House birds, being most of them reared like canaries, can only be made
pair with great difficulty. When this object is accomplished, all of
them require a large quiet place, a whole room if it can be had, in
which branches of pine should be put,--a place, in fact, as much as
possible resembling their natural abodes. But should you succeed in this
respect, as you can never procure the materials which form the general
base of their nests, it is better to give them artificial ones, made of
the bark of the osier, straw, or even turnings of wood, in which it is
only to put the soft stuff for lining, such as wool, the ravelings of
silk, linen, or cotton, and the birds will take possession of it.
It is of consequence that the food for paired birds, and for the
different ages of their young ones, should be chosen with judgment. I
shall mention what must be done in this respect, in the articles
relating to the different species of birds which I am going to describe
in this work.
I must not omit two interesting observations which were communicated to
me by a lady of my acquaintance. It sometimes happens, during a dry
season, that the young birds are not hatched on the proper day, or are
in danger of not being hatched at all; if, in this case they are plunged
for one minute in water about their own warmth, and then replaced under
the bird, the effect will be as quick as it is successful[11].
For the same reason, sometimes the young birds remain without their
feathers beyond the proper time; a tepid bath removes with such success
the dryness of their quills, that in twenty-four hours after replacing
them damp in their nest they are in general covered with feathers. I
shall end this paragraph with showing at what time it is best to remove
young wild birds from their nest when intended to be reared. It is when
the quills of the tail feathers are come out, and the other feathers are
begun to grow, the eyes not being quite open. If removed earlier, their
stomach will be too weak to support their new food; if taken later, it
will be very difficult to make them open their beaks to receive a food
which is unknown to them. There are some species, however, that are so
easily reared, that any time will answer.