this practice is more adapted to cur own convenience than to that of the bird, and is contrary to the economy of nature; it makes the mother part with a great deal of heat unneceffarily, and burdens her at once with five or fix young, which incommode her more than they give her pleafure; while, when the fees them come fucceffively one after the other, her pleasures are multiplied, and her ftrength and courage fupported: accordingly, very intelligent bird-fancyers have affured me, that the natural way has always fucceeded better with them than the above-mentioned practice.

Indeed I must say that, in general, too fubtle practices, and the fcrupulous cares which our writers advife us to beftow on the rearing of birds, are more hurtful than ufeful. We muft, as much as poffible, imitate nature in every thing. In their native fpot Canary birds haunt the banks of little rivulets, or of moift ravines; we must not therefore fuffer them to want water, either to drink or to bathe in. As they are natives of a very mild climate, we must defend them from the rigor of winter; but as they feem now long naturalifed with us, they are accustomed to our cold weather, for we may keep them in a room without fire, and even with the window open, guarded however with a net work to prevent their efcape. I have known many bird-fancyers who have affured me, that, by treating them thus hardily, they lofe fewer than by keeping them in warm rooms. It is the fame with

dered more fimple, and perhaps the birds will be better for it*. One circumftance it is particularly necessary to attend to, and that is, to beware of pairing them too foon in the season : in general, it is the cuftom to permit their union towards the 20th or 25th of March, whereas the 12th or 15th of April is a more proper time; for when they are put together while the weather is ftill cold, they grow indifferent for one another; and, if the hea happens to lay eggs, fhe leaves them if the weather does not grow warm ; thus we lofe a whole hatching by feeking to have it too carly.

The young birds are different from the old ones, not only in colour but in other qualities. A young CanaryBird of the year, obferved on the 13th of September 1772, had the head, the neck, the back, and the quill-feathers blackish, except the four firft feathers of the right wing, which were whitish the rump, the coverts of the wings, the tail, which was ftill not quite formed, and the under part of the body, were also of a whitish colour, and there were not as yet any feathers on the belly from the fernum to the anus. This young bird had its lower mandible entering within the upper, which was pretty thick and a little hooked. the bird advances in age, the difpofition and fhades of the colour change; the old are diftinguished from the young birds by ftrength, colour, and fong.→ The old ones have always the strongeft and most vivid colours, their feet are rougher, inclining to black if they

As

are

Traité par M. Batteau.

are of the grey race; and the nails are thicker and longer than thofe of the young. The female fometimes fo much resembles the male, that it is not eafy to diftinguith the difference at first fight: however, the colours of the male are always the brighteft, his head a little thicker and longer, the temples more of an orange colour, and under the bill a flame-coloured yellow, which defcends lower than in the female; his legs are alfo longer, and he begins to record almost as foon as he can feed himself. It is true that there are hens which likewise begin thus early; but taking all thefe marks together, we will be at no lofs to distinguish, even before the first moulting, the cock from the hen. After that time there is no more uncertainty, for the cock declares himfelf by his fong.

Every quick exertion of the voice is in animals a ftrong indication of paffion; and as love, of all internal emotions, is that which agitates them ofteneft, and transports them most powerfully, they do not fail to exprefs its ardour. Birds by their fong, the ball by its lowing, the horse by neighing, the bear by growling, all announce one and the fame defire. The ardour of this defire is by no means fo strong nor fo confpicuous in the female as it is in the male, and accordingly fhe expreffes it but feldom by her voice; that of the hen Canary-Bird is nothing more than a gentle note of tender fatisfaction, a fign of confent, which does not efcape her till the has long liftened to and fuffered herfelf to be won by the ardent prayer of the male, who exers himself to infpire her with the fame paffion which he feels. But when her defires are once excited, there is a neceflity for gratifying them, other wife the often falls fick and dies. It is feldom that Canary-Birds brought up in a chamber fall fick before hatching: fometimes a few cocks over-eat themselves and die: if the hen

grows fick while fhe is fitting, her eggs must be taken away and given

to another; for though fhe fhould get better foon, the will not return to her neft. The first fymptom of fick nefs, especially in the cock, is melancholy: whenever he is obferved to lofe his natural gaiety, he must be put in a feparate cage and placed in the fun in the fame room with the hen. If his feathers appear rough, you must look if he has not a pimple above the tail ;when the fuppuration here is fit to be opened, the bird often performs it himfelf with his bill; but if it goes on too flowly, it must be opened with a large needle, and the wound anointed with faliva, without mixing any falt with it, which would fmart it too much. The next day, you may let him loofe, and obferve, by his behaviour and eagerness for the hen, whether he is cured or not, If not, you must take him again, and with a fmali quill blow a little white wine under his wings, put him in the fun, and next day when you let him loofe judge as before of the ftate of his health; if melancholy and difguft for the female continue after thefe remedies, all hope of cure is vain; he must be put into a feparate cage, and another male given to the hen fimilar to the one he has lott, or if that cannot be, one of the fame variety with herfelf: there is generally moft fym pathy between thofe which refemble each other, except in the cafe of cream-coloured varieties which prefer the females of any other colour. But care must be taken that the new male be not a novice, but already acquainted with the duties of a parent. When the female falls fick the must have the fame treatment with the male.

The most general caufe of fickness is too abundant or too rich food :-when these birds are made to breed in a cage or clofer, they often eat too much, or felect the fucculent food defrgned for the young; hence the confequences are either repletion or inflammation. By keeping then in a room this inconvenience is in a great meafute prevented; becaufe being a

mon

mong a great number, they hinder one another from eating to excefs. A cock who eats for a long time is fure to be beaten by the other males; and the fame is the cafe with the hens; these quarrels give them exercife, temperance, and occupation from neceffity: it is chiefly on this account that they are feldom or never fickly in a cham. ber during the breeding time; it is only after hatching that infirmities and difeafes attack them. The greater part have the pimple we mentioned above, and afterwards all of them are fubject to moulting. Some fupport pretty well this change of ftate, and do not fail to fing a short while every day; but most of them lofe their voice, and fome of them even die. When the hens have attained the age of fix or feven years, many of them die in moulting; the cocks fupport this fpecies of disease more eafily, and exift three or four years longer. However, as moulting is a natural effect rather than an accidental difeafe, these birds would have no need of remedies, or would find fuch for themselves had they been reared by their parents in a fate of nature and liberty. But being under reftraint, fed by us and made nore delicate, moulting, which to birds at freedom is only an indifpofition, a less perfect state of health, becomes to those in captivity a ferious and often fatal malady, for which indeed there are but few remedics. It remains only to fay that moulting is -the lefs dangerous, if it happens early, that is, in a good feafon of the year. Young Canary-Birds moult early in the year, about fix weeks after they are hatched they become melancho ly, appear rough, and put their head under the wing. Their down fails in

this first moulting; and in the fecond the following year, the large feathers, even those of the wings at d tail, fall likewife. The young birds of the laft brood, which have not been harched till September or later, fuffer accordingly much more in moulting than thole which were hatched in the fpring. Cold weather is very unfriendly to this ftate, and they would all die were they not kept in a temperate, or rather warm place. While this function is going on, that is, for fix weeks or two months, nature labours to produce new feathers; and the organic molecules which had been previoufly employed in forming the feminal fluid, are now engaged in this new production; accordingly, when moulting, birds neither breed nor pair; for the fuperflux of life is wanting, which every being must have before it can convey it to others.

The most fatal and moft common difeafe that the young Canary-Birds efpecially are fubject to, is that called the furfeit, in which their bowels feem to defcend to the extremity of the body. The inteftines are feen through the skin, in a state of inflammation, redness, and difterfion; the feathers on the part fall off; the birds grow emaciated, give over eating, tho' they fit perpetually befide their meat, and die in a few days. The cause of this difeafe is the too great quantity, or too fucculent quality of the food. All medicines are fruitlefs; diet alone can fave a few out of the number of birds thus affected. They must be put into feparate cages, and nothing given to them but water and lettuce feed: this food is cooling and purgative, it tempers the ardour which confumes them, and fometimes caufes evacua

tions

tions that fave their lives. In fine, we may obferve, that this disease proceeds folely from our method of rearing these birds, for it is feldom that thafe fed by the parent birds are ever attacked with it. We ought therefore to be particularly cautious of overfeeding them when we bring them up with the tick boiled rape feed, a little groundfel without fugar or bifcuit, and in general rather too little than too much food, is the most approved method.

When the Canary-bird utters a faint and frequent cry, which feems to iffue from the bottom of his ftomach, he is faid to be afthmatic: he is alfo fubject to a fort of extinction of voice, especially after moulting: the afthma is cured by adminiftering plantain feed and hard bifcuit foaked in white wine: and the extinction of voice by good food, fuch as yolks of eggs mixed with the crumb of bread; and for drink, a ptifan of liquorice; that is, water in which liquorice root has been steeped

and boiled.

Canary Birds are frequently affected with ulcers in the mouth; thefe prodeed likewife from too abundant or too fucculent food, which often produces inflammation in the throat and palate, and must be cured by cooling diet, fuch as lettuce-feed with water, in which fome bruifed melon feeds have been put.

Thefe birds are likewife infefted with a fort of lice and the fcab, owing to the flovenly manner in which they are kept. Therefore care fhould be taken to keep them always very clean, giving them water to bathe in; never putting them into cages of old wood, never covering thefe but with new cloth where there have been no moths, and fifting and washing the feeds and herbs given them for food. Thefe little cares must be beftowed on them would have them neat and healthy; they would be fo if they were in a state of liberty; but confin

if we

and ill feen to, they are, like all

prifoners, fubject to the evils of captivity. Of all thofe we have mentioned, none feem to be natural except moulting. There are even some of thofe birds which, in this wretched ftate of captivity, are never fick, cuflom feeming to have made it to them a fecond nature. In general, the fault of their temperament is excess of hear, and therefore they conftantly need water. When wild, they are found near rivulets or moift places : ba hing is neceffary for them at all feafons; for if a plateful of fnow is put into their cage, they will lie down in it and turn themfelves upon it with figns of pleasure, even in time of the greatest cold: this fact proves fufficiently, that it is more noxious than ufeul to keep them in very warm places.

But there is another difeafe to which the Canary-bird, as well as others, fuch as the Gold-Finch, are fubject to, especially in confinement ; I mean the Epilepfy. The yellow Canary-B rds are moft liable to this falling-fickuefs, which feizes them in a moment, even when they are finging the loudeft. It is faid they ought not to be touched or taken up when they fall, but that we ought merely to obferve if they have voided a drop of blood at the bill, in which case they will come to themselves and recover in a little fpace their fenfe and life; that touching them before would make the drop fall too foon, and would occafion their death. I wifh the truth of this account were well afcertained, for fome facts in it appear to me doubtful. This much is certain, that when they furvive the first fit, they often live as long after it as if they had never been attacked by it. I believe, however, that they might all be cured by giving them a flight wound in the feet, for in this way Parrots are often cured of the epik pfy.

How many evils attend upon flavery! In a flate of freedom would thefe birds be afthmatic, fcabby, or epilep