The Natural History of Cage Birds

In confinement it is common to assign it a grated corner of the room unless a cage is preferred, which must be at least three feet and a half long, and nearly as many high, a size necessary for it to take the exercise suited to its vivacity and petulance, without injuring its feathers. It would be still better if it could be allowed, as other birds of its size, an aviary or room to itself, where its copious excrements would be less troublesome.

Food. – When wild it feeds on insects and earth-worms, which it finds in abundance in fields and swamps during the spring and summer; in autumn and winter berries of all sorts make a great addition.

In confinement it is not dainty. The two universal pastes are very well liked, but it will put up with plain oatmeal, or even bran moistened with water. It is thus that our bird-fanciers feed it throughout the year, as well as many other large birds caught in traps, which they are obliged to keep as a lure for the snare. It is true, that if this meagre diet is sufficient to keep it alive, it will hardly serve to enliven it and make it sing; for this purpose it must be better fed, with bread and milk, meat, and other dishes served at table, none of which it refuses; and it must also be allowed to bathe, since nothing does it more good, or enlivens it so much.

Breeding. – Its nest, which it places higher or lower in the trees of the forest, is formed at bottom of herb-stalks and lichens, in the middle of earth, and in the interior of mosses, fine roots and hay: it lays twice a year, generally each time four greenish white eggs, a little speckled with violet and maroon. The young birds are gray above and very much spotted under, with a wide edge of rusty yellow on the wing feathers. Much less docile and susceptible of instruction than the blackbird, they hardly remember any little thing which they hear continually, but they become so familiar as to sing without difficulty on the hand. They are fed with white bread soaked in boiled milk.

Diseases. – The commonest disorders of this bird, are an obstruction of the rump gland, constipation, and atrophy66.

Mode of Taking. – These birds are taken in autumn with nets and snares, with berries for the bait, and they are caught in great numbers. They may also be taken in February, by placing under the trees on which the mistleto grows, perches with limed twigs. They may also be caught in the water-traps at sunset. Those which are yellowish under the body, being males, are chosen for confinement. During the first days of captivity, they are savage, sulky, and often refuse to eat, so that many perish in this way; those which are saved soon repay the trouble by their songs and familiarity.

Attractive Qualities. – Perched on the top of a tree in the woods, the missel thrush begins, in the month of February, to utter his melancholy but musical warblings, consisting of five or six broken strains, and continues singing for four or five months. As his song is too loud for the sitting-room, this bird should be placed in a large hall, or his cage should be hung outside a window. He lives in captivity from ten to twelve years. His call very much resembles “iis, r, r, r.”

THE SONG THRUSH

Turdus musicus, Linnæus; La Grive, Buffon; Die Singdrossel, Bechstein

We might, with Brisson, name this bird the small missel thrush, so much does it resemble the preceding in form, plumage, abode, manners, and gait. Its length is only eight inches and a half, three and a half of which belong to the tail. The beak is three quarters of an inch, horn brown, the under part yellowish at the base and yellow within; the iris is nut brown; the shanks are an inch high, and of a dingy lead-colour. All the upper part of the body is olive brown; the throat is yellowish white, with a black line on each side; the sides of the neck and breast are of a pale reddish white, variegated with dark brown spots, shaped liked a heart reversed; the belly is white, and covered with more oval spots.

In the female the two black lines on the throat are narrower, the breast is lighter, and of a plain yellowish white, and the reddish spots on the wing-coverts are smaller. These slight differences make it desirable for those whose eye is not accustomed to them, to have both sexes before them, if they wish to learn to distinguish them.

The white variety, that with a white head, the streaked, and the ash-coloured, are not very rare.

Habitation. – When wild this species is spread all over Europe, frequenting woods near streams and meadows. As soon as the autumnal fogs appear, they collect in large flights to seek a warmer climate67. The principal time of passage is from the 15th of September to the 15th of October, and of return about the middle or end of March; each pair then returns to its own district, and the male warbles his hymn to spring from the same tree where he had sung it the preceding year.

In confinement this bird is lodged like the missel thrush, and is much more worthy of being kept, as its voice is more beautiful, its song is more varied, and being smaller it makes less dirt.

Food. – When wild it lives on insects and berries, like the preceding.

In confinement, oatmeal moistened with milk is a very good food; and it requires also a great deal of fresh water, as well for bathing as drinking. When taken old it is often very difficult to induce these birds to eat, and the greater number die in consequence.

Breeding. – This species generally builds on the lower branches of trees; the nest being pretty large, and formed of moss mixed with earth or cow-dung. The hen lays twice a year, from three to six green eggs, speckled with large and small dark brown spots. The first brood is ready to fly by the end of April. The upper part of the body in the young ones is speckled with white. By taking them from the nest when half-grown they may be easily reared on white bread soaked in boiled milk; and they are easily taught to perform airs. As this thrush builds by preference in the neighbourhood of water, the nest may be easily found by seeking it in the woods beside a stream, and near it the male will be heard singing.

Mode of Taking. – This is the same as for the preceding species and the three which follow; of all the birds for which snares are laid, those for the thrush are most successful. A perch with a limed twig is the best method for catching a fine-toned male. In September and October these birds may also be caught in the water traps, where they repair at sunrise and sunset, and sometimes so late that they cannot be seen, and the ear is the only guide. When they enter the water haste must be avoided, because they like to bathe in company, and assemble sometimes to the number of ten or twelve at once, by means of a particular call. The first which finds a convenient stream, and wishes to go to it, cries in a tone of surprise or joy, “sik, sik, sik, siki, tsac, tsac, tsac;” immediately all in the neighbourhood reply together, and repair to the place: they enter the bath however with much circumspection, and seldom venture till they have seen a red-breast bathe without danger; but the first which ventures is soon followed by the others, which begin to quarrel if the place is not large enough for all the bathers. In order to attract them, it is a good plan to have a tame bird running and fluttering on the banks of the stream.

Attractive Qualities. – The song thrush is the great charm of our woods, which it enlivens by the beauty of its song. The rival of the nightingale, it announces in varied accents the return of spring, and continues its delightful notes during all the summer months, particularly at morning and evening twilight. It is to procure this gratification in his dwelling that the bird-fancier rears it, and deprives it of its liberty; and he thus enjoys the pleasures of the woods in the midst of the city. With care and properly varied food it may be preserved in captivity five or six years.

THE FIELDFARE

Turdus pilaris, Linnæus; La Litorne, ou La Tourdelle, Buffon; Die Wachholderdrossel, Bechstein

This bird is in size between the two preceding, its length being ten inches, of which the tail occupies four. The beak is an inch long, blackish at the point, otherwise yellow, as well as the opening of the throat and the tongue. The iris is dark brown. The shanks, an inch and a quarter high, are deep brown; the top of the head and neck, the cheeks, the bottom of the back, and the rump, are ash gray, with some blackish spots at the top of the head; a white line passes above the eyes; the back is rust brown; the throat and half the breast are rusty yellow, strewed with black heart-shaped spots; the rest of the under part of the body is white, with blackish heart-shaped spots on the sides, and longer ones towards the vent and tail.

In the female the upper part of the beak is browner, the head and rump of a paler gray, the throat whitish, the back dingy rust colour, and the feet deep brown.

Of this species there are many varieties, the white, the spotted, the white headed, and the like.

Habitation. – When wild this species spreads not only all over Europe, but also over Syria and Siberia. In the summer it remains in the northern regions, where it builds in pine forests. It arrives in Germany and England in prodigious flights in November, and passes the winter in places producing the juniper; its return northward takes place in the first fine days of spring.

In confinement it is treated like the missel thrush, but it is generally only kept as a decoy bird. Heat being injurious, it is kept as far as possible from the stove.

Food. – When wild it feeds like the two preceding species.

In confinement it is fed in the same way; raw carrots grated with bread is added, which the others like also.

Mode of Taking. – The same as in the two preceding species.

Attractive Qualities. – Its song is a mere harsh disagreeable warble. I should not have introduced it among cage birds if the lovers of bird-catching did not in winter require its call when pursuing its species.

THE REDWING

Turdus iliacus, Linnæus; Le Mauvis, Buffon; Die Rothdrossel, Bechstein

This species is smaller than the song thrush, and has much resemblance to the fieldfare. Its length is eight inches, of which the tail occupies three and a quarter. The beak is nearly an inch long, blackish, and yellow only at the base and angles of the lower mandible; the iris is nut-brown. The shanks are an inch high, and light gray; the feet are yellow; the head, the upper part of the neck, the back, the rump, and the small coverts of the wings, are olive brown. The plumage is more brilliant than that of other thrushes, and the orange-hue under the wings, which has procured it the name of the redwing thrush, will always sufficiently distinguish this from those of the same genus.

The female is altogether lighter coloured. The line of the eyes is almost white; the spots on the sides of the neck light yellow; the under part of the body is white, the neck alone appearing yellowish; the spots on the breast are grayish brown, and there are none about the vent. This species also has its varieties, as white, streaked, and the like.

Habitation. – When wild it inhabits the north of Europe; it goes to the south only towards the end of October, and returns at the end of March or beginning of April.

In confinement the redwing is treated like the preceding; but it is not much valued, as its song is in no respect agreeable. It always requires fresh water and but little warmth.

Food, Mode of Taking, Diseases. – The same as in the preceding species.

Attractive Qualities. – The song of the male is as unmelodious as that of the fieldfare. These birds make a great noise when they are collected in large flights upon the alders, in March and April, but their warbling hardly deserves the name of song. I have known but one which succeeded in imitating, though very indifferently, the notes of the song thrush and some loud tones of the nightingale. It is not therefore their song which will gain these birds a place in the house; but they may please by their familiarity, their patience, their easy motions, and the readiness with which they obey orders. Bird catchers keep them principally as decoy birds. They are good eating.

THE ROSE OUZEL

Turdus roseus, Linnæus; Le Merle Couleur de Rose, Buffon; Die Rosenfarbigedrossel, Bechstein

This is a bird which from its beauty certainly merits a place in this work. Its length is nearly eight inches, of which the tail measures three, and the beak one. This latter is black, sometimes lead-coloured, from the base to the middle, and flesh or rose-coloured from the middle to the point; the iris is whitish; the shanks are fourteen lines high, lighter or darker flesh-coloured; the claws are blackish. The head, neck, and throat, are black, with the tips of the feathers white, very much like the starling, and changeable into green, blue, and purple; the feathers at the top of the head are long and narrow, and rise elegantly into a crest; the back, the rump, the shoulders, the breast, the belly, and the sides, are of a brighter or paler rose-colour, according to the age and season.

The female differs from the male only in being less highly and brilliantly coloured.

Habitation. – When wild these birds are to be met with in many parts of Europe and Asia. The inhabitants of Aleppo and the neighbourhood see with pleasure the arrival of large flights of them, in the months of July and August, to extirpate the clouds of locusts which then ravage the country. Great numbers are also seen in spring on the banks of the Don and Irtish, where they build and find abundance of food; also on the shores of the Caspian and the banks of the Wolga. In Europe they appear in Sweden as far as Lapland, in England, in Germany, in Switzerland, and France: rare indeed in all these countries, but least so in Italy.

In confinement this bird is kept in a cage of the same size as the blackbird’d.

Food. – When wild this bird appears to subsist entirely on insects.

In confinement it would doubtless thrive very well on the food which is given to the blackbird, which will be mentioned hereafter. It is better, however, to study it a little, and find out what suits it best.

Breeding. – It builds among rocks; but its nest has not yet been discovered in Europe, though some circumstances indicate that it propagates there. In 1784, in the duchy of Altenburg, three young ones were killed, but just out of the nest, and which consequently could not have come from far. This fact should excite the attention and vigilance of zealous observers.

Modes of Taking. – Skilful bird-catchers will soon discover the means of catching the bird: snares and limed twigs, with grasshoppers and other living and moving insects for bait, will probably accomplish this end. It would be hazardous to shoot the birds in the hope of wounding them but slightly, as is sometimes done with other birds, which soon recover, and remain tame, if, during their recovery, they have been well treated.

Observations. – A sportsman discovered, in 1794, in the environs of Meiningen, in Suabia, a flight of eight or ten rose ouzels, moving leisurely from south-west to north-east, and passing from one cherry-tree to another. He fired on these birds, only one fell, which was fortunately very slightly wounded, so that it soon quite recovered. Being immediately carried to M. Von Wachter, the rector of Frickenhausen, this clergyman took the greatest care of it; he gave it a spacious cage, and found that barley-meal moistened with milk was as wholesome as agreeable to it. His kindness tamed it in a short time so far that it would come and take from his hand the insects which he offered to it. It soon sang also, but its warbling consisted at first of but a few harsh sounds, pretty well connected however, and this became at length more clear and smooth. Connoisseurs in the songs of birds discover in this song a mixture of many others; one of these connoisseurs, who had not discovered the bird, but heard its voice, thought he was listening to a concert of two starlings, two goldfinches, and perhaps a siskin; and when he saw that it was a single bird, he could not conceive how all this music proceeded from the same throat. This bird was still alive in 1802, and the delight of its possessor.

THE BLACKBIRD

Turdus merula, Linnæus; Le Merle, Buffon; Die Schwarzdrossel, Bechstein

This species, the most docile of its genus, is nine inches and a half long, four of which belong to the tail. The beak is an inch long, and orange yellow; the iris is dark brown; the shanks are an inch high, and black. The whole plumage is of a pure velvety black; the eyelids alone are orange.

The female is of a brownish black, with the breast of a reddish hue, and the belly grayish; the throat is spotted with dark and light brown. It is also rather larger than the male, which has led some persons who were not well acquainted with it to make another species of it.

The white variety is very well known; there is besides the streaked, the black with a white head, and the pearl gray.

Habitation. – When wild the blackbird is found all over the old world, as well as in Germany; it is the only species of its genus which does not migrate thence.

In confinement it is kept in a large cage; it is better to keep it separate because, whether from spite or jealousy, it is often inclined, like the tits, to pursue and kill its little companions of the aviary or room.

Food. – When wild the blackbird eats berries, and, in winter, when insects are scarce, he seeks them near warm springs.

In confinement he is satisfied with the first universal paste, but he also eats bread, meat, and anything which comes to table, such as a bit of apple. More delicate than the song thrush, he would not digest mere bran and water. He delights in bathing often, and should therefore be furnished with the means for so doing.

Breeding. – As the blackbird does not travel he pairs early in the spring, and the first young are hatched by the end of March. The nest, placed in a thick bush, or in a heap of boughs, is formed on the outside of stalks, then of moss and mud and lined in the inside with fine hay, hair, and wool. The female lays three times a year, from four to six eggs, of a greenish gray, spotted and streaked with light brown; when the young are hatched the males are always darker than the females, therefore bird-catchers can never be mistaken when they take the former and leave the latter. They are easily reared on white bread soaked in boiled milk, a little raw beef, and worms dipped in water. It is better to take them from the nest when the quills of the feathers are just beginning to develop, because, having then no idea of their natural song, they will retain more perfectly and distinctly the airs which may be taught them.

Diseases. – An obstruction in the rump gland is their most common disorder, and must be treated in the manner described in the Introduction. It would doubtless be prevented by never omitting to furnish the means of bathing. With care, and a proper variety of food, this bird will live in confinement ten or twelve years.

Method of Catching. – Timid and distrustful, the blackbird seldom enters the area or barn-floor trap, but it is easily caught in the winter with a noose or springe, by using service berries for a bait. It sometimes falls into the large traps set for tits, when the berries are spread over the bottom; limed twigs put with the berries in a place cleared from the snow, will catch many also; it also goes to the water-trap, but generally at night-fall. Its call is “tsizirr, tak, tak.”

Attractive Qualities. – The natural song of the blackbird is not destitute of melody; but it is broken by noisy tones, and is agreeable only in the open country. When wild it sings only from March to July; but when caged, during the whole year, except when moulting. Its voice is so strong and clear, that in a city it may be heard from one end of a long street to the other. Its memory is so good, that it retains, without mixing them, several airs at once, and it will even repeat little sentences. It is a great favourite with the lovers of a plaintive, clear, and musical song, and may, in these respects, be preferred to the bullfinch, whose voice is softer, more flute-like, but also more melancholy. The price of these two birds, if well taught, is about the same.

THE RING BLACKBIRD

Turdus torquatus, Linnæus; Merle à Plastron blanc, Buffon; Die Ringdrossel, Bechstein

This bird is larger than the common blackbird, being in length ten inches and a half, four of which belong to the tail. The beak is an inch long, raven gray, yellowish white at the base of the lower mandible, and yellow at the angles as well as inside: the iris is chestnut brown; the shanks dark brown, and fourteen lines high; the upper part of the body is black; and it is the principal colour of the under part also; but the feathers of the belly and the coverts of the wings are edged with white; the quill-feathers, and the outside feathers of the tail are grayish white; a white spot, tinged with red, and the size of the finger, placed transversely on the breast, serves to characterize the species, and gives it its name.

The female is of a brownish black; the transverse band on the breast is narrower, and of a reddish ash-colour, shaded with brown.

Those individuals which combine the brown colour of the female with the pectoral band, large, and of a reddish white, are young males; the others, in which it is scarcely discernible, are young females.

Observations. – Though the ring blackbird traverses the whole of Europe, it builds only in the north68. It arrives in Germany and England on the foggy days of the end of October and beginning of November. It moves always in small flights, stopping generally in spots covered with briers and juniper bushes, where it may be caught with a noose. Its food, when free and in confinement, is the same as that of the common blackbird, with which it has the most striking resemblance in its gait, the motion of its wings and tail, and its call, “tak.” Its voice, though hoarser and deeper, is nevertheless more harmonious and agreeable. It is so weak that a red-breast may overpower it. It continues singing at all times, except when moulting. It will live in confinement from six to ten years.

THE ROCK THRUSH

Turdus saxatilis, Linnæus; Le Merle de Roche, Buffon; Die Steindrossel, Bechstein

This rare and striking bird is unknown in many parts of Germany69. Though its principal characteristics place it in the genus of the blackbird, it has more resemblance to the starling, both in its manners and gait, which are varied and agreeable. Its length is seven inches and a half, two and three quarters of which belong to the tail. The beak, an inch long, and the shanks, an inch and a quarter high, are black. The head and neck are grayish blue, or ash blue, lighter in the old, and darker in the young birds; the top of the back is dark brown, often varying to a lighter brown, the middle a fine white; the rump, of a dark brown, has the feathers tipped with white; the breast is dark orange, the belly the same; but, according to the season, more or less spotted and undulated with white.

The female is dark brown on the upper part of the body, with edges of whitish gray to the feathers; those of the rump are rust-colour, with the same gray edge; the chin is white; the throat brown; the under part of the neck, and the whole under part of the body, of a dirty orange, with waving lines of brown and white; the tail is paler than that of the male, and the feet are dark brown.

Habitation. – When wild it is found in the south of Europe and Germany, in Austria, and the Tyrol. In France, in Bugey, and more to the south; and especially in the Alps and Pyrenees, frequenting rocks or old ruined castles. In its migrations it visits bare rocky mountains, searching for insects which take refuge among the stones. Its departure is in September and its return in March.

In confinement it is furnished with a cage larger than that of the nightingale.

Food. – When wild it appears to live entirely on insects.

In confinement it is fed like the nightingale; but with every care it cannot long be preserved.

Breeding. – The female builds her nest in an almost inaccessible crevice of the rocks, and lays five eggs. As the young are very susceptible of instruction, they are readily brought up when they can be obtained70; they are fed and treated like young nightingales.