A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON BRITISH SONG BIRDS, Nash 1824

4 THE CANARY.comforts of society; it sings at all seasons, young, and delights the recluse; it charms There are two kinds of canaries, one ofwhich is the common, or gay-bird, as it is ca

PRACTICAL TREATISE

ON

IN WHICH IS GIVEN

EVERY INFORMATION RELATIVE TO THEIR

NaturalJgi^torp,Sntufjatiott, $!^t.

TOGETHER WITH

THE METHOD OF REARING AND MANAGING BOTH

OLDAND YOUNG BIRDS

MEAJLX CO(CK

JOITQUK MErr

In compiling the following pages, which

the want which bird-fanciers, and those

who delight in singing birds, have long

felt, of a cheap, yet comprehensive

British Song Birds

As few bird-fanciers require a work of

this kind for the purpose of gaining a

knowledge of mere

singing- birds, I have touciied but lightly

fur-ther use than to swell out the work, and

cause a consequent augmentation ofprice,

the diminution of which has been my most

this treatise.

Neither have I made any attempt at a

description, together with the directions for

just as I wrote them, beginning with the

possible, concealingnothingthatcould bein

keepand breed these birds, either for profit

or amusement. I have also had drawings

made and engraved from four of the most

perfect birds I could possibly procure, in der toshow the mannerof matching them

or-ADDRESS. V

SOthat thebeginner willnot be at a loss in

most difficult thingsinbreeding canaries for

show birds Nothing, indeed, that I

others I likewise beg to inform those

ladies and gentlemen, who are in the habit

ofbreedingcanaries, that I have always a

selection of Fancy Birds, bred by the cipal bird-fanciers

prin-In treating on the other song birds, I

number that are but little known ; but

which having been mentioned by otherwriters, I thought it would be wrong to

VI ADDRESS.

gale, robin, sky lark, &c at considerable

length

inaccu-racies of style that may occur I do not

as showing either elegance of thought, or

ofmanyyears'experience,which, fromtime

The Brown Starling, or SolitaryThrush . 57

LIST OF PLATES

Jo:^QIlTK € O CK,

Mealx Meit

A TREATISE

ON

BRITISH SINGING BIRDS.

In beginning this treatise on British Song

more known and more common than any

be-cause its notes are the sweetest and mostmelodious of all others, the nightingale

excepted; and thirdly, becausethebreeding

of plumage, which I shall describe

Britain,I am sure that the readerwill excusemy

calling it a British song bird, seeing that it hasbeen naturalized in thiscountry during a period

ofthreehundredyears.

a THE CANARY.

themselves into different societies for the

purpose of improving the breed, and

CanaryIslands,from whichittakesitsname, and from whence alsoit was imported, it is

said, about the fourteenth century Of its

this, however,is certain, thatit is neither sobeautiful in its plumage, nor so melodious

In speaking ofthis bird, Buffonobserves,

thewoods, thecanaryis themusician ofthe

chamber The firstowes all to nature; the

second derives something from our arts

voice, and less variety of note, the canary

bird has a better ear, greaterfacilityof

difference of genius, especially among the

lower animals, depends in a great measure

on the difference that exists among them,with regard to the perfection oftheir senses,

canary whose organ of hearing

THE CANARY. 3

more attentive and more susceptible ofreceiving, andretaining, foreignimpressions,

becomesaccordingly moresocial, tame, and

familiar It is capable of gratitude, andeven of attachment; its caresses are en-

its anger neither hurts nor offends; itseducation is easy, Mve rear it vi^ithpleasure,

because we are able to instruct it; it leavesthe melody of its natural note to listen totheharmonyof ourvoices and instruments

nightingale, more proud ofits talent, seems

willing topreserveitin all itspurity, at least

itappears very littleto value ours, and it is

can speak and whistle The nightingale

nature, which human art can neither alter

nor improve That of the canary is amodel of more pliant materials, which we

can mould

4 THE CANARY.

comforts of society; it sings at all seasons,

young, and delights the recluse; it charms

There are two kinds of canaries, one ofwhich is the common, or gay-bird, as it is

called; and the other the fancy bird ; ofwhich there are two varieties, called jon-

quils or junks; and meally birds: but of

head of fancy birds, whilst in the mean

THE COMMON CANARY First, in orderto choose a good bird,par-ticular attention ought to be paid when

purchasing either cock or hen, that it is

same more power to

THE CANARY 5

raise theirvoice gradually, till such time asthey come to their full tone, which thesebirds always do with great ease; whereas I

have particularlynoticed, thata short, thick

bodied bird, seldom goes through his song

fre-quently stops when he has got half way,

to throw out his song at great length,

andwith ease to himself With regard to

and the fancy birds; and as to matchingthem, I would advise every breeder to

breedingclearbirds,which aretobeobtained

by matching a fine clear jonquil cock with

a clear white or meally hen, taking care

their feathers: the greatest care must also

been clear,ascanaries are very apt to throwback

THE CANARY.

clear pair, to have black feathers in them,owing to the old birds having been bred

handsome birds, I shouldrecommend afine

junk cock that is clear in feather, andfree

hen, by which methodI have seenproduced

pos-sibly be imagined, being remarkably rich

in colour The birds bred in this way are

clear in colour, and I have always foundthem to be the finest songsters

A pied junk cock with a pied meally

hen, will produce young ones which will

be very beautifully marked: care, however,must be taken that they have nottoo much

green in them, as otherwise the young will

be too dark in colour, and very often quite

beauty entirely, although such birds

gene-rally prove very stout powerful songsters:

still, however, we ought to look towards

endea-produce not only a good song bird

THE CANARY 7

but also one with beautiful plumage; but

best, and I would wish every one to enjoytheir own ideas, as it is merely a matter of

choice

I shall now proceed to thefancy birds

of which, as I have before observed, thereare two varieties, calledjonquils or junks,

and meally birds; the former ofwhich are,

suchas have the crown and under part ofadeep orange colour; whilst the latter have

and as I am upon this subject, I think

I cannot do better than begin my account

pro-perties which a **show hird^' or such as isintendedtobe shownfor the prize, ought topossess

FANCY BIRDS.

The first property of a fancy bird

8 THE CANARY,

the Utmost regularity, without any black

capped bird, in consequence of which it

loses the first property as a showbird

The second property consists in thecolour, which ought to be of a fine deep

should pervade every part ofthe body, the

wings and tail excepted

The third property consists in the thers of the wing and tail being of a deepblack all the way up to the quill; as a

fea-single white featherin either wing, or tail,

prize, have allthe feathers ofthewings and

tail black; the numberin each wing beingeighteen, and in the tail twelve I have

whichreduces theirvalue; although theyare,

matched to breed with; and I have seen asfine a produce, from foul birds as fronv

THE CANARY 9

foul birds have been bred from clean birds

produce foul birds again On this account,

in-tended to breedfrom: first, be thoroughlyacquainted with the strain from which the

bird, intended to be paired, came;

whe-ther it was produced from a strong pair

for in this case the young ones from such a

feathers onthe back and breast, and ifthey

be strong,they will show a deal of black inthe down,in which case caremust be taken

thatitbe not matched withanother equallystrong, butwith one that is of a beautiful

Care must also be taken that the two

10 - THE CANARY.

whether strong or soft, for if two red kind

extremely likely to throw their young ones

strong, and very often inclining to a greencast of colour, which must be as much as

particular study to notice the plan adopted

meally hen, with as little black in her aspossible, excepther wings and tail.

choose afinejonquil hen

By referring to theplates, the reader wilj

first plate, and a strong meally cock with a

THE CANARY. 11

not tomatch brother andsister together, as

it will bethe means oflosing their beautiful

however distant, ought to be carefullyavoided

BREEDING, MANAGEMENT, &c.When you put your birds in the breeding

hair, of which they will make their nests

it will also be as well ifyou put alittle hay

sooner

careful not to disturb it, forit often makes

so, that I haveknown hertolay her eggs atthe bottom of the cage, by which means

chance that a hen so disturbed will take to

the method adopted by the principal

breed-when

12 THE CANARV.

not be disturbed

which is often the case before she lays, as

indeed I have sometimes known her to sit

her first egg, I would recommend herto bewatched ofl'hernest, when the box must be

taken down very carefully, and the egg (if

tea-spoon, placed in some bran, and covered

ivory, ought to be put into the nest for the

hen to lay to, for she will bevery uneasy if

remarked them to pull the nest in pieces,

I have always found it the bestplan to

the bad ones must be taken out, and the

good ones putin again Notice the day

THE CANARY. IS

youngoneswill be hatched in fourteen days

Care must be taken to put some bread,

mixed with alittle maw seed into the cage,

enticethe hento feedheryoung:—I

recom-mend groundsel which is most gone toseed for the first meat, as the chickweed isnot ripe enough at the beginning of the

give them, it is apt toswell them I have

known manyfinenestsof birdslost,through

feed their young with

Thebestplan is, to makeitarule to feed

then again in the afternoon, giving thehentime enough to feed her young ones before

must be watched off her nest: the young

hen

14 THE CANARY.

is feeding, and beforeshe goesuptoherbox

again, for if she be put off her nest, it is a

o

of the young ones out with her, which

are often killed by the fall. When the

young ones are nearly old enough to leavethe nest, you must be very careful not to

always found it the best plan to take thenest of young down when they are about a

fortnight old; and toplace the box,with thenest and youngones, in the bottom of the

from whence you took the other; by doingwhich the hen will take to it.

carefully examined when it is taken out,

any insects in it, as they are extremely

when you find the nest infested with them,

THE CANARY. J,i

young ones, whichever they may happen

to be, into it, when it must be put up

in the same place, and in the same tion as the box you have removed them from: by adopting this plan, you will findthe young birds keep very healthy, and thehen'be extremelyattentive to hernest

direc-When the young ones leave the box,

I would recommend that they should be

about in the latter case, and having themalways togetherinoneplace,asifthey were

in anest

When the young birds are abte to feed

feed-ing, and put them into a box cage, with a

glass slide, in order to prevent them from

away

l6 THE CANARY.

fromthe beauty of the bird when either thefeathers of the wing or tail get broken: be

careful also to givethem some water inside

find their way tothat which hangs outside.When they are first put into the box

bread and egg, mixedwith a little mawseed,

put into their pan, giving them but little

ata time; as soon,however, asthey are able

to crack their seeds sufficiently well to

a-day with the bread and egg; by way ofchange,givethemoccasionally alittlebruised

extremely good for them, and will keep

as the young answering will cause them

to fret,and be uneasyto get to them again,

of her nest To a breeder who is quainted withthe nature ofthem, theyoung

unac-THE CANARY. 17

being, till they moult, of a very dark cast,

moulted for the first time, they will throw

off their black feathers, and become of a

beautiful orange colour, leaving the wingsand tail ofa finejet blacL Whenthe fancy

black in their wings and tails, still retainingthe beautiful orange colour in the other

wings and tail as before described

With regard to their song, that of the

fancybirds is much softerandsweeter than

nightin-gale and tit lark, which they will readily

possessing

IS THE CANARY.

time

jonque and jonque birds, (by which is

meant a jonque cock and jonque hen) in

this method, he will always have strongbirds for matching the next season, and

orange tint, which cannot otherwise be

if they happen to have ajonque cock, bredfrom a jonque cock and jonque hen, tamatch him with ajonquehen, whichis also

bred from ajonque cock and jonque hen;

this method, however, I cannotrecommend,

as the produce seldom makes a good show

bird, on account of its being too high bred,

by which it has not body feathers enough

to produce that thickness of colour, which

birds

In fancy birds, the cock is easily

distin-depth

THE CANARY. 19

ofcolour, not onlyon his cap, but

orange than the female, and thisholds good

birds, and may be considered as a safecriterion to go by; many breeders indeed

have left the nest, by the superior colour

which the young male bird shows to thefemale

DISEASES.

In treating ofthis part of the management

of canary birds, I shall first consider the

in the breeding cage

When the hen has built her nest, she

egg, and ought to have alittle bread and

always found that this has afforded great

relief. The grits may be given every day

though and

20 THE CANARYv

milk ought to be sparingly administered, it

being apt to make them too weak and

finds great difficulty in laying her egg, acomplaint which is sometimes very fatal;

them to lay their egg with ease; a warm

in this state. As soon as you observe that

in some warm water for afew minutes; in

doing this, however, the greatest care must

be taken thatyou do not breaktheegg, for in

the bird When you havegiven the hen the

warm bath, put her carefully back againinto the breeding cage, when shewill go onher nest, and lay her egg with the greatestease, as I havefrequently seen,

Canarybirds are also subject to the pip,

comes on

THE CANARY. 21

rump, and which sometimes goes away of

prove tedious, it may be opened with the

out, and a little loaf sugar, moistened in

your mouth, laid on the sore, by which it

will soon be healed

Thereis another disease to which young

birds as well as old ones are subject, and which consists in aswelling of the body

the bird, and takingitout ofthe cage,blow

the feathers on one side; when, ifthe bodyappears to project beyond the breast-bone,

withthis disorder, forwhich, alittle scalded

bread and rape seed, prepared as follows, I

have found tobe anexcellentremedy Take

boilingwaterover it, and when it has stood

a few minutes, squeeze it quite dry Next

pour some boiling water over a littlerape

seed, and let it stand covered over for five

and the rape seed rubbed dry in a cloth :

2^ THE CANARY.

bread which you have previously scalded,

the bird's taking cold, eitherthrough beinghung in a draughtofair,or more frequently

from their being allowed too much water to

wash in, a circumstance which ought cularly tobe guardedagainst,moreespecially

parti-when the birds are moulting, as .at such

take cold, owing partly to the disordered

state of their bodies, and partly owing totheirbeingthinoffeathers; themoreindeed

that the birds be kept from the cold air

in their moult, through taking cold

covered over with baize, or flannel, so as to

bird will throw offits old plumage, and get

whenit is allowed tomoultinan opencagesooner

THE CANARY 23

which ought to be an inducement for the

recommended above

are not provided with a stop cage,which is

men-tioned, as he is more cheerful when notdeprived of light, which must unavoidably

be the case when the cageis covered over

a stop cage indeed is the bestfor any smallbird to moult in, but more particularly for

fancy canaries, as they are so much more

stop cagewhen not in the breeding cage, as

itkeeps them so muchcleaner, andprevents

them from breaking their feathers

into the breeding cages, the glass slide

ought to be drawn, in order to give them

air, beginningby drawing it a little at first,

completely exposed to the air. By this

method they will be rendered more hardy

24 THE CANARr.

would if they were put into the breeding

in regard to this circumstance, for I have

immediatelyfromaclose box cage, and put

into a breeding cage, where they have hadwater given them to wash themselves), toturn very sick; and indeed many to have

above mentioned

ON THE BREEDING OF

GOLD-FINCH MULES.

In order to possess handsome mule birds,

young cock goldfinch, and match him with

a clear junk hen canary, one that is fectly freefrom black: when matched, they

per-ought to be kept togetherin the same cagethrough the winter, till April, when the

hemp and a

THE CANARY 25

ofthe heads of groundsel, everymorning,

seed only, as when she is fed up, it often

happens that shelays her eggs at the

About the beginning of May, put them

in the breeding cage, and feed them onbread and egg, with a little hemp seed

with ; when you find that the canary has

finished building, you must be very careful

to watch her off the nest, in order to take

veryapt to do, the moment he gets sightof

has laid her complement of eggs, I should

recommend that they be set under another

be taken away, and she will soon begin to

gj6 THE CANARY.

than if she were suffered to begin laying

immediately after her own eggswere takenaway.

By adopting this plan, thebreeder will

have many more mules than if he

al-lowed the hen to bring up the young ones

herself; if, however, it should happen that

he have no canaries under which the eggs

shebe a kind feeder, will bring up herown

young ones extremely well The breedershould rememberthat the goldfinchmustnot

be put back to the canary again, till such

betaken away,thatis,when they are able to

a month old

When the young ones are taken away,they must be put intoa small cage, and fed

with bread and egg,and bruised hempseed

mixed together, and set inside the cage, so

THE CANARY-^ 27

the young mules ought to have a head of

groundsel given them every day

The mule bird is avery beautiful

and Summer, and nearly the year round

aviary, where, by their excessive activity,

cheerful

distin-guished from the hens, by his cap being of

a deeper orange, as are also the pinions of

the wings, which will also have the goldmark, the same asthe goldfinch

ON THE BREEDING OF LINNET

MULES.

inbreedinggoldfinchmules,choosing a year old linnet, which is more likely to

two-breed than ayoung

tit lark, as no bird can imitate the beautiful

linnet, or linnet mule; the Hnnet mule is

the wood lark than the linnet has power to

one could have told the difference

The young mules should be taken from

taking care that they are out of hearing of

the old ones, or they would otherwise be

certain to gather someof the linnet's notes,

which they would mingle with the song of

the woodlark, and therebytake away from

their value, as it is agreat chancethatthey

would ever leave it off: still it will be

must be

THE CANARY £9

fed on bread and egg, mixed with bruised

rape seed, which must also be given to the

youngoneswhen they aretakenfromthe oldbirds,tillthey are about two monthsold,by

which timethey get strongenough to crack

their seed

The cock linnet mule, may be

distin-guished from the hen, by the superior

by the breadth and clearness of the wings,

which, in the cock bird, runs up to the

shoulder; his greater length will also serve

wing is the safest criterion to go by; the

the female

THE GOLDFINCH,

remarkable for the beauty of its plumage and the docility of its disposition ; the

forehead and chin are of a most beautifulscarlet; the cheeks are white; the back of

forward like a collar towards the throat;

bill to the eyes; immediately behind the

black on the back of the head, is a patch

of white that separates it from the back,

which, with the rump, are of a cinnamon

the tail is black, tipped with white, as are