Ampelis garrulus, LINNÆUS; Le Jaseur de Bohème, BUFFON; Der
gemeine Seidenschwanz, BECHSTEIN.
The length of this bird is eight inches, one and a quarter of which
belong to the tail. The beak is three quarters of an inch long, black,
short, straight, arched above, and large at the base, forming a large
opening when the mandibles are separated; the iris is brown; the shanks
nearly an inch high, and black. The whole body is covered with soft
silky feathers; those at the top of the head are long, and rise in a
crest; the head and the rest of the upper part of the body are of a
reddish ash-colour, changing to gray at the rump; the middle coverts are
dark ash gray, with the ends white also, besides which, the shaft of
many has a horny tip, shining and red, like a little oval bit of
sealing-wax. The female has at most but five of these waxen tips to each
wing, while the male has from five to nine; the tail is black,
terminated with primrose yellow; very old males have also upon it narrow
red wax tips.
In the female, the black spot on the throat is smaller; the yellow at
the end of the tail is also narrower and paler; the tips of the wings
are of a yellowish white; lastly, the horny appendages are small, and
often they do not appear at all.
HABITATION.--When wild it does not build in Germany, but within the
Arctic circle; it is found in Thuringia only in the winter, and if
the season is mild in very small numbers, the greater portion
remaining in the north; but in severe cold it advances farther south.
In moderate seasons it is found in great flights in the skirts of the
forests throughout the greater part of Germany and Bohemia.
In confinement, it is generally kept in a grated corner, where it may
run about freely with the other birds which are also placed there,
taking care to keep it at a distance from the stove, the heat of
which is so distressing that it opens its beak and breathes with
difficulty; this proves that a warm climate is not congenial to the
bird. If kept in a cage, it requires one as large as the thrush; and,
as it is a very dirty bird, the bottom must be regularly covered with
a sufficient quantity of sand.
FOOD.--When wild we see it in the spring eating, like thrushes, all
sorts of flies and other insects; in autumn and winter different
kinds of berries; and, in times of need, the buds and sprouts of the
beech, maple, and various fruit trees.
In confinement the two universal pastes appear delicacies to it; and
it is even satisfied with bran steeped in water. It swallows every
thing voraciously, and refuses nothing eatable, such as potatoes,
cabbage, salad, fruits of all sorts, and especially white bread. It
likes to bathe, or rather to sprinkle itself with water, for it does
not wet itself so much as other birds.
MODE OF TAKING.--It is taken in nooses, to which berries are fixed,
which, for this purpose, should always be kept in store till
February; attracted by the bait it falls into the snare. It appears
to be frightened at nothing, for it flies into nets and traps, though
it sees its companions caught and hanging, and uttering cries of
distress and fear.
ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES.--Nothing but its beauty and scarcity can render
the possession of it desirable; for it is a stupid, lazy bird. During
the ten or twelve years that it can exist in confinement, and on very
meagre food, it does nothing but eat and repose for digestion. If
hunger induces it to move, its step is awkward, and its jumps so
clumsy as to be disagreeable to the eye. Its song consists only of
weak and uncertain whistling, a little resembling the thrush, but not
so loud. While singing, it moves the crest up and down, but hardly
moves the throat. If this warbling is somewhat unmusical, it has the
merit of continuing throughout every season of the year. When the
Bohemian chatterer is angry, which happens sometimes near the common
feeding-trough, it knocks very violently with its beak. It is easily
tamed, but is agreeable only by its beautiful colours, for it is very
dirty. It is the greatest eater among birds that I know, being able
to devour in a day a quantity of food equal to its own weight. It
consequently passes hardly half digested, and, what is very
disgusting, it is seen, like the ostrich, to eat again this
excrement, if it is destitute of fresh food. I have observed it in
this way swallow three times juniper berries which I had given it. In
consequence of this voraciousness it must be cleaned very often to be
kept sweet.