Fig. 231.—The Chaffinch (Fringilla, Gesner).
Fig. 232.—Canaries (Carduelis canaria, Wood).
The Canaries (Fringilla canaria, Linn.), are only known by us as cage-birds, where they are recognised by their yellow plumage, more or less varied with green, although the facility with which they breed with the Linnet, Goldfinch, and others of the group, has introduced great varieties of colouring. Originally from the Canary Islands, they were first imported into Europe in the fifteenth century, and such was the charm of their song, added to their natural docility and gay plumage, that every one was eager to possess them. Buffon says, in his elegant manner, that if the Nightingale is the songster of the woods, the Canary is the chamber musician. Their race propagates, moreover, so rapidly that the poorest can afford to possess them; for these elegant little creatures are to be found among every grade of society, pouring out their joyous melody in the garret of the poor workman with as much energy as in the gorgeous saloons of the wealthy.
Fig. 233.—Whidah Finch, or Widow Birds (Emberiza paradisea, Linn.).
There are two distinct species of the Canary, the Plain and Variegated, or, as the bird-fanciers designate them, the Mealy, or Spangled, and Jonquils; but between these innumerable varieties have sprung up from cross-breeding with the Goldfinch, Linnet, and Siskin. These cross-breeds are often charming songsters; but, like all mules, they are completely sterile. Bechstein is of opinion that our Domestic Canary has a cross of the Siskin in it: this belief for a long time existed, but most naturalists now are of opinion that the Siskin belongs to a different genus.
The Widow Birds, or Whidah Finches (Vidua, Sw.), [Fig. 233], are among the most remarkable of the hard-billed, seed-eating birds to which they belong. The long, drooping tail feathers which adorn the males in the breeding season give them a very singular appearance. The upper part of their plumage is of a faded blackish brown, assuming a paler hue on the wings and lateral tail feathers. The whole body is tinged with this faded black, gradually narrowing as it descends to the middle of the breast; a broad, rich orange-brown collar proceeds from the back of the neck, uniting with a tinge of the same colour on the sides of the breast, this last hue passing into the pale buff colour of the body, abdomen, and thighs, and the under tail coverts being of the same colour as the upper ones—a hue to which the bird is indebted for its popular and scientific name. The tail feathers are black; the four lateral ones on each side slightly graduated, and rather longer than the one immediately above. The next two are the long, drooping feathers, externally convex, so conspicuous in the male bird, which, in fine specimens, measure a foot in length from base, and about three-quarters of an inch in width. The body of the bird is about the size of a Canary. They are natives of South Africa and Senegal.
Near to the Widow Birds in the system we may place the Java Sparrow, Rice Bird, or Paddee Bird of the East Indies and Eastern Archipelago (Fringilla oryzivora, Sw.), [Fig. 234]. They are eagerly sought for as pets, in consequence of their brilliant plumage, and the facility with which they learn innumerable tricks.
The Weaver Birds (Ploceus, Cuvier) close the series of Fringillidæ. They live in flocks in the interior of Africa, where they feed on the cereals and the young of weaker birds. They chirp, but have no song; and they owe their name to the inimitable art which they display in constructing their nests. These vary in form according to the species, and are composed of grass, rushes, and straw. They are usually suspended from the branches of a tree, the entrance being below. Sometimes they are spiral-shaped, occasionally round; in fact, they are of every imaginable outline. Mr. Swainson describes the nest of a species of Loxia built on a branch extending over a river or a pool of water, shaped like a chemist's retort suspended from the head, while the shank was eight or ten inches long, at the bottom of which was the entrance, all but touching the water.