The Natural History of Cage Birds Part 17

This bird is the size of the preceding, about four inches and a half in length. The beak is bluish grey. The feet short and flesh-coloured; the upper part of the body dark reddish ash grey, each feather having two black transverse bands, only one of which is visible; the cheeks and lower mandible are surrounded by a band of dark reddish purple.

The female has not this collar, and its plumage is paler; the under part of its body is red brown, each feather edged with a deeper shade.

VARIETIES.--The one I have actually before me, and which I received from Mr. Thiem, bird-dealer at Waltershausen, is a fine male, whose plumage is as follows:--

The head is dull orange, with black stripes very near together; the upper part of the neck, the back and rump, are the same shade of orange, but each feather is intersected by a semicircular black line, and terminated by a spot of red brown; the scapular wing coverts and last pen-feathers are dark grey, with transverse angular black bands, and bordered at the tips with red brown.

2. This variety is thus described in Latham's Synopsis of Birds.

The top of the head, upper part of the neck, and lesser wing coverts, light brown, with semicircular black lines; the cheeks plain brown, but edged at the lower part with bright crimson, below which is a black line; the breast and belly light brown, occasionally marked with semicircular lines; the pen-feathers and tail are brown.

OBSERVATIONS.--Bird-fanciers give to these the name of Indian sparrows, though they come from Africa; their cry is similar to that of the common sparrow, and their song not very different. They are fed on canary seeds.

THE BROWN-CHEEKED FINCH.

Loxia canora, LINNaeUS; Der braunw.a.n.gige Kernbeisser, BECHSTEIN.

This bird is the size of the siskin, and four inches in length. The beak short, strong, and horn brown. The feet flesh-colour. The cheeks brown, adorned with a yellow border from the throat to the back of the ear. The female has no yellow border to the cheeks.

OBSERVATIONS.--This pretty species comes from Mexico; its song is soft and clear; its actions are as lively as they are amusing. It is kept in a cage, and fed on canary seed and millet.

THE MALACCA FINCH.

Loxia Malacca, LINNaeUS; Le Jacobin, BUFFON; Der Malackische Kernbeisser, BECHSTEIN.

This bird is the size of the greenfinch, and four inches and a half in length, of which the tail measures one and a half. The beak thick, five lines in length, and bluish grey; the feet the same colour. The head, neck, a stripe, which extends up the belly to the vent, and the thighs, are black; the back, wings and tail, pale chestnut.

The following is mentioned as a _variety_.

The Chinese Grosbeak (_Brisson's Ornithology_, III., _page_ 235, _No._ 7), with the head, throat, and front of the neck black, the upper part of the body red brown or chestnut, the wings and tail similar to the one above.

I have seen this bird in a room several times, and have always regarded it as a male, on account of its song, and because, after moulting, its plumage returned unaltered, not becoming either white on the breast or black at the vent.

Edwards, who has represented it in his 355th plate, has added a female, which he kept in the same cage, and which was improved by its companion.

The upper part of its body was grey brown, the sides of the head and under part of the body pinkish, or rather blush colour, the wing and tail feathers blackish, the feet flesh-colour.

The blackness of the wings and tail makes me suspect that this female belongs to another species; its attachment and familiarity prove nothing. We know, in fact, that nearly all granivorous birds hold communion together, and mutually caress each other with the bill.

OBSERVATIONS.--The Malacca Finch comes from the East Indies: it is very gentle, confiding, and lively. Its voice is strong; its cry, "_tziapp_," p.r.o.nounced in a loud clear tone. Though its song is somewhat nasal and rather noisy, it is not disagreeable.

Its food, when in confinement, is hemp and canary seed, which I have known preserve it for a long time in good health.

THE SNOW BUNTING.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Emberiza nivalis, LINNaeUS; L'Ortolan de neige, BUFFON; Der Schneeamer, BECHSTEIN.

Naturalists say that the plumage of this bird differs considerably in summer and winter; though, from a.n.a.logy with others of its species, I am authorized in suspecting that this change arises rather from age. I shall leave the question undecided; and since we can never see this bird when it has retired in summer within the arctic circle, its native home, I shall content myself with describing its winter colours, such as we may see them in a room.

It is the size of a lark, six inches and a half in length, of which the tail measures two and two-thirds. The beak is five or six lines in length, with every characteristic of the bunting species, conical in form, rather bent at the sides, and having a bony tubercle like a grain of barley at the palate; its colour in the singing season is quite black, at other times the point alone is black, the rest yellow. The back and rump are black, the feathers of the back being edged with white, whilst those of the rump and scapulars are edged with yellowish brown, darker in spring than summer.

The female is rather smaller, the head and upper part of the neck white, with a mixture of cinnamon-brown, and transverse spots of the same colour form a kind of broken band across the white breast.

The young ones which are taken in winter are known by their dark brown beak; the lower part of the back is of the same colour, but their feathers are edged with a light grey. The male has the head most speckled with yellow brown, the cheeks of the female are of the same tint, and it has spots of this on the breast.

OBSERVATIONS.--When the winter is severe, these birds are seen from December to May in many parts of Germany, where they even approach the villages. I am persuaded that, if attention were paid to them, they might be seen in every direction, during March, on their pa.s.sage to the North; whilst snow is on the ground they are found in company with larks, on the high roads and in the fields; they may then be taken with horse dung, placed in net, or covered with bird-lime, or by clearing a spot of ground of snow and strewing it with oats. I have had a pair six years in my room without a cage, and they are satisfied with the food common for other birds: if kept in a cage, they must be fed on hemp seed, oats, millet, rape, and poppy seeds.

They appear much delighted whilst bathing; during the night they seem very uneasy, hopping and running about continually. Their strong and piercing cry resembles a loud whistle; their song would be rather agreeable were it not interrupted in a peculiar manner; it is a warbling mingled with some high noisy notes, descending slowly from shrill to deep, and a little strong and broken whistling. Heat is so contrary to their nature, that they cannot be preserved unless carefully guarded from it.

THE MOUNTAIN BUNTING.

Emberiza montana, LINNaeUS; L'Ortolan de Montagne, BUFFON; Der Bergammer, BECHSTEIN.

This bird is smaller than the snow bunting, has a short, strong yellow beak, with a black point; the head is nearly flat, the frontal band light chestnut; the upper part of the neck and back grey, with black streaks, most numerous on the back, causing a resemblance to the female yellowhammer; feet black.

The breast of the female is of a deeper colour than the male's.

OBSERVATIONS.--This species, inhabiting the cold regions of Europe, is never found in great numbers. In Thuringia, and some other provinces of Germany, they are seen generally every year, in March, the time of pa.s.sage, settling in pairs along the high roads, searching for a few undigested grains in the dung of animals. Their song is shrill, tolerably pleasing, and interrupted like the yellowhammer's. They may be easily kept in the house, either caged or not, feeding them on oats, bread, hemp, and other seeds. These birds also appear uneasy during the night, especially in the pairing season, uttering their call amidst the darkness. Some are occasionally met with of a dull orange on the upper part of the body, streaked with yellow on the head, and deep orange on the back. These are young birds. This species is caught in the same manner as the snow bunting.

THE YELLOWHAMMER.

Emberiza citrinella, LINNaeUS; Le Bruant, BUFFON; Der Goldammer, BECHSTEIN.

However well known this bird may be, it is still necessary that it should be described minutely, as the young males and old females are often confounded with one another. It is six inches and a half in length, of which the forked tail measures three. The beak, five lines long, is dark brown in summer, and ash grey in winter; the feet are of a light brown. The head of the old males is of a fine yellow, generally having some streaks of dark olive scattered over the top and on the cheeks; it is only in very old birds that the head and neck are of a golden yellow, without any mixture; the upper part of the neck is olive; the back black, mingled with reddish grey; the feathers have black up the middle, and the edges reddish grey; the rump is of a deep red; the throat, with the under part of the neck and the belly, are yellow, more or less golden; the breast, especially its sides, as well as the small coverts of the tail, is streaked with yellow and red.

[Ill.u.s.tration: YELLOWHAMMER.]

The female is rather smaller than the male; the yellow of the head, neck, and throat, is scarcely seen through the spots scattered over it, which are brown on the head and cheeks, and olive-coloured on the neck; the breast is only speckled with rust red, and the wing coverts with reddish white, so that at a distance it appears rather brown than yellow.

Young male birds, in spring, scarcely differ from old females, except that a spot of yellow may even then be seen on the top of the head, as well as a streak of the same colour above the eyes and on the throat; in fact, the breast and rump are rather of a deep reddish brown than rust red, and also without spots.

HABITATION.--In its wild state the yellowhammer is found in all parts of Europe, and the north of Asia. It remains in summer about the skirts of forests and small woods. It overruns the fields in autumn, and in the winter approaches our buildings, particularly barns and stables.

When confined it is generally allowed to run about the room, but where it is rare, and therefore most valued, it is kept in a cage.

FOOD.--When wild these birds live on insects, particularly caterpillars, on which, like all the other species of this genus, they feed their young. In autumn and winter, they have recourse to all kinds of grain; but they prefer oats, which, with barley, wheat, and millet, they know how to get at very cleverly, notwithstanding the bony tubercle at their palate. They also feed upon rape, and other small seeds, when they can get them.

In the house, to preserve them in health, their food should be properly varied, giving them in turn oats, the crumb of white bread, meat, bruised hemp seed, poppy and rape seed. When running about, the second universal paste agrees very well with them. It is no doubt to a.s.sist their digestion, that they often swallow fresh black earth, as I have always seen those do that I have kept; this must not be forgotten to be given them, nor water for them to bathe in, which they enjoy very much.

BREEDING.--This species breeds twice in the year, the first time in the end of March, or the beginning of April. The nest, which is placed in a hedge, bush, tuft of gra.s.s, or even in moss on the ground, is formed on the outside of straws, interwoven and lined within with the hair of horses and other animals. It contains from three to five eggs, of a dirty white, with zig-zag lines and spots of brown. When reared from the nest the young ones may be taught to imitate the song of the chaffinch, and a few notes of other birds.

DISEASES.--The disease most common to this bird is decline. The time of moulting is very dangerous to them, as they suffer much, and sometimes die; to render this period less dangerous, they should have fresh ants' eggs as soon as it commences, a remedy most useful to this species, to chaffinches, and to sparrows.

MODE OF TAKING.--The yellowhammer is easily taken in winter, near our dwellings, either in a net, with a stalk of oats as a bait, or under a basket or sieve, which may be thrown down, by drawing away the small stick that supports it, by means of a string. They will also enter the area or barn-floor trap, if a perching bird is fastened there, by a string attached to the leather band round its body; in spring they may be caught like other birds, by means of a bird-call.