CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.
Popularity of Aviculture—Native and Exotic Races Compared—Classification—Scientific Names.
AVICULTURE, long since carried to perfection in France and Germany, is yet in its infancy in Great Britain, though vastly more people are interesting themselves about birds at the present day than used to be the case a dozen years ago, when very few amateurs had any knowledge of the beautiful and attractive feathered denizens of foreign lands, many of which are now being naturalised in our midst, and have become almost as abundant as our own canaries or sparrows.
At first sight this no doubt appears extraordinary, especially when we contrast our own bleak and changeable climate with that enjoyed by the fertile and fragrant lands of which most of the foreign birds we meet with over here are natives. What a contrast, for instance, between the orange groves of Florida, or the palm-covered slopes of Western Africa, and our own country, where vegetation is dormant for half the year, and the trees are so many leafless skeletons from November to March or April! What a contrast, too, between the warmth of the same regions and the cold, damp, and fog of our native isles! So great, indeed, that one is compelled to wonder how birds indigenous to the former can ever be sufficiently acclimatised to live, and even to thrive, in the latter. Yet such is the case, and in the following pages I propose passing in review some of the different species of exotic birds which I have found adapt themselves most readily to their new surroundings in confinement.
The passion for bird-keeping—which, by the way, is steadily on the increase among us—usually has its origin in very humble beginnings; but it rapidly gains strength, and before long experiments are made and investments ventured on that, without preparation, would at one time have filled the soul of the adventurous aviarist with apprehension and awe.
Some writer has called the birds “the fairest of all God’s creatures,” and I think he is not far wrong. But, much as I admire our own native races, I must confess to a preference for the birds that are brought to us from foreign parts. True, the latter have not, as a rule, such musical talents as our own; but, from whatever cause, they adapt themselves much more readily to a life in confinement, in which they never, unless out of health, wear that look of sullen discontent that is characteristic of so many English cage-birds. Then also, as a rule, the foreign species are much more conspicuous for brilliancy of colouring, and even for elegance of form, than the birds that adorn our fields and hedgerows, or hide themselves as much as possible from human observation in our woods and plantations. So, without entirely deprecating the keeping of native birds in confinement, I am decidedly of opinion that the acclimatisation of foreign species will be, on the whole, a greater source of gratification to the aviarist; and in the end he will also find that his hobby will cost him less than if he “went in” for keeping a collection of our British birds.
A word more, before I close these introductory remarks, as to the system, or rather want of system, that will necessarily characterise these pages. Scientific classification is out of the question where only a selection of species is reviewed; therefore I have determined to take the various groups in alphabetical order—which will, perhaps, be as convenient a method for those who may read these pages as any that I could adopt.
The scientific names given are in nearly all cases those used by the Zoological Society of London in their list of vertebrated animals, although I do not in every instance agree with its absolute correctness, and, in the matter of classification, differ with the Society in many instances.
As prices vary so much according to circumstances, it has not been thought desirable to quote any in the following pages.
CHAPTER II.
THE CARDINAL FAMILY
(Cardinalidœ).
The Red-crested Cardinal—The Pope, or Crestless Cardinal—The Yellow-billed Cardinal—The Black-crested Cardinal—The Cardinal Grossbeak, or Virginian Nightingale.
IN this group I propose to include five species which are of frequent occurrence as cage-birds in this country: they are all natives of Brazil or the adjacent countries of Southern America, and can be readily acclimatised so as to pass the winter without injury to their constitutions in a garden aviary, where not infrequently they will be found to nest and rear their young.
The proper diet for these birds in confinement is canary- and millet-seed, grain-food of all kinds, ants’ eggs, insects of every description, especially caterpillars, and all kinds of ripe fruit when in season: they appear to be especially fond of raspberries and strawberries. Hemp-seed should never be allowed, as it darkens the plumage and changes the beautiful white breasts of the three first species described to a dingy blackish-grey.
The young require a large amount of food, and after the first few days are very clamorous while being fed. I found cockroaches, commonly known as blackbeetles, a very convenient insect, and all the young Cardinals I have had were reared on no other diet.
FIG. 1. THE RED-CRESTED CARDINAL.
THE RED-CRESTED CARDINAL, Paroaria cucullata (illustrated at Fig. 1), is a handsome, bold-looking bird, of a delicate ashen-grey colour on the back, tail, and wings; his face, chin, head, and upstanding crest are red; a collar round his neck, and all his under-parts, are pure white; his beak light horn-colour, and his legs and feet leaden-grey. He is about the size of a plump skylark, but a bolder-looking and more upstanding bird, and has a very passable song, which he is fond of rehearsing pretty well all the year round. The sexes are exactly alike in appearance, but the female may be known by her somewhat smaller size and less exuberantly boisterous deportment.
As these birds are extremely pugnacious during the breeding season, they should not be lodged with others smaller and more defenceless than themselves. The nest is built of hay, fibres, and roots, in any convenient bush; and the eggs, which vary from three to five in number, are small for the size of the bird, and not unlike those of a blackbird in colour and markings. The young can be readily reared on ants’ eggs and cockroaches, or any kind of insects available. Occasionally the male evinces cannibalistic tendencies—sometimes with regard to the eggs, which he will devour as soon as laid, and sometimes with respect to newly-hatched young, which he will destroy. In such a case he should be removed after the first egg has been laid, when the female will sit and rear her brood alone—the remaining eggs of the batch proving, as a rule, to be fertile. Incubation lasts from eleven to twelve days, and there are generally two broods in the season—the first in May or June; the second in August. In their native country, of course, the seasons are reversed; but the birds readily accommodate themselves to their altered circumstances.
I have found them to be extremely destructive to plants of all kinds. Some of their eggs which I have placed under canaries, were duly hatched; but the young died in a few days, apparently from inability on the part of their foster-parents to feed them properly; but no doubt if the eggs were placed in the nest of a thrush or blackbird the young Cardinals would be reared without any difficulty,
