Fringilla canaria, LINNÆUS; Le Serin de Canarie, BUFFON; Der
Canarienvogel, BECHSTEIN.
This pleasing bird had its origin in the pleasant climate and delightful
valleys of the Canary Islands, and is now spread throughout Europe, part
of Asia, and as far as Siberia. The beauty of its form, its plumage, and
its song, united with its great docility, soon gained it admittance into
the most magnificent abodes, where every one delights in rearing and
preserving it, whilst the fairest hands are often eager to present it
with the most delicate food. It was brought into our climate as early as
the beginning of the sixteenth century. The arrival of the canary in
Europe, is thus described:--A vessel, which besides its merchandise was
bringing a number of these birds to Leghorn, was shipwrecked on the
coast of Italy, opposite the island of Elba, where these little birds,
having been set at liberty, took refuge. The climate being favourable,
they increased, and would certainly have become naturalised, had not the
wish to possess them occasioned their being caught in such numbers, that
at last they were extirpated from their new country. From this cause
Italy was the first European country where the canary was reared. At
first their education was difficult, as the proper manner of treating
them was unknown; and what tended to render them scarce was, that only
the male birds were brought over, no females.
The grey of its primitive colour, darker on the back and greener on the
belly, has undergone so many changes from its being domesticated, from
the climate, and from the union with birds analogous to it (in Italy
with the citril finch, the serin; in our country with the linnet, the
green finch, the siskin, and the goldfinch), that now we have canaries
of all colours. If we had not sufficient proof that canaries came
originally from the Fortunate Islands, we should think the citril finch,
the serin, and the siskin, were the wild stock of this domesticated
race. I have seen a bird, whose parent birds were a siskin and serin,
which perfectly resembled a variety of the canary which is called the
green. I have also seen mules from a female grey canary, in which was no
trace of their true parentage. The grey, the yellow, the white, the
blackish, and the chestnut, are the principal varieties, and it is from
their combination, and from their tints, that we derive the numerous
varieties that we now possess.
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[53]. 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 canary that is most admired amongst us now, is one
with the body white or yellow, the head, particularly if crested, wings
and tail, yellowish dun; the second in degree is of a golden yellow,
with the head, wings and tail black, or at least dusky grey. Next follow
the grey or blackish, with a yellow head and collar; the yellow, with a
blackish or green tuft, which are very much valued. As for those that
are irregularly spotted, speckled, or variegated, they are much less
sought after, and are used to pair with those of one colour, white,
yellow, grey, brown-grey[54], and the like.
The female can scarcely be distinguished from the male, but the male 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. There is a feather under the beak, of the shape of a bean,
placed lower than the rest, and the temples and circle round the eyes
are of a deeper yellow than the other parts of the body.
The length of the canary is five inches, of which the tail measures two
and a quarter: the beak, five lines long, is strong, very pointed, and
whitish; the shanks, eight lines in height, are of a flesh-colour.
I shall end this description with an account of the different mule
birds obtained from the canaries.
MULE CANARIES.--1. _Mules between a Canary and a Goldfinch_, present in
their plumage an agreeable mixture of the colours of their parents. The
most beautiful which I have seen was greyish ash-colour in the middle of
its crest, and silvery white on the rest of its head and nape; a broad
orange border surrounded the beak, and the neck was adorned with a white
collar; the back was a dusky grey, with black streaks; the rump white,
the under part of the body of a snowy whiteness; the under tail-coverts,
the wings and first quill-feathers white, but the others, as well as the
coverts, black, edged with yellow; the middle of the wing was also
adorned with a beautiful golden yellow spot; the white tail had a black
spot on the sides, the white beak was tipped with black, the feet were
white. The mother of this beautiful bird was white, with a greenish grey
crest. In general, one may be sure of fine birds when yellow or white
females are paired with goldfinches.
2. _Mules between the Canary and the Siskin._--If the mother be a green
canary, the mules will resemble a female siskin; but, if she is white or
yellow, their colours are lighter, yet without differing greatly from
those of the siskin, which they always resemble in shape.
3. _Mules between a Canary and a Green-bird, or a Citril Finch._--If the
hen canary is neither white nor yellow, the mules differ little from the
common grey or green canary, except in being more slender, and having
the beak shorter and thicker.
4. _Mules between a Canary and a Linnet_ will be speckled if the mother
is white or yellow, but if she is grey they will be like her, except
that the tail will be longer.
The other mules are rarer, because more difficult to obtain, as we shall
see elsewhere.
HABITATION.--Except in the breeding season the male canaries are kept
alone in separate cages, which, whatever the shape, ought not to be
less than eight inches in diameter and a foot in height, with two
sticks placed across for the bird to perch on. The females may be
allowed to range the room with one wing clipped, or, what is better,
kept in large cages, where, from having plenty of exercise, their
health and strength are better preserved. In the small cages, glass
vases should be placed on the outside, at the extremities of the
lower stick, to hold the food and water. These may be surmounted
with a cap of tin, or something of the kind, to prevent the seed from
being so easily scattered. It is for this reason that the large seed
drawers in an aviary are covered with iron wire-work, leaving only
sufficient spaces for the heads of the birds to pass through.
Cleanliness being a great preservative against most of their
disorders, the bottom of the cage should be made to draw out, that it
may the easier be cleaned and covered with sand. This should be done
every day, or at least several times a week. These tender birds,
being natives of a warm climate, and becoming more delicate instead
of hardier from being kept in the house, require a temperature
analogous to that of their native climate. They must be protected
from the cold, and never allowed to remain in winter in a cold room,
which would occasion many diseases, or even death. But, in summer, it
is proper to place them in the open air, and they enjoy it very much.
Never do they sing so gaily as on fine days, and their cages should
therefore be placed at the open window, that they may have the
advantage of the light and heat of the sun, which is particularly
serviceable to them whilst bathing.
FOOD.--This is an important point, for, in proportion as it is simple
and natural, it will be wholesome; and, on the contrary, the more it
is mixed and rare, the more injurious and productive of disease will
it be. What I have found the best is summer rape-seed; I mean that
which is sown at the end of spring, which is small and brown, in
distinction from the winter rape-seed, which is sown in the autumn,
and which is large and black. This seed alone 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. Indeed a
mixture of summer rape-seed, oatmeal and millet, or canary-seed, may
be given them as a great treat. But whatever 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. As to that whimsical and complicated mixture,
prescribed and used by many people, of rape, millet, hemp, canary
seed, whole oats and oatmeal, poppy, lettuce, plantain, potentilla,
and pink seeds, maize, sugar, cake, hard biscuit, cracknels, buns,
and the like, so far from being wholesome, it injures the birds in
every respect. It spoils their taste, weakens their stomachs, renders
them feeble, sickly, and incapable of bearing moulting, under which
they most frequently die. It is true, they may be accustomed to eat
of everything which comes to table, but to teach this habit is also
to prepare a poison for them, which though slow is not the less sure,
and brings them to a premature death; whilst every day we see
bird-fanciers who are poor, who hardly know the names of these
delicacies, rear, on the simplest food, a considerable number of the
healthiest, cleverest, and strongest canaries. We must, however, be
guided in a great measure by the constitutions of the birds. They
should be daily supplied with fresh water, as well for drinking as
bathing, in which they delight. In the moulting season, a nail or bit
of iron should be put into the water, in order to strengthen the
stomach. Saffron and liquorice are in this case more hurtful than
useful. Grains of the sand, with which the bottom of the cage is
strewed, afford the birds a help to digestion. What has been said
above, refers solely to the food of full-grown canaries; the young,
which cannot feed themselves, require a different diet.
BREEDING.--A very important branch in the history of the canary is its
education, which is not without difficulties, but these are augmented
by all the refinements and artificial plans which some persons follow
with so much parade. A male of from two to five years of age should
be chosen for pairing; for experience has taught, that if a young
male is placed among older females, they will produce more males than
females. A bird is known to be old by the blackish and rough scales
of his feet, and by his long and strong claws.
Good males are valuable and scarce. Some are dull and melancholy,
always sad, and seldom singing; indifferent to their mates, which are
equally so to them; others are so passionate, that they beat or even
kill their mates and their young; others are too ardent, and pursue
their mates while they are sitting, tear the nest, destroy the eggs,
or excite the females so much that they voluntarily abandon them.
The females have also their defects. Some, too ardent, only lay
without sitting; others neglect to feed their young, beat them, and
pick out their feathers, so that the wretched little creatures die
miserably; to others, laying is so painful that they are too much
fatigued to sit, or they lay each egg only after a long interval.
Quacks (for we find them on this subject as on others) pretend to
have specifics for the cure of these defects; but their pretended
remedies are mere deceptions, and the use of them causes much
trouble. The best plan is to remove the vicious birds, and to retain
only those which have none of the above-named bad qualities.
To obtain the most brilliant colours, those birds which have them
clear, and whose spots are distinct and regular, are paired together.
This, of course, can only be done in separate cages. In aviaries,
where the birds pair by choice, the offspring are generally mixed and
blotted. A greenish or brownish bird, placed with a bright yellow
one, often produces dim white, or other admired colours. It is better
never to place together two crested birds, because the offspring is
apt to have a part of the head bald or otherwise disfigured.
The best time for pairing canaries is the middle of April. Either one
male, and one or two females, are placed in a large cage, or many of
both sexes are united in a room or aviary, having the advantage of a
south aspect. Nests made of turned wood, or osiers, are given them,
as straw ones are too easily torn. It is a good plan to place in the
room or aviary slips of pine, which being cut in February do not lose
their leaves. If a little enclosure of wire-gauze can be fixed over
the window, where the birds can enjoy the fresh air, nothing will
more effectually contribute to render the young healthy and robust.
Birds, which are to be paired for the first time, should be
previously placed in the same cage for seven or eight days, in order
to become acquainted and accustomed to live together. If two females
are to be caged with one male, it is especially necessary that they
should be together long enough to leave off quarrelling, and the
pairing cage should be divided into two equal parts, communicating by
a sliding door. This being done, a lively male and one of the females
should be placed in the first division; as soon as she has laid, the
male should be moved into the other division, the door of separation
being shut; but as soon as the other has also laid, the door may be
left open: the male will then visit the females alternately, and they
will not trouble themselves about each other; but without these
precautions jealousy would incline them to fight, and destroy each
other's eggs. When it is intended to place a great many females,
double or treble the number of males, in a room or aviary, the latter
should always be first paired with a single female, which will ever
after remain the favourite; and it will only be when she is about to
sit that he will pair with the others, and this is all the notice he
will take of them, for afterwards he will only notice their young. It
is from these mothers, however, that the most and the best birds are
generally procured.
If the floor of the room or aviary is well covered with moss, little
else need be added for making the nests, otherwise they should be
supplied with the hair of cows and deer, hogs' bristles, fine hay,
lint, wool cut two or three inches long, paper shavings, and the
like. That which is coarsest serves for the outside, and the softest
and finest for the inside. If they have shrubs, traces of the natural
instinct of the canary are soon observed in the nests which they
construct without the help of the turner or basket weaver; but they
are of an inelegant form, and the outside is not very carefully
finished. The females alone, as is usual among birds, are the
builders, the males only choosing the situation and bringing the
materials. It is in the nest, where the female is in continual
motion, that the pairing takes place; she invites the male by
constant little chirpings, repeated more quickly the nearer she is to
laying. Seven or eight days are generally reckoned from the first
pairing to the laying of the first egg; the other eggs, whose number
varies, without exceeding six, are laid successively every following
day, and often at the same hour. The laying ended, pairing continues
during the first days of incubation.
If the pairs agree, they must be left entirely to themselves, without
endeavouring to use art to help nature, as many do. It is usual to
take away the first egg and substitute an ivory one, which is
repeated with the others to the last, preserving them in the mean
time in a box filled with fine dry sand; they are afterwards restored
all together to the nest to be hatched[55].
The females lay three or four times a year, from April till
September; there are some even so prolific that moulting does not
stop them. The eggs, of a sea-green colour, are at one end more or
less spotted or marked with maroon or violet. The period of
incubation is thirteen days.
If, owing to the weakness of the male or female, it is suspected that
some of the eggs are barren, they should on the eighth day be
examined by holding them lightly between the fingers in the sunshine
or before a candle; the good ones will be already filled with
blood-vessels, while the bad will continue clear, or even be already
addled: these must be thrown away. It is rare for the male to sit in
his turn during some hours of the day, the female seldom allowing it,
for as soon as she has eaten she flies back to the nest. If the male
gives up his place readily, so much the better; if not, she drives
him away by force and by pecking him. She appears to know his want of
skill in this employment.
The near discharge of a gun, a door slammed with violence, and other
similar noises, will often kill the young in the shell; but their
death happens generally through the fault of a bad sitter.
As soon as the young are hatched, a small jar is placed beside the
usual feeding trough, which contains a quarter of a hard egg minced
very fine, white and yellow together, with a bit of white bread
steeped in water, and afterwards well pressed; another jar should
contain rape seed which has been boiled, and then washed in fresh
water, to remove all its acrimony. Some persons, instead of white
bread, use biscuit, but this is unnecessary; what, on the contrary,
is very essential, is to take care that this food does not turn sour,
for it would then infallibly destroy the young nurslings. This food I
find by experience to be the best.
Now is the time when the male assumes his important duties of
nursing-father. These he fulfils indeed almost alone, in order to
give his mate time to rest before a new sitting. When it is necessary
to bring up the young by hand, a bit of white bread, or some biscuit,
should be pounded very fine, and this powder should be mixed with
well-bruised rape-seed. This composition serves, with a little yolk
of egg and water, to make a paste, which is given to the young birds
on a quill cut like a spoon; each nursling requires for a meal four
beakfuls, well piled upon the quill, and these meals must not be
fewer than ten or twelve a day.
The young should remain warmly covered by the mother as long as they
continue unfledged[56]; that is to say, generally for twelve days: on
the thirteenth day they begin to eat alone. In four weeks they may be
placed in other cages of a sufficient size; but they must still for
some weeks be fed with the above-mentioned paste, conjointly with the
food of full-grown birds; for the sudden privation of this
nourishment often occasions death, especially when moulting.
Experience proves that generally those canaries which are hatched in
a large garden aviary, where they enjoy fresh air, and considerable
space for the exercise of their wings, are more vigorous, more
healthy, and more robust than those which are bred in rooms, and it
is easy to understand the reason.
I must not omit to mention here an important observation, which has
been often made, that if two females are given to one male, and one
of them happens to die, the other immediately takes charge of the
abandoned eggs, and assumes so completely the duties of
foster-mother, that in order rigorously to fulfil them she avoids and
even repulses the caresses of her mate.
Canaries pair not only among themselves in our aviaries and cages,
they also form connexions foreign to their species, and, provided the
analogy is not too remote, produce fruitful mules. Serins, citral
finches, siskins, goldfinches, or linnets, are the species which
succeed best[57]. To succeed, however, it is necessary that the birds
should have been brought up from the nest. The custom is to give an
old male of one of the above-named species to a female canary, the
principal reason being that an old female of one of those species,
though she would not object to the union, could never be induced to
lay in an artificial nest, like a female canary. The offspring of
these mixtures combine the colours of the father and mother, learn
well enough if they descend from a linnet or goldfinch, but sing
badly if they come from a siskin or lesser redpole.
They are easily brought up with the paste mentioned above for
canaries. It is asserted that the mules of serins, citral finches,
and goldfinches, are fruitful. It is remarked, however, that their
first eggs are very small, and the young hatched from them very weak;
but the next year the eggs become larger, and the young stronger and
more robust.
No sooner can the young canaries eat alone, which happens on the
thirteenth or fourteenth day, and sometimes even before they leave
the nest, than the males begin to warble, and some females also, but
in a less connected manner, which serves to point them out. As these
pretty birds are so docile as to neglect entirely their natural song
and imitate the harmony of our instruments, it is necessary
immediately to separate from his companions and from every other bird
the young one which is to be instructed, by putting him aside in a
cage which is at first to be covered with a piece of linen, and
afterwards with a darker cover. The air which is to be taught should
be performed five or six times a day, especially in the evening and
morning, either by whistling, or on a flageolet, or bird-organ; he
will acquire it more or less readily, in from two to six months,
according to his abilities and memory; if his separation from the
other birds is delayed beyond the fourteenth day, he will retain some
part of his father's song, which he will always intermingle with his
acquired air, and consequently never perform it perfectly. The
opinion of some, that the grayish canaries have more facility in
learning than the yellow or the white, is unfounded, their only
advantage over those of a different hue being that they are generally
more robust and vigorous. I have not either found that the true No. 3
suits them better than No. 1 or No. 2; these latter, on the contrary,
have appeared to me to please them best.
There is too much trouble and risk in allowing canaries to go in and
out of their cages for it to be worth the trouble of teaching them
this. Notwithstanding all my attention, and the care which I have
taken to follow exactly the prescribed rules, I have never succeeded;
and the cleverest bird-fanciers have assured me that it should never
be attempted but when they have young ones, and above all, there must
be no canaries in the neighbouring houses, which might entice them
away. Indeed it is no easy matter to accustom a bird to go and come.
There, as in many other cases, conclusions in regard to the species
have been drawn from individuals. It is certain that very few tame
birds easily acquire this trick, and as I show in their histories,
with respect to others, probabilities are too often stated as truths.
DISEASES.--Birds which seldom enjoy the benefit of fresh and pure air,
prisoners destitute in their confinement of the means of exercise,
must be particularly subject to the common diseases which have been
named, and also to many other peculiar ones. The following are some
of the disorders incident to canaries.
1. _Rupture_, or _Hernia_: this is very common among young birds, and
is a kind of plethora, which produces inflammation in the bowels. The
symptoms of this disease are, thinness, the skin of the belly
transparent and distended, covered with little red veins surcharged
with blood, the bowels are black and knotted, and descend to the
extremity of the body; there are no feathers on the diseased part;
the invalid does not eat, and dies in a few days. Too nutritious, or
too much food, being the cause of the disease, the only remedy is a
very severe regimen, and even then it can be cured only in its first
stages. The diseased birds must be immediately removed, and fed with
nothing but lettuce or rape-seed, in very small quantities. A bit of
iron should also be put in the water, and everything be done to
invigorate and purify them. It is very rare for young birds which are
brought up by their parents to suffer from this disease, as they
never over-feed them. In bringing up by hand this moderation should
be imitated, and they should neither be over-fed nor pampered.
2. _The yellow gall in the head and eyes_, arises from over heat; a
cooling diet is therefore the only remedy. If the tumour has grown to
the size of a grain of hemp-seed, it must be cut off, and the wound
be anointed with a little fresh butter, or bathed with urine.
3. _Sweating._--There are some females which, during the time of
incubation, or while they are on their young, are subject to profuse
perspiration; the feathers of the belly are in consequence so wet as
to destroy the brood: as soon as this indisposition is perceived the
invalid must be washed with salt water, and after a few minutes be
plunged into pure water, to wash off the salt, and be dried in the
sun as quickly as possible. This operation is to be repeated once or
twice a day till recovery; but as relapses are frequent, it is better
to separate the female, and not allow her to sit.
4. _Asthma_, or _hard breathing_, which arises from an oppressed
stomach, generally yields to plantain and rape seeds moistened with
water as the sole food.
5. _Sneezing_, produced by an obstruction in the nostrils, is removed
by passing a very small quill up them to clear them.
6. _Loss of voice._--It sometimes happens that after moulting a male
suffers the loss of its voice; it must then be fed with the same
paste as is prepared for young birds, adding some lettuce-seed, and,
according to some bird-fanciers, a bit of bacon should be hung to the
cage, for it to peck.
7. _Constipation._--The remedy for this is plenty of green food, as
lettuce leaves, water-cress, &c., not forgetting bread and milk.
8. _Epilepsy_, which is common among many kinds of birds, may be
produced in canaries by particular causes, as great delicacy and
timidity. We should therefore avoid alarming them, either by catching
them too suddenly or violently, or by tormenting them in any way.
They are to be cured as has been already directed in the
Introduction.
9. _Overgrown claws and beak._--When the claws or beak want paring,
sharp scissors must be used, and care taken to avoid drawing blood,
lest the bird should be maimed. They often injure themselves when
their claws are too long, and get hooked in the wires of the cage,
and continue thus hanging. The females, in the same way, get
entangled in their nests.
10. _Lice._--The parasite insects by which these little prisoners are
often tormented, are generally produced by slovenliness. Besides
frequent bathing, the cages must be cleaned with much care and
vigilance, and have plenty of very dry sand strewed over the bottom.
These lice, like bugs, retire during the day to cracks and crevices,
which accounts for old wooden cages being often infested. To get rid
of them, hollow sticks or stalks of rushes are used, which must be
examined and changed every day. The plan is good, but by using only
tin cages, which may, more easily than any others, be passed through
boiling water, the object is more certainly attained.
It is rare for canaries which are kept for breeding to live longer
than from seven to ten years; while others, if well used, may be
preserved for eighteen or twenty years.
ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES.--The plumage, pretty form, and docility, the
charming familiarity which disposes it to nestle without fear or
reserve beside us, as well as its melodious song, have long
introduced the canary to all classes of society. Always before our
eyes, the object of the most assiduous care, and constant attention,
it has afforded a thousand occasions for studying its character, or
rather the character and dispositions of the different individuals of
its species. It has been discovered that among them, as among
quadrupeds, and even man, some individuals are gay and others
melancholy; some quarrelsome, others mild; some intelligent, others
stupid; some with quick memories, others lazy; some greedy, others
frugal; some petulant, others gentle; some ardent, others cold.
Its singing, as strong as varied, continues uninterrupted during the
year, excepting at the time of moulting, and even this exception is
not general. There are some individuals which sing also during the
night[58].
Those which introduce into their melody some passages of the
nightingale's song are the most esteemed of all canaries; they are
called Tyrolean canaries, because they are considered natives of the
Tyrol, where they breed many of these birds. The second are the
English canaries, which imitate the song of the wood-lark. But in
Thuringia the preference is generally given to those which, instead
of a succession of noisy bursts, know how, with a silvery sonorous
voice, to descend regularly through all the tones of the octave,
introducing from time to time the sound of a trumpet. There are some
males which, especially in the pairing season, sing with so much
strength and ardour that they burst the delicate vessels of the
lungs, and die suddenly.
The female, particularly in the spring, sings also, but only a few
unconnected and unmusical sounds. Old ones which have done breeding
often sing in this way at all seasons.
Canaries are particularly remarkable for quickness and correctness of
ear, for the great ease with which they exactly repeat musical
sounds, and for their excellent memory. Not only do they imitate all
the birds in whose neighbourhood they have been placed when
young[59], mixing agreeably these songs with their own, whence have
arisen those beautiful varieties which each family transmits to its
descendants; but they also learn to repeat correctly two or three
airs of a flute or bird-organ, and even to pronounce distinctly some
short words. Females also have been known to perform airs which they
had been taught.
I shall conclude this article on canaries by pointing out the best
rules for obtaining and preserving good singers. The most essential
is to choose from among the young that which promises a fine tone,
and to seclude it from all other birds, that it may learn and
remember nothing bad. The same precaution is necessary during the
first and second moulting; for being likely to re-learn (if I may say
so) its song, it would introduce into it with equal ease foreign
parts. It must be observed whether the bird likes to sing alone, or
in company with others, for there are some which appear to have such
whims, liking to hear only themselves, and which pout for whole years
if they are not humoured on this point. Others sing faintly, and
display their powers only when they can try their strength against a
rival. It is very important to distribute regularly to singing birds
the simple allowance of fresh food which is intended for the day. By
this means they will sing every day equally, because they will eat
uniformly, and not pick the best one day and be obliged to put up
with the refuse the next.
About two spoonfuls of the dry food mentioned above, is sufficient
for the daily nourishment of a canary; what he leaves may be thrown
to the birds which are free in the room, and will serve as a variety
to those which have only the universal paste to satisfy their
appetite.