In confinement this bird does very well on the universal paste, with which a little bruised hemp seed is mixed, and occasionally meal worms, ants’ eggs, or insects. In summer and autumn he is supplied with elder-berries, and they are also dried, in order that he may have some in winter, soaked in water, which is found very good for his health. He is a great eater, and when at liberty in the bird room partakes of everything, meat, bread, and even vegetables. As he is generally caught in the autumn he is soon accustomed to artificial food, by having elderberries and meal worms mixed with it for several successive days. He is fond of bathing, and must be always well supplied with fresh water.
Breeding.—This species generally lays but once a year, occasionally twice, and even thrice. His nest, placed near the ground, generally in a hedge or bush of white-thorn, is hemispherical, solid, and well built; the outside of stalks, deserted cocoons, and stubble, the inside of fine soft hay, mixed with hair. It contains from four to six eggs, of a yellowish white mottled with yellow and spotted with brown. The young are fed with small caterpillars, insects, and currants; those which are brought up by hand are fed with white bread and milk. The charming tone of their voice gives to their own song, as well as to that of the nightingale and canary, which they easily learn to imitate, a sweetness and grace which are enchanting. Before moulting there is so little difference between the young males and females that it requires great skill to distinguish them, for the cap of the former is only a slight shade darker of olive brown, and the back a greyish brown, rather more tinted with olive; but on the first moulting the head of the male begins to blacken first behind the beak, while that of the female retains its original colour, except that it becomes more bright and distinct. When it is wished to ascertain the sex of these young birds, the best plan is to pull out a few brown feathers from the head; if it is a male, black ones will come up in their place, and thus there will be no danger of taking females by mistake; these, however, would soon be known, because the males begin to warble as soon as they are able to fly and feed themselves.
Diseases.—The blackcap is subject to the same diseases as the nightingale, but is more frequently attacked by decline. As soon as the symptoms appear he must be fed with a great many meal worms and ants’ eggs, and his drinking water must be impregnated with iron, by putting a nail into it. Those which are left to run about the room are apt to lose their feathers. Under such circumstances they must be caged, and exposed to the warmth of the sun or the fire; they must be well fed, especially with the food given to nightingales; these methods generally restore them, and their feathers are gradually renewed. A tepid bath, repeated for two or three days, is very likely to help their development. In epileptic or paralytic attacks I make them swallow, with great success, two or three drops of olive oil; I lately had the pleasure of seeing the success of this remedy on a bird of this species suffering from an apoplectic fit, and which dragged his little paralysed foot about the room where he lived uncaged; he is now quite recovered, very gay, and active; his song was never before so delightful to me. These birds generally live in captivity as long as nightingales.
Modes of Taking.—Every taste but that of the palate must be destroyed if this charming bird is caught for the table. Besides, it is by no means numerous; but if it is desired as an ornament to the house, snares baited with currants must be laid for it in July and August, the greatest care being taken to save the feet, which are very likely to be broken. Patience is very necessary in order to succeed, for it is a very suspicious bird, approaching slowly, and falling into the snare only when pressed by hunger. The same suspicious disposition causes it to repair with repugnance to the water trap, though in other situations it delights in water, and often bathes. If it perceives anything unusual it will remain for hours without approaching, and will pass twenty times by currants which are hung up as a bait without touching them, though very greedy of this food; but if it sees another bird bathe, or drink, it takes courage, and soon falls into the trap. The young, before moulting, still foolish and inexperienced, are more careless, and may be taken in great numbers in autumn; and in the spring they are as easy to catch as the nightingale, by means of a net or limed twigs, in a place cleared from moss and turf, and baited with meal worms and ants’ eggs.
Attractive Qualities.—It is perhaps a sufficient eulogium to say that this bird rivals the nightingale, and many persons even give it the preference. If it has less volume, strength, and expression, it is more pure, easy, and flute-like in its tones, and its song is perhaps more varied, smooth, and delicate. It sings also for a much longer period, both when wild and in confinement, its song being hardly suspended throughout the year by day, and prolonged, like that of the nightingale, far into the night, though begun at dawn. The female sings also, but in a more limited degree, very much like the red-breast, which has caused it to be mistaken for a particular species with a redcap. The call is a sort of smart “tack,” repeated quickly several times. The sudden view of an unknown object, or of an imminent danger, makes it utter a hoarse disagreeable cry of fear, very like a cat when hurt[88].
THE FAUVETTE.
Sylvia hortensis, Latham; La Fauvette, Buffon; Die graue Grasmücke, Bechstein.
The length of this bird is five inches, two and a half of which belong to the tail. The beak, five lines in length, and formed as in the preceding, is brown below, light lead-colour above, and whitish within; the iris is brownish grey; the feet, nine lines high, are strong, and lead-colour; the upper part of the body is reddish grey, tinted slightly with olive brown; the cheeks are darker, and round the eyes whitish; the under part of the body, including the breast and sides, is light reddish grey; the belly is white as far as the under coverts of the tail, which are tinged with reddish grey; the knees are grey; the pen-feathers and tail-feathers are brownish grey, edged with the colour of the back, and spotted with white at the tips; the under coverts of the wings are reddish yellow.
The female differs only in having the under part of the body, as far as the breast, of a lighter colour.