The Natural History of Cage Birds

THE TITLARK

Anthus arboreus, Bechstein; L’Llouette Pipi, Buffon; Die Waldpieper, Bechstein

This is the smallest of our larks; its length is but five inches and a half, two and a half of which belong to the tail, which it carries and moves like a wagtail, and by this characteristic it seems to stand intermediate between the larks and the wagtails. The sharp beak is dark brown above and whitish below; the iris is brown. The shanks are three quarters of an inch high, and light flesh-coloured; the angle of the hind toe is short and crooked. The head, rather oval than round, is, with the neck, back, rump, and sides, of an olive brown with black wavy spots.

The female differs from the male only in the paler yellow of the throat, neck, and breast; the white spot in the second tail-feather is also smaller, and the two transverse bands on the wings are whiter. The young males of the first year have the under part of the body of a lighter yellow than those which are older.

Habitation. – When wild, with the exception of the most northern parts, this species is found all over Europe. They build in great numbers in Germany and England, in mountainous and woody places, and establish themselves by preference on the skirts of forests, in fields, and orchards, in their neighbourhood, or in the cleared parts of woods. In the month of August they arrive in small flights in fields and enclosures planted with cabbages, where caterpillars abound. In September they pass into the oat fields, and in October they are caught in the nets with the common larks. The time of their return is about the end of March; and if the cold is severe they collect by thousands in damp fields and near warm springs. One peculiarity of this species is the having during the rest of the year a call different from that of the breeding season. It no longer perches on trees and bushes, but remains on the ground, crying “pitt, pitt,” (or rather, I think, “guik, guik,”) while in the sitting time the cry is more tender, expresses more solicitude, “tzip, tzip,” and is heard only in the immediate neighbourhood of the nest. As soon, therefore, as this cry strikes the ear, we may be sure the nest is not far off; and if the young are hatched we shall soon see the father or mother with a beakful of insects, redoubling and increasing the cry as they approach their precious charge. The other cry of “pitt” or “guik” is never heard at this season; whence it happens that sportsmen and bird-catchers make two species of this same lark; one they name the heath lark, whose call in the woods is “tzip,” and the other the cabbage lark, which in the fields calls “guik.” I have never been able to convince these people of their error, but by showing them in my bird-room the same lark which called “guik” in the autumn and winter, and “tzip” in the summer. We may judge by this circumstance how many mistakes and errors may slip into natural history, when in the determination of species we meet with things which we can neither see nor verify.

In confinement, I have been accustomed to let the calling lark range freely among my other birds, because I would not trouble myself to give it a particular cage. I own, however, that it would be better so circumstanced, on all accounts, as well in regard to its health as its song. This cage should be long, like that of the sky-lark, and furnished with two sticks, because this kind perches.

Food. – When wild, the food consists of all sorts of flies, grasshoppers, caterpillars, butterflies, beetles, and ants’ eggs.

In confinement, as it is the most delicate of its species, the food must be frequently changed and varied. Besides the universal paste, we should sometimes give it the common food of the nightingale, sometimes bruised hemp, mouldy cheese, meal worms, and ants’ eggs.

It is very difficult to accustom it to take the food of the bird-room. As soon as it arrives, we must throw it some meal worms, ants’ eggs, or caterpillars; as soon as these are eaten, some must be mixed with the universal paste and with all its food; it will thus insensibly grow accustomed to the common food.

This lark does not roll in the sand, and dust itself like the others, but it thrusts its beak into water and sprinkles itself; another indication of its approximation to the wagtail, as was mentioned above.

Breeding. – The titlark lays twice a year. The nest, placed on the ground in a cleared part of the woods, or under a bush or hillock, in a tuft of grass, in a field or orchard, is made in the simplest manner; coarse hay outside and finer within, with some wool and hair, are all the materials. The eggs, in number from four to five, are gray mottled with brown; the young escape as soon as possible, having but too many enemies to fear on the ground.

They may be brought up with ants’ eggs and white bread soaked in boiled milk, to which a few poppy-seeds are added. They easily learn to imitate the songs of the birds in the same room with them, especially that of the canary, without however attaining any great perfection.

Diseases. – Independent of those which are common to the other birds of its species, it is particularly subject to the loss of its feathers out of the moulting season; if it is not at once supplied with food more nutritious, and better suited to its natural habits, as ants’ eggs, meal worms, and other insects, it soon dies of atrophy. At the best it can only be preserved five or six years63.

Mode of Taking. – To take the bird from its nest by a limed twig, and thus destroy the young family by hunger and misery, is a cruelty which none but a harsh insensible amateur could resolve upon. I prefer using the night-net in autumn; this bird is also caught in the water-trap in August and September.

Attractive Qualities. – The song of the titlark, though short, and composed of only three strains mixed with shakes and trills, is nevertheless very pleasing. It sings from the end of March to July, either from the top of a tree, where it is perched, or when rising perpendicularly in the air, where it remains a few minutes and then quietly descends, almost always to the same place. As it alights it repeats several times “tzia, tzia, tzia.” In the house it begins to sing a month earlier. It pleases also by its pretty ways; its step is somewhat grave, and the tail is in perpetual motion: it is always very clean and trim.

THE FIELD PIPIT

Anthus campestris, Bechstein; La Spipolette, Buffon; Die Brachpieper, Bechstein

In figure it is more slender than the sky-lark; the plumage resembles that of the crested lark, and the form that of the titlark. Its length is six inches and a half. The beak is strong and long, the line above the eyes distinctly marked, the breast yellowish white, with but few rays or lines. In summer it frequents marshy woods, in autumn the edges of the fields, high roads, and meadows, where it may be easily caught with the night-net. Its only known song is its constant cry “tsirru” and “datsida” while revolving in the air. It departs in September and returns in April. Its food is the same as that of the titlark; it also requires the same treatment when in confinement if it should be wished to keep it, but it has no qualities to make this desirable.

THE SHORE LARK

Alauda alpestris, Linnæus; Alouette Haussecol noir, ou Alouette de Virginie, Buffon; Die Berglerche, Bechstein

This species is seven inches long, rather stronger than the field pipit, and has the same plumage on the upper part of the body; but the throat is light yellow, as well as the rest of the under part of the neck, over which and the top of the breast passes a black band, which in the lower part is shaped like a horse-shoe. The beak, feet, and claws, are black.

Observations. – This species properly inhabits the north as well of Europe as of America, as far as Virginia; but in the winter it appears in Germany, where it may be seen by the road side picking for its food the undigested grains in horse-dung. It perches like the wood-lark. It is caught in the southern parts of Thuringia with lime twigs, or nets, at its return in March, when there has happened a heavy fall of snow; but at such times it is so thin and so weak for want of food as scarcely to have strength to eat what is offered to it. It may, no doubt, be preserved in confinement by treating it like other larks, but of this I have no experience, never having been able to procure a single living individual of this species, which also prevents my speaking of its song.

THE CALANDRA LARK

Alauda Calandra, Linnæus; La Calandre, Buffon; Die Kalander, Bechstein

Larger than the common lark, the Calandra is also furnished with a shorter and stronger beak, which enables it to shell its grain; in other respects the plumage, the form, and manners, are the same, the only difference being a very distinct and apparent spot on the lower part of the neck. The male is distinguished by being larger and blacker round the neck; the female has a very narrow collar, and sometimes none at all; some individuals, old ones doubtless, have a large black mark at the top of the breast. The tail is black, according to Linnæus, while in the preceding it is brown.

Habitation. – It appears that this species has much resemblance to the preceding; but it does not inhabit the North; it is found in Syria, Italy, Sardinia, and Provence: it is also said to frequent Carolina, in America.

In confinement it must be furnished with a long cage, the top made of linen, because it hops and jumps about a great deal, especially at first. It must be fed like the other larks.

Breeding. – It builds on the ground like the sky-lark, and lays four or five eggs. In order to have calandras which sing well, they must be bred up from the nest, and be fed in the same manner as the young of the sky-lark species; this is how they breed them in Provence.

Mode of Taking. – In the countries where it is found, the plan consists in spreading a net near the water where it drinks; this method is considered the best.

Attractive Qualities. – Its song is so admired in Italy, that “to sing like a calandra” is a common expression for to “sing well.” It also possesses the talent of imitating, like the sky-lark, the songs of many birds, such as the goldfinch, the linnet, the canary, and even the chirp of young chickens, the cry of the cat, in short, all sounds adapted to its organs, and which may be acquired when they are flexible.

THE STARLING

Sturnus vulgaris, Linnæus; L’Ltourneau, Buffon; Der gemeine Staar, Bechstein

The length of this bird is eight inches and a half, two and a half of which belong to the tail, and one to the beak, which is awl-shaped, angular, flattish, and rather blunt, yellow, brown towards the end, and the tip blue. The iris is nut-brown; the claws an inch long, are deep flesh-coloured. All the plumage is of a blackish hue, changing to purple towards the front of the body, and to green towards the hind part, and on the wing-coverts. The old males are darker, having no white tips to the feathers of the head, cheeks, throat, or belly.

The beak of the female is rather brown than yellow; the light spots on the head, neck, and breast, are larger, and the edge of the feathers is wider, which gives it a lighter and more speckled appearance.

The starling, like all other species, has its varieties: such are the white, the streaked or variegated, the white-headed, that whose body is white with a black head, and the ash gray.

Habitation. – When wild the starling is found all over the old world. It prefers forests and little thickets, surrounded by fields and meadows; it is often seen, especially in spring, on towers, steeples, and churches; but it is never found either in high mountains or ridges. In our climate, it departs, in October, in great flights for the south, and returns in like manner in the beginning of March. During the journey, these birds pass the night among the rushes, where, on the least alarm, they make a great tumult.

In confinement it would be very amusing to let them run free; but let them be ever so neat themselves, they would render the room dirty. When caged, they must be furnished with a cage at least two feet long, and one and a half both in height and width. Very restless and always in motion, they require sufficient space to take exercise and keep their plumage uninjured.

Food. – When wild they eat not only caterpillars, snails, worms, insects, and the flies which torment the cattle in the field; but also cherries, grapes, berries of all sorts, and different sorts of grain, as millet and hemp seed.

In confinement they eat meat, worms, bread, cheese, the universal paste, indeed, any food, provided it is not sour. When first caught, they are supplied with earth and meal-worms, and they soon become as tame as if they had been brought up from the nest; but, as there is no rule without exceptions, we sometimes meet with individuals which obstinately refuse to eat, whatever pains may be taken to induce them, and which die of hunger. This bird delights in bathing often, it must therefore never be left without fresh water in a proper vessel.

Breeding. – The starling builds in the holes of trees, and even in boxes, or pots with long necks, suspended to trees, or under the roof, or in pigeon-houses. Its simple nest is composed of dry leaves, hay, and feathers. Like the swallow it returns to the same nest every year, only taking care to clean it out. It lays twice in the year, seven eggs each time, whose colour is ashy green. The young, before moulting, are of rather a yellowish soot colour, than pure black. The beak is dark brown; those which are bred from the nest, and which are easily reared on white bread soaked in milk, repeat the airs they are taught in a stronger and more distinct manner than bullfinches and linnets. They can, indeed, repeat a succession of couplets without changing or mixing them. In Voigtlande, the peasants use the starling like domestic pigeons; they eat the young, which they take before they can fly; by this means they obtain three broods, but they do not touch the last, both in order not to discourage and drive away the father and mother, and not to diminish this branch of economy.

Starlings have been seen to build in dwelling-houses, in an earthen vase with a long neck, appropriated to the purpose64.

Diseases. – I know none peculiar to them. These birds will live ten or twelve years in confinement.

Mode of Taking. – It is principally in autumn, and in places filled with reeds, that the bird-catchers take great numbers of starlings in nets prepared for the purpose. They may also be procured by means of an osier fish-net, placed among the reeds, which they frequent in the evening, and baited with cherries. Though this means is limited, as many as a hundred have been procured by it in one night.

In Thuringia it is never attempted to catch them for the house except in the month of March, when snow falls after their arrival. For this purpose limed twigs are put in places cleared from snow, and beside swampy ditches, with some earth-worms for a snare, into which they fall as easily as chickens.

Attractive Qualities. – The starling becomes wonderfully familiar in the house; as docile and cunning as a dog, he is always gay, wakeful, soon knows all the inhabitants of the house, remarks their motions and air, and adapts himself to their humours. In his solemn tottering step, he appears to go stupidly forward; but nothing escapes his eye. He learns to pronounce words without having his tongue cut, which proves the uselessness of this cruel operation. He repeats correctly the airs which are taught him, as does also the female, imitates the cries of men and animals, and the songs of all the birds in the room with him. It must be owned that his acquirements are very uncertain: he forgets as fast as he learns, or he mixes up the old and new in utter confusion; therefore, if it is wished to teach him an air, or to pronounce some words clearly and distinctly, it is absolutely necessary to separate him from other birds and animals, in a room where he can hear nothing. Not only are the young susceptible of these instructions, the oldest even show the most astonishing docility.

THE BOHEMIAN CHATTERER

Ampelis garrulus, Linnæus; Le Jaseur de Bohème, Buffon; Der gemeine Seidenschwanz, Bechstein

The length of this bird is eight inches, one and a quarter of which belong to the tail. The beak is three quarters of an inch long, black, short, straight, arched above, and large at the base, forming a large opening when the mandibles are separated; the iris is brown; the shanks nearly an inch high, and black. The whole body is covered with soft silky feathers; those at the top of the head are long, and rise in a crest; the head and the rest of the upper part of the body are of a reddish ash-colour, changing to gray at the rump; the middle coverts are dark ash gray, with the ends white also, besides which, the shaft of many has a horny tip, shining and red, like a little oval bit of sealing-wax. The female has at most but five of these waxen tips to each wing, while the male has from five to nine; the tail is black, terminated with primrose yellow; very old males have also upon it narrow red wax tips.

In the female, the black spot on the throat is smaller; the yellow at the end of the tail is also narrower and paler; the tips of the wings are of a yellowish white; lastly, the horny appendages are small, and often they do not appear at all.

Habitation. – When wild it does not build in Germany, but within the Arctic circle; it is found in Thuringia only in the winter, and if the season is mild in very small numbers, the greater portion remaining in the north; but in severe cold it advances farther south. In moderate seasons it is found in great flights in the skirts of the forests throughout the greater part of Germany and Bohemia.

In confinement, it is generally kept in a grated corner, where it may run about freely with the other birds which are also placed there, taking care to keep it at a distance from the stove, the heat of which is so distressing that it opens its beak and breathes with difficulty; this proves that a warm climate is not congenial to the bird. If kept in a cage, it requires one as large as the thrush; and, as it is a very dirty bird, the bottom must be regularly covered with a sufficient quantity of sand.

Food. – When wild we see it in the spring eating, like thrushes, all sorts of flies and other insects; in autumn and winter different kinds of berries; and, in times of need, the buds and sprouts of the beech, maple, and various fruit trees.

In confinement the two universal pastes appear delicacies to it; and it is even satisfied with bran steeped in water. It swallows every thing voraciously, and refuses nothing eatable, such as potatoes, cabbage, salad, fruits of all sorts, and especially white bread. It likes to bathe, or rather to sprinkle itself with water, for it does not wet itself so much as other birds.

Mode of Taking. – It is taken in nooses, to which berries are fixed, which, for this purpose, should always be kept in store till February; attracted by the bait it falls into the snare. It appears to be frightened at nothing, for it flies into nets and traps, though it sees its companions caught and hanging, and uttering cries of distress and fear.

Attractive Qualities. – Nothing but its beauty and scarcity can render the possession of it desirable; for it is a stupid, lazy bird. During the ten or twelve years that it can exist in confinement, and on very meagre food, it does nothing but eat and repose for digestion. If hunger induces it to move, its step is awkward, and its jumps so clumsy as to be disagreeable to the eye. Its song consists only of weak and uncertain whistling, a little resembling the thrush, but not so loud. While singing, it moves the crest up and down, but hardly moves the throat. If this warbling is somewhat unmusical, it has the merit of continuing throughout every season of the year. When the Bohemian chatterer is angry, which happens sometimes near the common feeding-trough, it knocks very violently with its beak. It is easily tamed, but is agreeable only by its beautiful colours, for it is very dirty. It is the greatest eater among birds that I know, being able to devour in a day a quantity of food equal to its own weight. It consequently passes hardly half digested, and, what is very disgusting, it is seen, like the ostrich, to eat again this excrement, if it is destitute of fresh food. I have observed it in this way swallow three times juniper berries which I had given it. In consequence of this voraciousness it must be cleaned very often to be kept sweet.

THE DIPPER

Cinclus aquaticus, Bechstein; Le Merle d’dau, Buffon; Der Wasserschwätzer, Bechstein

This bird resembles the starling in size, but the head is more pointed, and the body, in general, larger, while the wings and tail are shorter, the tail being only one inch and a quarter long, and the ends of the wings cover a fourth part of it; the beak is three quarters of an inch long, narrow, flattish at the sides, raised in the middle, sharp and black; the narrow nostrils are almost entirely closed by a membrane; the iris is light brown; the shanks are an inch high, and of a dark brown, and have the four toes united together; the head and upper part of the neck are of a dusky rust brown; the rest of the upper part of the body is black, with an ashy gray tint; the quill-feathers and tail are blackish; the neck to half-way down the breast is pure white; the rest of the breast is deep maroon, which shades into the black of the belly.

In the female the head and upper part of the neck are lighter, and the white of the breast is not so pure as in the male.

Habitation. – When wild it frequents by preference the banks of rivers and streams in mountainous countries, and remains all the year near those whose waters flow from springs which never freeze.

In confinement it has a cage like the thrush, unless it is by preference allowed to run about the room.

Food. – When wild it feeds upon aquatic insects, worms, and even small fish, which it is said to seize by diving.

In confinement it becomes insensibly accustomed to one of the universal pastes, by at first giving it worms, and the eggs of ants and flies.

Breeding. – The female lays from four to six eggs in a rather large nest, which she places in a crack of the rocks at the edge of the water, or in dikes under mill-dams, the wooden gutters of mills, or between the wings of old water-wheels which are not in use. The young may be reared on meal-worms, ants’ eggs, and white bread soaked in milk. It is just as well not to take them till they are ready to fly.

Mode of Taking. – Each pair has a chosen spot, which it seldom leaves: and they are generally seen there either on a trough, a stone, dike, or a bush growing near; by fixing close to these places limed twigs, to which are fastened worms, which writhe about and attract attention, it is very easy to catch them.

As soon as one of these birds is caught and caged, he must be put in a quiet place, be fed with earth and meal-worms, and thus be gradually accustomed to the common food.

Attractive Qualities. – The song of the dipper is not disagreeable; he has, indeed, some very sonorous strains, which in the distance and during winter have a very good effect. He also sings in the night.

THE MISSEL THRUSH

Turdus viscivorus, Linnæus; La Draine, Buffon; Die Misteldrossel, Bechstein

This is the largest of our thrushes, being in length eleven inches, three and a half of which belong to the tail. The beak is one inch in length, sharp, dark brown, with the lower base and opening yellow; the iris is brown; the shanks an inch high, and of a pale dusky yellow. All the upper part of the body is a brownish gray, with a reddish tint on the lower part of the back and rump; the sides of the head and the rest of the under part of the body are of a pale yellow, with blackish triangular spots on the breast, and oval spots in all other parts.

The female is generally lighter in all the colours.

Habitation. – When wild the missel thrush is found all over Europe, but more in the north than the south. It lives in forests, especially those of the mountains, and prefers those of fir to oak and beech. In Thuringia it is a bird of passage, disappearing in December and returning in the month of February, provided the weather is fine65.