight is straightforward
and smooth, without any undulations or jerks,
though from its habit it never flies at any great
elevation above the ground. “ They seldom,” as

is observed by a distinguished naturalist, “ alight

on the ground unless to procure water, in which
they wash with great liveliness and pleasure; after
which they pick up some particles of gravel and
sand. So fond of each other’s company are they,
that a party of them soaring on the wing will alter
their course at the call of a single one perched on
a tree.” It is by means of the wild birds being so
readily attracted by this call that so very many of
them are taken by the bird-catchers.

The song of the male (says Mr. Mudie) generally
begins in March, and continues improving till the
middle of May, at which time it is in the greatest
perfection. He sings from the perch, but prefers
one which is not very lofty; begins at daybreak,
and continues with little intermission till sunset.

The female is rather smaller than the other sex,
and has not so much red round the bill; but does
not differ much in plumage, except that the colours
are not so bright. She begins to build in April,
when the fruit-trees are in blossom. Her nest is
small: the outside consists of very fine moss, very

c

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

closely and neatly interwoven with other soft bed-
ding, such as wool, &c.; the inside is lined with
delicate fine down, wool, and a few hairs and
feathers. She lays five or six eggs. The nest is
usually found in apple, pear, plum, or other fruit
trees, at a time when it cannot be approached with-
out the hazard of damaging the bloom or young
fruit. It is sometimes found in thorns and hedges.

It is said that this bird is particularly fond of
admiring its gay plumage in a mirror, and of
preening its feathers before a glass. A better trait
in its character is exhibited in the following stanzas
by Cowper on

THE FAITHFUL FRIEND.

The greenhouse is my summer seat ;

My shrubs, displaced from that retreat,
Enjoy’d the open air ;

Two Goldfinches, whose sprightly song

Had been their mutual solace long,
Lived happy prisoners there.

They sung as blithe as Finches sing,

That flutter loose on golden wing,
And frolic where they list ;

Strangers to liberty, ‘tis true,—

But that delight they never knew,
And therefore never miss’d.

But Nature works in every breast ;
Instinct is never quite supprest ;
And Dick felt some desires,
Which, after many an effort vain,
nstructed him at length to gain
A pass between his wires.

GOLDFINCH.

The open windows seem’d t’ invite
The freeman to a farewell flight ;
But Tom was still confined ;
And Dick, although his way was clear,
Was much too generous and sincere
To leave his friend behind.

For settling on his grated roof,

He chirp’d and kiss’d him, giving proof
That he desired no more ;

Nor would forsake his cage at first,

Till gently seized, I shut him fast,
A prisoner as before.

Oh ye, who never knew the joys
Of friendship ; satisfied with noise,
Fandango, ball, and rout !
Blush when I tell you how a bird
A prison with a friend preferr’ d

Yo liberty without.

Goldfinches in confinement are fed on poppy,
hemp, rape, and canary seed. A young Goldfinch
brought up under a Woodlark, Canary-bird, Night-
ingale, or other fine singing bird, will take their
song very readily.

The young bird, before it moults, is grey on the
head ; and hence it is termed by the bird-catchers
a Grey Pate.

The Goldfinch is as well known on the Continent
as in this kingdom. It breeds in France and Italy,
and also in Spain; comes in prodigious flocks
early in winter to Gibraltar, and disperses in the
spring: few are seen there in summer. It is said

Cc 2

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

to be found in Africa and Asia, but much less
common.*

Mule birds may be bred from the male Gold-
finch and female Canary. These preserve gene-
rally the markings of the Goldfinch, with the
yellow tint of the Canary; and their song most
resembles that of the former, but is much more
powerful.

Goldfinches are not generally subject to vary
much in plumage, but individuals are occasionally
taken with the throat white, and sometimes with
a white spot on each side of this: these are termed
by the bird-catchers Cheverels, and are often sold
at a high price.

* Latham.

THE ABERDEVINE.
Frineitta Sprnus, Linn.

Tue ABERDEVINE, or European Siskin, is some-
what less than the Goldfinch, and the tail is much
shorter in proportion. Its true habitation appears
to be the more northern parts of Europe ; but it is
said to breed sometimes in Westmoreland, and
likewise in Scotland. It descends southwards on
the approach of winter; and in the neighbour-
hood of London, numbers of them are regularly
taken every autumn by the bird-catchers, though
in much greater abundance in some seasons than in
others. Early in the month of March,—though in
some seasons not until the middle of April, at
which time their plumage has acquired its full
summer brightness,—the Aberdevines leave the
south of England for the pine-forests of Scotland, in
some of which they have been ascertained to breed.
They begin to reappear in the south about the
middle of September. They may generally be found
during winter in most situations where the alder
grows plentifully; associating with the smaller
Linnet, and subsisting, like that species, on the
seeds of various trees, especially on those of the
alder and birch. They fly in flocks in successive
undulating courses, alternately rising and falling,

|
]

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

and generally utter a chirp at each propelling
motion of the wings; as may be also observed
in the Linnet and Goldfinch, and in most other
birds of this family.

In Germany they appear about October, when
they do a great deal of damage to the hop-plan-
tations; and the places where they have been
are easily known by the number of leaves that
are found lying on the ground. They visit France
during the vintage, and even earlier in the year,
when they injure the blossoms of the apple-trees :
they also eat the seeds of burdock and elm. They
are said to fly very high, and may be heard before
they are seen.*

The prominent colours of the Aberdevine are
black, bright yellow, sulphur yellow, and a peculiar
shade of green, which is so unlike any named shade
of that colour, that it is generally known by the
appellation of Siskin-green.

In the female the markings are not so decided as
in the male ; the upper part is rather brown, and
the lower more inclining to greyish white in the
general tint.

The Siskins are healthy, mild, and docile birds ;
and will pair well with the Canary—either the
hen Canary with the cock Siskin, or the hen Siskin
with the cock Canary. They are on this account
highly prized by amateurs, as the progeny gene-
rally inherit the same good qualities.

Bewick tells us that one which he kept many

* Ornithological Dictionary.

ABERDEVINE.

years in a cage had a pleasing and sweetly varied
song, and that it imitated the notes of other birds.
Its song, however, is not so musical and sweet as
that of the Goldfinch ; it is sharper and more pier-
cing, and finishes always with a remarkably harsh
jarring note. It is almost perpetually singing ; and
though by no means a loud songster, its voice
may often be heard over those of much more
powerful song from the peculiar sharpness of its
notes.

Sepp has delineated the nest placed in the cleft
of an oak tree, built with dry bent, mixed with
leaves, and amply lined with feathers; the base
being neatly rounded, and the feathers projecting
above the brim, and concealing the eggs, which
are three in number. According to Bechstein,
this bird has two broods in the year, each of five
or six eggs. ‘Temminck says it builds in the high-
est branches of the pine ; which accounts, perhaps,
for its having escaped the researches of the earlier
naturalists.

This bird is known in Sussex by the name of
Barley-bird, because it comes to them in barley-
seed time.

In the cage its food is poppy-seed and a little
hemp-seed bruised. It is a complete glutton, and
though so small, eats more than the Chaffinch:
it is at the seed-drawer from morning till night:
it does not drink less, and requires abundance of
fresh water ; yet it bathes but little, only plunging
the bill in the water, and thus scattering it over

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

its feathers; but it is very assiduous in arranging
them. It is constantly running along the wires
of its cage; and when tame, if anything it is
fond of is held to it, it is taken always with the
head downwards.

THE CHAFFINCH.

FRINGILLA C@LEBS, Linn.

CHAFFINCHES are well known by their spright-
ly strain, which is heard early in spring, and con-
tinued till the middle of summer. The lively
yet somewhat monotonous song of these birds has
given rise to the proverb “as gay as a Chaffinch.”
They have a peculiar and well-known call of
« Twink, twink,” by which name they are some-
times known. ‘They have several other provincial
names; such as Spink, Beechfinch, Pink, Kelly,
Shellapple, Horsefinch, Robby, Shilfa, &c.

The Chaffinch is about the same lineal dimen-
sions as the House-sparrow, but more lightly and
elegantly formed. It runs with a swift and even
motion, without hopping, and skips very gracefully
among the twigs of trees; but when reposing, it
squats on the ground as often as it perches.* It is
mild and familiar in its disposition; and its strong-
ly marked plumage is elegantly varied in colour,
particularly in the breeding season, when the head
of the male bird is of a fine bluish grey. The
Chaffinch is remarkable for cleanliness and the
trimness of its plumage.

In summer these birds live chiefly on insects,
with which they likewise feed their young. They

* Mudie’s Feathered Tribes of the British Islands.

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

may often be observed perched on the twig of some
tree overhanging a running stream, where weeds
abound, and whence ephemere are constantly
rising. Every now and then they will dart out
upon one of these new-born insects; on nearing
which they often check themselves in their flight,
and if successful in its capture, will return to the
same perch to enjoy the dainty morsel, having first
snapt off the wings.

In winter they become gregarious, and feed on
seed and grain. In Sweden the females migrate
in September to a more southern clime, and return
to their mates in spring; which circumstance in-
duced Linneus to designate them by the name of
“‘coelebs” (bachelor). Selby says that these birds,
in a general point of view, obey the same natural
law in the North of England. In Northumberland
and Scotland this separation takes place about the
month of November; and from that period to the
return of spring, few females are to be seen, and
those few always in distinct societies. ‘The males
remain, and are met with during the winter in
immense flocks, feeding with other gregarious birds
in the stubble land, as long as the weather con-
tinues mild and the ground free from snow; and
resorting upon the approach of storm to farmyards,
and other places of refuge and supply.

The female is of a dull green above; the breast
and under parts of a brown or dirty white: the
wings have the same markings as the male, but
less brilliant.

CHAFFINCH.

The male birds frequently maintain obstinate
combats, and fight till one of them is vanquished.

The Chaffinch’s nest is curious from the work-
manlike manner in which it is constructed. The
exterior framework of this pretty nest is composed
of materials which vary considerably according to
the opportunities the birds have of procuring them.
Some are formed of the finer sort of green moss
from trees, small grey or yellow lichens; in others
the nest-webs of spiders, or small tufts of cotton-
wool, are stuck over the outside. But the indis-
pensable substance of all these nests is fine wool,
with which the other materials are carefully and
neatly felted into a texture of wonderful uniformity.
In many cases it has been found that greater
strength is given to the fabric by binding the whole
round with dry grass-stems, or with slender roots,
which are partly covered by the staple felt-work of
moss and wool. The nest is always bound firmly
into the forks of the bush, where it is placed by
twining bands of moss, felted with wool, round all
the contiguous branches. The softness of the in-
terior is secured by a lining of hair, smoothly woven,
and a few feathers. The trees and bushes most
commonly selected by the Chaffinch for her nest
are the elm, oak, crab-tree, hawthorn, silver fir,
elder, &c.*

The Chaffinch appears to attract a considerable
degree of attention in Germany, and to be a great
favourite there.

* Architecture of Birds,

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

The passion for this bird (says Bechstein) is
carried to such an extent in Thuringia, and those
which sing well are sought for with so much acti-
vity, that scarcely a single Chaffinch that warbles
tolerably can be found throughout the province.
As soon as one arrives from a neighbouring country
whose notes appear good, all the bird-catchers are
after it, and do not give up the pursuit till they
have taken it.

In confinement, these birds (says Bechstein) are
fed all the year on rape-seed, dried in summer,
or, which is better, soaked and swelled in water.
Every day a sufficient quantity should be soaked
for the next, and given them fresh every morning.
In the spring, a little hemp-seed, or the seed of the
nettle-hemp (Galeopsis tetrahit), is given them to
enliven their song: but these seeds should not be
mixed with the rape. It must not be omitted to
supply them with green vegetables, chickweed,
lettuce, and the like; and in the winter, a piece
of apple, mealworms, and ants’ eggs agree with
them.*

* Bechstein’s Cage Birds.

THE LINNET.

FRINGILLA CANNABINA, LINN.

Tue Linnet is generally a favourite as a cage
bird on account of its excellent song. It has various
names. By some it is called the Greater Red-pole,
by others, Lintwhite, or Lintie; and, according to
the state of the plumage, it is further denominated
Grey Linnet, White Linnet, Brown Linnet, and
Rose Linnet.

It is subject to much variety with respect to
the red markings which at certain ages and seasons
are found upon the head and breast. It is probable
(says Montagu) that the full plumage of this bird
does not take place till the second or third year.
The young for some time after they leave their
nest resemble the female, and if taken into con-
finement in that state, rarely, if ever, throw out
the red spots, or become so rufous upon the back ;
and even those that are taken in full maturity
most frequently lose all the red feathers in the first
moulting, which never return.

The song of this bird consists of many irregu-
lar notes tastefully put together in a clear and
sonorous tone, called jerks.

The Linnet is among the least solitary of birds.
It frequents open commons and grassy fields, where
several pairs, without the least rivalry or conten-

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

tion, will build their nests and rear their offspring
in the same neighbourhood.

The Linnet (says Mr. Mudie) is partially a mi-
grant within the country, though the sexes do
not separate in the same decided manner as the
Chaffinches. During the inclement season, the
birds resort to the lower grounds, especially to
those near the sea-shore. They appear in con-
siderable flocks: the young birds appear earliest,
then the females, and lastly the mature males;
which may be said to be the order of movement
with all autumnal birds, how limited soever may
be the distance to which they do migrate.

In the flocking time, against which the male has
lost the red on the breast, Linnets fly very close
and crowded, but with a smooth and straightfor-
ward flight. On the ground, they hop, and have
not so much command of themselves as Chaffinches ;
and they accordingly spend more of their time on
the wing. They wheel about in masses, and perch
on trees; and though they have no song in the
winter, they all chirp at the same time in one gene-
ral chorus. When the weather begins to get warm,
their short but pleasant song commences before they
retire to the breeding grounds, or the plumage of
the male changes; and though their song is not so
full then as after they have betaken themselves to
the wilds, the crowds that are in song on the same
tree make a lively concert.*

The Linnet commonly builds in a thick bush
or hedge, and sometimes among furze bushes on

* Mudie’s British Birds.

LINNET.

open commons and waste lands. The outside of
the nest is composed of bents, dried weeds, moss,
and straw, all matted together : the inside is lined
with fine soft wool, mixed with down stuff gathered
from dried plants, with a few horsehairs, made
exceedingly neat and warm. The female lays
four and sometimes five eggs, of a bluish white,
with red or purplish specks at the blunt end. It
has young ones by the middle of April or beginning
of May, and has two broods in the year.

The female, which is considerably smaller than
the male, is more brown in the general tint of the
plumage, and varies little with the seasons.

In the cage, these birds (says Bechstein) should
be fed on summer rape-seed only. It is not neces-
sary always to give them hemp-seed with it, and
they must not be fed abundantly ; for, taking little
exercise, they easily become fat, and sometimes
die from this cause: but a little salt mixed with
their food is useful, as it preserves them from many
diseases, and they like it.

The Linnet is a very common bird throughout
Britain, extending as far as the Orkneys, where
it is abundant.

The male bird will pair with the hen Canary,
and their progeny can scarcely be distinguished
from the Grey Canary. They are birds of very
gentle dispositions, easily tamed, and capable of
very considerable attachment to those who feed
and attend them.

THE CANARY FINCH.

Frineitta Canaria, Linn.

Canary birds are now become so common in
this country and all over Europe, and have con-
tinued so long in a domestic state, that they may
reasonably be included amongst those native birds
that contribute so much delight to us by their song.
They came originally from the Canary Islands, as
their name indicates; but are now bred in immense
numbers, both for amusement and commerce, in
France, the Tyrol, Germany, and in this country.

“In its native islands,” says Goldsmith, “a re-
gion equally noted for the beauty of its landscapes
and harmony of its groves, the Canary is of a
dusky grey colour, with a tinge of green.” The
song of the Canary bird is greatly esteemed : it is
a high piercing, quavering pipe, continued for some
time in one breath without intermission, and raised
higher and higher by degrees with great variety.

Buffon says in his elegant manner, that “if the
Nightingale is the chantress of the woods, the
Canary is the musician of the chamber : the first
owes all to nature, the second something to art.
With less strength of organ, less compass of voice,
and less variety of note, the Canary bird has a
better ear, greater facility of imitation, and a more
retentive memory ; and as the difference of genius,

CANARY FINCH.

especially among the lower animals, depends in a
great measure on the perfection of their senses,
the Canary, whose organ of hearing is more sus-
ceptible of receiving and retaining foreign impres-
sions, becomes more social, tame, and familiar; is
capable of gratitude, and even of attachment; its
caresses are endearing, its little humours innocent,
and its anger neither hurts nor offends. Its edu-
cation is easy: we rear it with pleasure, because

we are able to instruct it. It leaves the melody .

of its own natural note, to listen to the melody of
our voices and instruments. It applauds, it accom-
panies us, and repays the pleasure it receives with

interest; while the Nightingale, more proud of its

talent, seems desirous of preserving it in all its
purity,—at least it appears to attach very little
value to ours, and it is with great difficulty it
can be taught any of our airs. The Canary can
speak and whistle; the Nightingale despises our
words as well as our airs, and never fails to return
to its own wild wood-notes. Its pipe is a master-
piece of nature, which human art can neither alter
nor improve ; while that of the Canary is a model
of more pliant materials, which we can mould at
pleasure, and therefore it contributes in a much
greater degree to the comforts of society: it sings
at all seasons, cheers us in the dullest weather, and
adds to our happiness by amusing the young and
delighting the recluse, charming the tediousness of
the cloister, and gladdening the soul of the inno-
cent and captive.”

There are said to be upwards of thirty varieties

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

of the breeds of Canaries, which can be easily dis-
tinguished. Canary birds are very prolific, and
sometimes breed all the year round ; but they most
usually begin to pair in April, and to breed in June
and August.

A small breeding cage is all that is required for
rearing these birds; but where a room can be
allotted to the purpose, it ought to have shrubs for
them to roost and build upon, with plenty of water
to drink and bathe in, that beg indispensable for
all birds. The floor of the apartment ought to
be strewed with sand or white gravel, and on that
should be thrown groundsel, chickweed, or scalded
rape-seed ; but when breeding, they should have
nothing but hard chopped eggs, dry bread, cake
without salt, and once in two or three days a few
poppy-seeds. Some bird-fanciers give their breed-
ing birds. plantain and lettuce-seed; but this
should be done sparingly, and only for two days
together, lest it should weaken them

About the 15th of April they ought to be fur-
nished with flax, soft hay, wool, hair, moss, and
other dry materials, for building the nest, which
usually occupies three days: but when the hen has
sat eight or nine days, it is necessary to examine
the eggs, holding them carefully by the ends against
the sun or a lighted candle, and to throw away the
clear ones. Some bird-fanciers substitute an ivory
ege until the last is laid; when the real ones are
replaced, that they may be hatched at the same
time. The female lays five or six eggs. When
the young are to be reared by the stick, they must

CANARY FINCH.

be taken from the mother on the eighth day,
taking nest and all. Prior to this the food should
consist of a paste composed of boiled rape-seed,
the yolk of an egg, and crumbs of bread or cake
unsalted, mixed with a little water. This must be
given every two hours. This paste ought not to
be too wet, and must be renewed daily until the
nestlings can feed themselves.

The process of moulting, which takes place five
or six weeks after they are hatched, is frequently
fatal to them. The best remedy yet known is to
put a small piece of iron into the water they drink,
keeping them warm during the six weeks or two
months which generally elapse before they regain
their strength.*

The nest of the Canary in its native regions, it
is said, is built in the fork of an orange tree. When
kept in a greenhouse in this country, it will make
a similar choice, seeming to be pleased with the
perfume of the orange-flowers, as well as of the
myrtle.

This bird is supposed to have been first brought
into Europe in the thirteenth or fourteenth century.
It feeds on various seeds, chiefly on those of hemp
and canary-grass: it is prolific with most of the
other species of the Finch, and even with some
which are usually considered as belonging to a
different genus—such as the Yellow-hammer (Hm-
beriza citrinella). The Canary male is, however,
more shy than the female, and will associate with
no female but his own species. The age of this

* Ornithological Dictionary.

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

bird extends to fourteen or fifteen years.* The
female can scarcely be distinguished from the male ;
but the latter has generally deeper and brighter
colours, a head rather larger and longish, a longer
body, a more elegant form, neck not quite so short,
and higher shanks.

The length of the Canary is five inches, of which
the tail measures two and a quarter.

Those Canaries that have the upper part of the
body of a dusky grey or linnet brown, and the
under part the yellowish green of the green bird,
with dark brown eyes, are the strongest, and most
nearly resemble the primitive race. The yellow
and white often have red eyes, and are the most
tender. The chestnut are the most uncommon,
and hold a middle rank for strength and length of
life between the two extremes. But as the plumage
of the intermediate ones is a mixture of these
principal colours, their value depends on the
pretty and regular manner in which they are
marked.

The most wholesome food for these birds, accord-
ing to Bechstein, is summer rape-seed. This seed
alone, he says, agrees with Canaries as well as
with linnets; but to give them the pleasure of
variety, a little bruised hemp or canary, or poppy
seed is added to it, especially in the spring, when
they are intended to breed. A mixture of summer
rape-seed, oatmeal, and millet, or canary seed, may
be given them as a great treat. But, whatever

* Jennings’ Ornithologia.

CANARY FINCH.

seeds they may have, they equally require green
food; as chickweed in spring, lettuce and radish
leaves in summer; endive, water-cress, and slices
of sweet apple in winter. The more simple and
natural the food is that is given to them, the more
wholesome it will be; and, on the contrary, the more
it is mixed and rare, the more injurious and pro-
ductive of disease.*

* Bechstein’s Cage Birds.

THE THROSTLE.
Turbus musicus, Linn.

Tue Turost e is one of the finest singing birds
of this country. Every wood and every grove re-
echoes with its melodious notes in the spring—
frequently as early as February, if the weather
is mild. Its strain is often kept up for hours
without cessation. Its tone is loud, sweet, and
varied, though not so deep and mellow as that of
the Blackbird. Its note of anger is very loud
and harsh, between a chatter and a shriek.

The Throstle is generally termed by poets Mavis,
as the Blackbird is called the Merle :

Merry is it in the good greenwood,

When the Mavis and Merle are singing.
Scorr.

This bird is found in various parts of Europe ;
and is said to be migatory in some places, but con-
tinues in England the whole year.

The food of the Thrush in a wild state is in-
sects and berries of various kinds ; and it appears
particularly fond of shell snails, especially the
Helix nemoralis, whose fragile tenement it breaks
by reiterated strokes against some stone. It is
not uncommon to find a great quantity of fragment

THROSTLE,

shells together, as if brought to one particular stone
for that purpose.*

The song of the Thrush (says Mr. Mudie) is
unquestionably the finest of any of our permanent
wood song's, and superior in power and clearness,
though not in variety, to that of any of the warblers.
But the very abundance of it perhaps makes it less
prized than it should be. The Nightingale heard
in the depth of groves, and during the soft and
balmy stillness of the summer’s night, may have
more of the lusciousness of romance about it; but
there is a bold, natural, and free feeling of rustic
vigour, enjoyment, and endurance about the
Thrush, which gives it a more home and hearty
interest in all parts of the country, than can be
possessed by any bird of passage, whatever may be
its charms while it stays. The Thrush is especi-
ally one of the birds of plenty: its blithe and varied
song is never heard amid desolation ; and if you
hear a Thrush, you have not very far to go ere you
come to a human dwelling. When its animal
food, which it at all times prefers to that which is
vegetable, fails, the Thrush may commit more
depredations among the fruits than many other
birds; but when the snail shells by the hedgeside
are counted, and it is gravely considered how com-
pletely these and their broods would have eaten all
the early vegetables as they got above ground, and
the strawberries and peaches as soon as they began
to ripen, it is at least an undetermined question,

* Ornithological Dictionary.

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

whether the good done by the Thrush may not far
more than counterbalance the evil. The creatures
on which the Thrush feeds are destructive: they
have no song, and they are at least not more plea-
sant to look at than Thrushes.*

The Thrush builds her nest early in spring,
generally in March, in a thick bush, hawthorn,
holly, silver fir, furze, ivied tree, or sometimes in
a dead fence where the grass grows high; but it
has occasionally been found to nestle within out-
buildings. Fine and soft moss, interwoven with
dried grass or hay, forms the outside of the nest ;
and the inside is curiously plastered with cow-
dung, or horsedung, as Mr. Rennie observes, inter-
mixed with rotten wood. The eggs are five or
six in number, of a bluish green colour, speckled
with a few dark spots, chiefly at the larger end.

In confinement, oatmeal moistened with milk
is a very good food; and it requires also a great
deal of fresh water, as well for bathing as drink-

ing.
* Mudie’s British Birds.

THE MISSEL THRUSH.
Turpbus viscivorus, Ray.

Tuis is the largest species of Thrush; measuring
eleven inches in length, and weighing near five
ounces. It is by no means plentiful in England,
observes Montagu, and seems to be less so in
winter. Bewick says it begins to sing early, often
on the turn of the year, in blowing stormy weather ;
whence in some places it is called the Storm Cock.
It likewise bears the appellations of Throstie Cock,
Screech or Skrietch Thrush, Holm Thrush.

Montagu says the song is much louder and very
superior to that of the Thrush (Zurdus musicus ) :
frequently, perched upon the uppermost branch of
a tall tree, it sigs while the female is making her
nest, and during incubation; but becomes silent
as soon as the young are hatched, and is no more
heard till the following year. Mr. Knapp seems to
entertain a very different opinion of its vocal pow-
ers. He observes, “The approach of a sleety snow-
storm, following a deceitful gleam in spring, is
always announced by the loud untuneful voice of
the Missel Thrush, as it takes its stand on some
tall tree, like an enchanter calling up a gale. It
seems to have no song, no voice, but this harsh
predictive note; and that in great measure ceases

D2

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

with the storms of spring.”* Several writers in the
Magazine of Natural History maintain with Mon-
tagu that it has a perfect song, and is far from
a contemptible musician.

The Missel Thrush is a very bold bird during
the breeding season, drives all others from the
neighbourhood of its nest, and will even attack
the Magpie and Jay. Its food, like the other spe-
cies of ‘Thrush, is insects and berries, particularly
those of the misseltoe (whence its name). It has
been observed to take up its station on some tree
near to a favourite holly-bush, to guard it from the
depredations of other birds, which on their ap-
proach he immediately attacks, chattering and
screaming, chasing them to a distance, and striking
at them in the air with hawk-like fury.

The nest of the Missel Thrush is constructed
with considerable ingenuity. After it has reared
a rough scaffolding of the withered stems of plants,
dry grass, and moss, which are placed in great
quantity and with little art, it constructs a sub-
stantial wall of clay. The masonry is not much
better finished than the scaffolding, being inferior
perhaps to that of the Blackbird, and decidedly
so to that of the Song Thrush; but the rudeness
of the scaffolding, and the clay-walls built. upon
it, is amply compensated by the ingenious basket-
work by which these are subsequently conceal-
ed. The nest itself is usually placed in the fork
of a tree, such as the pine in wilder districts, or

* Journal of a Naturalist.

MISSEL THRUSH.

an apple-tree in an orchard.* The eggs are four
or five in number, of a flesh colour, marked with
deep and light rust-coloured spots. There are
two broods in the year.

The male of the Missel Thrush (observes Mr.
Mudie, in his interesting book on British Birds,)
is not a mere idle songster. He takes turn with
his mate in the labour of incubation; he feeds her,
and assists in feeding the young; and he is equally
vigilant and bold in the defence of his family.
The call-note which he utters in case of danger,
and which is answered by the female as if she were
expressing her confidence of safety while he is on
the watch, is harsh and grating, and has the tone
of a note of defiance. And, with the Missel Thrush,
the defiance is no idle boast; for the sneaking
Magpie, the light-winged Kestrel, and even the
Sparrowhawk, are at those times compelled to
keep their distance, as the Thrush is too vigilant
to be surprised, and under the sprays, where those
birds must contend with him upon equal terms, he
keeps them all at bay. Nor is he the guardian
of his own family only—he is in some measure the
warder of the whole grove; and when the harsh
but shrilly sound of his bugle note of alarm is
heard, all the warblers take heed of the danger,
and the chorus is mute till he again mounts the
highest branch and raises the song of deliverance.

The habits of the Missel Thrush appear to vary
according to circumstances; for Temminck informs

* Architecture of Birds.

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

us it prefers black forests situated upon mountains ;
while in England, Mr. Knapp tells us, it keeps
generally in open fields and commons, heaths and
unfrequented places, being of a wild and wary
nature, and only approaches our plantations and
shrubberies in severe weather and in breeding-
time. It begins to breed, he says, m April.

These birds will feed in confinement upon plain
oatmeal, or even bran moistened with water. But
although this meagre diet is sufficient to keep it
alive, it will hardly serve to enliven it and make it
sing: for this purpose it must be better fed, with
bread and milk, meat, and other dishes served
at table, none of which it refuses; and it must
also be allowed to bathe, since nothing does it more
good, or enlivens it so much. The cage in which
it is confined must be at least three feet and a half
long, and nearly as many high: a size necessary for
it to take the exercise suited to its vivacity and
petulance, without injuring its feathers.*

* Bechstein.

THE BLACKBIRD, or MERLE.

Turpus MERULA, Linn.

Tus is one of the largest of our song birds.
The male, as is well known, is wholly of a deep
black when it has attained maturity, which is not
till after its second moult, or towards the spring of
its second year, at which time the bill and orbits
of the eyes are yellow. Its form and also its
plumage are remarkable for compactness; and it
is very quick-sighted and lively in its motions.

The song of the Blackbird has much less variety,
compass, and spirit than that of the Thrush. He
commences his song with the morning light, and
continues it from hour to hour without effort ; its
deep-toned, clear, and sonorous notes being heard
at a considerable distance.

When snowdrops die, and the green primrose leaves
Announce the coming flower, the Merle’s note,
Mellifluous, rich, deep-toned, fills all the vale,

And charms the ravish’d ear. The hawthorn bush
New-budded is his perch ; there the grey dawn

He hails, and there with parting light concludes
His melody.*

The Merle is a solitary bird, and fond of retire-
ment ; yet it does not altogether shun the dwellings
of man, for it nestles close to his house.

* Grahame.

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

It is one of the earliest birds to hail the morn,
and its note is heard till late in the evening. Un-
like most other birds, it will sing in wet weather.
Mr. Bowles pleasingly illustrates this in the fol-
lowing lines :—

As some lone bird at day’s departing hour

Sings in the sunbeam of the transient shower,
Forgetful though his wings be wet the while.

When wild in the fields, the Blackbird feeds
promiscuously on berries and insects, snails, earth-
worms, &c. The female is of a brownish black,
with the breast of a reddish hue, and the belly
greyish: the throat is spotted with dark and light
brown. She builds her nest and hatches her
young sooner than others of the feathered tribe
in spring; the first brood being hatched by the
end of March. The nest is placed in ivied walls,
old trees, and thick bushes, at a moderate height
from the ground. The outside or framework is
composed of moss, slender twigs, bents, and the
fibres of roots, all strongly cemented together
with moist clay; the inside is lined with a thick
bedding of dry hay, bents, hair, or other soft
matter. She lays four or five eggs, which vary
sometimes considerably in colour. It is sometimes
found (says Mr. Rennie) that the masonry of the
clay is carried round the branch of the bush where
the nest may be built, in order to make it fast ;
which circumstance, as it is not of usual occurrence,
shows that the little architect was guided by intel-
ligence akin to rationality, and not by what is
usually understood by blind instinct.*

* Architecture of Birds.

BLACKBIRD, OR MERLE.

There are usually two and frequently three
broods of Blackbirds in the year; and thus the
song continues through great part of the season,
though itis not heard so continually, so long at a
time, or from so lofty a perch, as that of the Thrush.
Notwithstanding its solitary and hiding habits,
the Blackbird is more easily tamed and more
patient of restraint than the Thrush.* It is an
excellent cage bird, carolling delightfully all the
spring and summer; but it should not be placed
in an aviary, as it pursues and harasses the other
birds. It will eat readily crumbs of bread, and
flesh, either raw or otherwise, and is likewise fond
of bread mixed with milk or water.

Young birds (says Albin) of twelve days old or
less, may be raised with little trouble, by taking
care to keep them clean, and feeding them with
sheep’s heart, or other lean unsalted meat, cut very
small and mixed with a little bread. While young,
they should have their meat moist, and be fed
about every two hours. At full growth, they thrive
on any sort of fresh meat, mixed with a little bread.
When sick or drooping, a house-spider or two will
help the bird. They love to wash and preen their
feathers; therefore, when full-grown, water should
be set in their cages for that purpose.

* Mudie’s British Birds.

THE SKYLARK.

ALAUDA ARVENSIS, LINN.

Tue length of this bird is about seven inches.
The feathers on the head are rather long, and
erectable in the form of a crest. The hind claw
is very long and straight—a characteristic in these
birds which enables them to run on the surface of
thick-matted grass, or rise from it, or alight on
it, with much less inconvenience than almost any
other birds.

Who does not know this joyous songster of the
free air? It is distributed over the greater part
of the kingdom, and is universally a favourite. It
does not frequent the bleak wastes ; but wherever
man cultivates the soil, from Devon to the Shetland
Isles, the Lark is there “ to beguile his labour with
a cheerful song.”

The song of the Skylark is heard early in the
spring: it is poured forth while the bird is on
the wing, and never fails to warm the heart of the
listener, when carolling, far, far in the blue air
above, his hymn of joy and gratitude at the return
of the vernal season.

He not only ushers in the spring, but with the
first dawn of day he is up, and appears “ the herald
of the morn.” His song is heard in the evening

SKYLARK.

as well as the morning, and is continued during
eight months of the year. .

The time when the Lark is first in song, and the
general appearance and habits of the bird, endear
it to the countryman; and even the boys in their
nesting excursions hold the humble couch of the
Lark in a sort of veneration.

And it merits the esteem and protection which
it receives from the country people, not only on
account of the gentleness of its manners, and the
sweetness and enlivening character of its song, but
from the actual service which it renders to the
cultivator, in the destruction of both animals and
vegetables which are injurious to him. These are,
during the nesting-time, earth worms, earth larve,
earth insects ; and also the winged ones, when they
alight on the roots of plants, for the purpose of
depositing their eggs. At other times they are of
vast service in picking up the seeds of plants which
are equally injurious to arable and to pasture
lands.

The Skylark ascends almost perpendicularly
and by successive springs into the air, and hovers
there at such a vast height as often to be invisible,
though its notes are clearly heard, pouring forth
from its agitated throat, and filling the whole
surrounding air with cheerful melody.

On an open stubble field, or rough fallow, one
has the best chance of hearing the matin song
of the year. The Lark is peculiarly the bird of

open cultivated districts, avoiding equally the open

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

wilds, and the immediate vicinity of houses, woods,
and coppices. The small annual weeds that ripen
their seeds upon stubble after the crops are re-
moved, are its favourite food. In winter it shifts
its quarters. From September to February, the
time that Larks are mute, they collect in very large
flocks, and the bird-catchers destroy them in great
numbers for the tables of the luxurious. Abundant
as they are, however, in Hertford and Northampton,
and some of the open cultivated counties of England,
they are not near so numerous as on some parts
of the Continent. The plains of Germany swarm
with them; and they are so highly prized as an
article of food, that the tax upon them in the city of
Leipzig produces nearly a thousand pounds yearly
to the revenue.*

The Lark builds its nest upon the ground with-
out any concealment. The nest, though simple,
is constructed with a good deal of care. The out-
side is composed of small twigs, bits of creeping
roots, and coarse grass ; and the interior, of softer
grasses, sometimes, but not very often, mixed with
long hairs.

The daisied lea he loves, where tufts of grass
Luxuriant crown the ridge: there with his mate
He founds their lowly house of wither’d herbs,
And coarsest spear-grass ; next, the inner work

With finer and still finer fibres lays,
Rounding it curious with his speckled breast.+

It generally has two broods in the year. The
eges are seldom more in one brood than four

* British Naturalist. + Grahame’s Birds of Scotland.

SKYLARK.

or five. The bird, and indeed the eggs, resemble
in colour the clods among which they are placed ;
and as the sitting-time for the second brood, which
isin July, and even for the first, which is in May,
happens when the herbage is long, the nest is not
discovered by the rising of the old bird, as the
grass is very little agitated. The head of the bird
when sitting on the nest is always, it is said, turn-
ed to the weather: the feathers of the breast and
throat completely prevent the rain from enter-
ing the nest at that side, while the wings and tail
act as penthouses on the other.*

The ill-fated Shelley has some exquisite lines
to a Skylark :-—

Hail to thee, blithe spirit !—
Bird thou never wert,—
That from Heav’n, or near it,
Pourest thy full heart
In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.
Higher still and higher
From the cloud thou springest :
Like a cloud of fire
The deep-blue thou wingest,
And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest.

The common German paste is the food of Sky-
larks when in a cage. Poppy-seed, bruised hemp-
seed, crumb of bread, and plenty of greens, as
lettuce, endive, cabbage, or watercress, according
to the season, must be added. A little lean meat
and ants’ eggs are favourite delicacies, which make
it gay and more inclined to sing. ‘These birds are

fond of dusting.
British Naturalist,

THE WOODLARK.
ALAUDA ARBOREA, Ray.

Tus bird has a considerable resemblance to the
Skylark in its appearance, and some of its habits ;
but it is not above two-thirds of its weight, the
tail is much shorter, the body more slender, and the
crest larger and more capable of being erected.
The principal differences in the markings are,
that the feet are yellow,—the male has a general
yellowish tinge underneath, and a whitish band on
the head; and the exterior feathers of the tail,
instead of being edged with white, as in the Sky-
lark, are black.* The neck and breast are yellow-
ish white, tinged with brown, and marked with
narrow dusky spots.

The female, more beautiful, (says Bechstein,) is of
a paler ground, with darker ornaments ; her breast
more spotted; the crest on her head more pro-
minent, and the line round the cheeks more dis-
tinct.

The Woodlark is by no means so plentiful as
the Skylark, but it is met with in most parts of
the kingdom. It usually lives and breeds on the
ground, like the latter species. Its hind claw is
as long as that of the Skylark, and straighter ; yet
it often perches on trees, and sometimes sings

* British Naturalist.

WOODLARK.

from its perch, especially in the evening. It sings
delightfully on wing, (says Montagu,) describing
its flight in widely extended circles, and often
pouring out its song a whole hour without inter-
mission. ‘The song is much more melodious than
that of the Skylark, but does not consist of so
great a variety of notes. It sings almost through-
out the year, and all day long. The only months
of the year when the Woodlarks are altogether
silent, are June and July ; though the precise time
varies with the latitude and season, when both the
male and female are busied in finding food for
their young progeny.

The female, like other Larks, sings also; but her
strains are shorter and less sustained. She begins
to build in March. The nest is placed on the
ground, most commonly in rough and barren land,
under a tuft of high grass, furze, or some low bush,
and is made of dry grass, lined with finer grass,
and sometimes with a few long hairs. The eggs
are generally four in number, pale brown, mottled
with grey and brown, chiefly at the larger end:
they are sometimes laid as early as April. The
incubation and nursing occupy about a fortnight
each ; and when the first brood are able to shift
for themselves, a second is immediately set about.*

In the early parts of the autumnal months, the
Woodlark’s carols may be heard in the air common-
ly during the calm sunny mornings of this season.
They have a softness and quietness, perfectly in
unison with the sober, almost melancholy stillness

* British Naturalist.

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

of the hour. The Skylark also sings now, and
its song is very sweet, full of harmony, cheerful
as the blue sky and gladdening beam in which
it circles and sports, and known and admired
by all; but the voice of the Woodlark is local,
not so generally heard,—from its softness must
almost be listened for, to be distinguished, and has
not any pretensions to the hilarity of the former.
This little bird sings likewise in the spring ; but at
that season, the contending songsters of the grove,
and the variety of sound proceeding from everything
that has utterance, confuse and almost render inau-
dible the placid voice of the Woodlark. It delights
to fix its residence near little groves and copses,
or quiet pastures, and is a very unobtrusive bird,
not uniting in companies, but associating in its
own family parties, only feeding in the woodlands,
on seeds and insects. | Upon the approach of man,
it crouches close to the ground, then suddenly
darts away as if for a distant flight, but settles
again almost immediately.*

Woodlarks generally congregate in the cold
months; though their assemblies are small com-
pared with those of the Skylarks, being rarely com-
posed of more than six or seven birds. Their food
is grain and seeds of various kinds, as well as
insects.

These birds are taken with clap-nets in great
numbers in September; they are likewise taken
in January, at which time they are very stout,
good birds. ‘They should be fed with hemp-seed,

* Journal of a Naturalist.

WOODLARK.

bruised very fine, and mixed with bread and eggs
hard boiled, and grated or chopped as small as
possible. The bottom of the cage should be strewn
with fine red gravel, and some of the meat scatter-
ed upon it, if the bird is fresh caught, until he eats
out of the trough freely. He does not require turf,
like the Skylark. Ants may be given him as a
change of food, or a few meal-worms. He will eat
any kind of flesh meat minced fine; which should
be given him occasionally for change of diet, al-
ways leaving some of his constant meat in the
cage at the same time. The Woodlark is a tender
bird, and requires great care.

Bechstein says these birds appear to be subject
to whims. Some will never sing in a room, or
in the presence of an auditor. These perverse
birds must be placed in a long cage outside the
window.

THE BULLFINCH.

Loxia pyrruutaé, Linn.

WueEn at its full growth this bird measures, from
the point of the bill to the tip of the tail, six inches,
of which the tail is two. The bill is remarkably
thick and strong in proportion to its length, some-
what resembling that of a parrot; and the head and
neck are large in comparison with the size of the
body, which was probably the origin of its name.

Every one (says Mr. Mudie) is familiar with the
Bullfinch as a cage bird; but as a wild tenant of
our woods it is perhaps more rarely seen or heard,
at least for the greater part of the year, than any
other bird which is generally distributed, and as
numerous in all its localities.

In the summer it mostly frequents woods and
the more retired places; but in winter it approaches
gardens and orchards, where in spring it makes
great havoc among the buds.

It has a good mellow voice, is very docile, and the
hen learns to pipe a tune as well as the male.

The Bullfinch is gregarious; seldom more than
one brood is seen together, and they are most com-
monly observed in pairs. According to Latham, it
is common to most parts of the continent of Europe,
and extends to Russia and Siberia, in which latter
place it is caught for the use of the table.

BULLFINCH.

The female differs considerably from the male,
except in the crown of the head, which is black :
the whole bird besides is of a dirty brown, the
rump being white.

The Bullfinch breeds late. The nest, which is
not of very elaborate construction, is not begun
till the end of April or the beginning of June.
The male bird (says Mr. Mudie) sings at that
time; but his song, though mournfully soft, is so
low that it is not heard but in the close vicinity ;
and the bird is so apt to drop into the bush and be
silent on the least alarm, that to scramble through
the trees in order to hear the native note of the
Bullfinch, is almost the surest way of being disap-
pointed.

The female generally builds in an orchard, wood,
or park, preferring the thickest places for that
purpose, where there are plenty of trees; or on
heaths. The nest is often found on the flat branch
of a spruce pine, or silver fir, about four feet from
the ground. It is formed of small tender twigs,
and flexible fibrous roots, intertwined into a sort of
basket-work, rather loose, and only sufficient to
hold the eggs and young, and prevent them
from rolling out. The inside is wholly lined with
fine roots, without any hair or feathers.* The
eggs are four or five in number, of a bluish colour,
with dark brown and faint reddish spots.

The Bullfinch (observes the author of the
Journal of a Naturalist) has no claims to our re-
gard. It is gifted with no voice to charm us (in its

* Architecture of Birds.
E 2

SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

wild state); it communicates no harmony to the
grove ; all we hear from it is a low and plaintive
call to its fellows in the hedge. It has no familia-
rity or association with us, but lives in retirement
in some lonely thicket ten months in the year. At
length, as spring approaches, it will visit our gar-
dens, an insidious plunderer. Its delight is in the
embryo blossoms wrapped up at this season in the
bud of a tree; and it is very dainty and curious in
its choice of this food, seldom feeding upon two
kinds at the same time. It generally commences
with the germs of our larger and most early goose-
berry ; and the bright red breasts of four or five
cock birds, quietly feeding on the leafless bush, are
a very pretty sight, but the consequences are
ruinous to the crop. When the cherry buds begin
to come forward, they quit the gooseberry, and
make tremendous havoc with these. Having
banqueted here a while, they leave our gardens
entirely, resorting to the fields and hedges, where
the sloe bush in April furnishes them with food :
May brings other dainties, and the labours and
business of incubation withdraw them from our ob-
servation.

When wild, the Bullfinch does not often suffer
from the failure of its food, observes Bechstein ;
for it eats pine and fir seeds, the fruit of the ash
and maple, corn, all kinds of berries, the buds of
the oak, beech and pear trees, and even linseed,
millet, rape and nettle seed.

Rape-seed is a healthy food for these birds in
confinement. The hemp-seed is too heating,

BULLFINCH.

sooner or later blinds them, and always brings on
decline. A little green food, such as_ lettuce,
endive, chickweed, watercresses, a little apple,
particularly the kernels, the berries of the service.
tree, and the like, is agreeable and salutary to
them.

Although the song of the male and female Bull-
finch in their wild state is very harsh and dis-
agreeable, yet if well taught while young, as they
are in Germany, they learn to whistle all kinds of
airs and melodies with so soft and flute-like a tone,
that they are great favourites with amateurs. There
are some of these little birds which can whistle
distinctly three different airs, without spoiling or
confusing them in the least. Added to this
attraction, the Bullfinch becomes exceedingly tame,
sings whenever it is told to do so, and is suscepti-
ble of a most tender and lasting attachment, which
it shows by its endearing actions.

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