Observations.—These birds are found from the frontiers of Canada to Guiana and Brazil; none, however, are seen in Carolina less than one hundred and thirty miles from the sea. They only show themselves in summer, and build principally on orange or similar trees. English and Dutch sailors take home many of these birds, and it has been said that in England they have succeeded in making them breed in aviaries in gardens, spacious enough to contain orange trees, on which they have constructed their nests. When in a cage they are fed on millet, canary-seed, endive, and poppy-seed, on which they may be preserved from eight to ten years. Their song is soft and agreeable.
THE CHAFFINCH.
Fringilla Cœlebs, Linnæus; Le Pinson commun, Buffon; Der Buch-Fink, Bechstein.
This delightful songster of spring, famed for the sprightliness of its warbling,—this favourite of most of our bird-fanciers, is so generally known that I should be tempted to suppress its description if the uniformity of this work and the wish to render it complete, did not impel me to give it. This will also offer some particulars worthy the attention of the naturalist.
The passion for this bird is carried to such an extent in Thuringia, and those which sing well are sought for with so much activity that scarcely a single chaffinch that warbles tolerably can be found throughout the province. As soon as one arrives from a neighbouring country whose notes appear good, all the bird-catchers are after it, and do not give up the pursuit till they have taken it. This is the reason why the chaffinches in this province are so indifferent songsters: the young ones have only bad masters in the old ones, and they in their turn cannot prove better.
This bird is six inches and one-third in length, of which the tail measures two and three quarters. The beak is conical, pointed, and white in winter; but as soon as spring, the season of pairing and song, arrives, and till the time of moulting, it is of a deep blue, and one may know by this whether it has sung or not. The iris is chestnut brown; the legs, nine lines high, are dusky; the claws are very sharp, and grow so fast in a cage that it is necessary to cut them every six weeks, if you do not wish to see the poor bird some day caught by them, and perish miserably unless rescued. The forehead is black, the top of the head and nape of the neck are greyish blue, in very old males deep blue, and then thick downy hairs are perceived.
After moulting, at the beginning of winter, the colours become lighter, the front of the head is only deep brown; the top and the nape of the neck a changeable greyish and olive brown; the red brown of the breast is brighter; this is also the plumage of the young ones in the second year, particularly if of the last brood; they are called grey-heads, by bird-catchers, who can easily distinguish, in the spring, the young from the old males, and very much prefer them, because, if properly caught, they may be taught to improve their song when confined in the house; while the others never learn, or change very little, at least rarely, the song they have acquired in their wild state.