Is about the size of the goldfinch; and compensates, by a still more melodious voice, the want of variety in his plumage, which, except in the red-breasted species, is nearly all of one colour. His musical talents are, like those of many other birds, repaid with captivity; for he is kept in cages on account of his singing. The red-breasted Linnet, or Redpole, generally builds here on the sea coast, and on the continent in vineyards; but that livery of nature, the crimson scarf, that glows so beautifully under his neck, disappears as soon as the bird is domesticated. None but those who enjoy freedom are the favourites of Nature! This bird is one of the first whose appearance announces the spring. The Green Linnet is rather larger than the house sparrow. Its head and back are of a yellowish green, the edges of the feathers grayish; the rump and breast more yellow. The plumage of the female is much less vivid, inclining to brown. Its song is trifling, but in confinement it becomes tame and docile, and will catch the notes of other birds. THE YELLOWHAMMER Is somewhat larger than the sparrow. Its head is of a greenish yellow, spotted with brown; the throat and belly are yellow; the breast and sides, under the wings, mingled with red; and the bird has a pretty note, not unlike that of the linnet. They build their nests on the ground, near some bush, where the female lays five or six eggs. This bird is often seen perched on the finger of some poor man or woman in the streets of London, in a state of complete tameness; but we understand that it is the transitory effect of intoxication, and that soon after the bird is bought and brought home, it dies, overcome by the power of the laudanum that has been given him. This bird feeds on various sorts of insects, and all kinds of seeds, and is common in every lane, on every hedge throughout the country, flitting before the traveller, and fluttering about the bushes on the side of the road. Happily for him we have not yet acquired the taste of the natives of Italy, where the Yellowhammer falls a daily victim to the delicacy of the table, and where his flesh is esteemed very luscious eating. There he is often fattened, like the ortolan, a different species of the same genus, for the purpose of gratifying the palate of epicures. As his name imports, is a native of the Canary Islands; where, in his wild state, he has a dusky gray plumage, and a much stronger voice than when in a cage. In our northern countries his feathers undergo a great alteration; and the bird becomes entirely white or yellow. This effect of cold, upon animals of all kinds, is general and progressive, according to the distance of the climate from the equator. This bird, who, with a sweet voice and agreeable modulations, has often been the agreeable companion and favourite amusement of sedentary ladies, breeds generally twice a year in domesticity; and it happens sometimes, that the first brood is not yet fledged, when the female has laid her eggs for the second time. Then the male takes, good-naturedly, the place of the female, when she feeds the young ones; and feeds them in his turn, when she sits in the nest. They are very easily tamed, when brought up with attention and kindness; they take their food out of the hand, and often perching on the shoulder of their mistress, feed out of her mouth. The Canary-bird is sometimes, and with success, matched with the linnet or the goldfinch; and the produce is a beautiful bird, called Mule, who, partaking of the talents and plumage of both, makes a mixed and pleasing character, and a temporary species of itself; for nature's laws have doomed them to sterility, lest a new race, not inserted in the original order of things, should take place by the ingenuity of man. They live twelve or thirteen years in our climate, and sing well to the end of their life. The method of rearing the young ones of the Canary-bird has been often given by authors who have written upon this subject, but Buffon is the best ornithologist to whom we can refer our readers. Suffice it to say, that eggs boiled hard, with a little plain cake, made into a soft paste, have been esteemed the food which agrees best with young Canaries. When adult, they feed upon rape and hemp-seed, and the seed to which the vulgar have given, from that circumstance, the name of Canary. The following curious anecdote of one of these birds is related by Dr. Darwin: "On observing a Canarybird at the house of a gentleman near Tutbury, in Derbyshire, I was told it always fainted away when its cage was cleaned; and I desired to see the experiment. The cage being taken from the ceiling, and the bottom drawn out, the bird began to tremble, and turned quite white about the root of the bill: he then opened his mouth, as if for breath, and respired quick; stood up straighter on his perch, hung his wings, spread his tail, closed his eyes, and appeared quite stiff for half an hour; till at length, with much trembling and deep respirations, he came gradually to himself." Is a large bird, sometimes weighing ten pounds, which frequents marshy places, and lives upon small fish and water insects. Their long beaks enable them to search the water and mud for their prey, and their long necks prevent the necessity of stooping to pick up from between their feet the smallest objects of their search. The top of the head is black, destitute of feathers, and covered with a kind of hairs or bristles; the throat and sides of the neck are of a black hue; the back and coverings of the feathers and the belly are ash-coloured. They used to be common in those fen countries, Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire; but they are not now so frequently seen in England as formerly. In their |