The Natural History of Cage Birds Part 27

We see from these instances, that if birds allowed to hop about a room enjoy more s.p.a.ce and free exercise, they are also subject to more inconveniences and disadvantages than caged birds. Their food is neither so appropriate or regular; they cannot be kept so clean; their feet are almost inevitably injured; and lice devour them, without the power of prevention.

MODE OF TAKING.--The wood-lark may be caught on the nest by means of limed twigs; but as it is very cruel to separate a pair, and thus to destroy a whole family, it is better to wait till autumn, and to use the night-net. They may be caught early in the spring, when there is snow on the ground, by placing limed twigs or nets in cleared places.

This is the best method of catching them. It is true that this plan will not succeed in all years; but another may be subst.i.tuted, if we have a decoy wood-lark, by placing it under a folding net, in a field frequented by a flight of this species, which will not fail to join it. The same means also may be used as with the chaffinch, namely, by tying the wings of a wood-lark with a limed twig on his back, and letting him run to the place where there is a male of the same species. By this means the bird-fancier may obtain whatever kind of singer he prefers.

ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES.--Of all the species of larks the wood lark has the finest song, and to my taste it is, of all our indigenous birds (always excepting the nightingale), the one whose natural notes are the most delightful. Its clear flute-like voice executes a sonorous, tender, and somewhat melancholy air. In the country it rises from the tops of the trees so high in the air that the eye can scarcely discern it, and there remaining stationary, the wings and the tail expanded, it sings uninterruptedly for hours together; it sings in the same manner when perched on a tree.

In the house, it is from a retired corner, tranquil and motionless, that it utters the different modulations of its beautiful voice. The singing time in its wild state is from March to July; in the house, from February to August. The female, like other larks, sings also, but her strains are shorter and less sustained. These birds appear to be subject to whims: I have seen some which would never sing in a room or in the presence of an auditor. These perverse birds must be placed in a long cage outside the window. I have remarked that in general these obstinate birds are the best singers. Their abrupt step and various frolics, in which they raise the feathers of the head and neck, are also very amusing.

THE t.i.tLARK.

Anthus arboreus, BECHSTEIN; L'Alouette 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 pa.s.s 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 circ.u.mstance 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 circ.u.mstanced, 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, gra.s.shoppers, caterpillars, b.u.t.terflies, 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 t.i.tlark 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 gra.s.s, in a field or orchard, is made in the simplest manner; coa.r.s.e 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 years[63].

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 t.i.tlark, 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 t.i.tlark. 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 t.i.tlark; 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 Sh.o.r.e LARK.

Alauda alpestris, LINNaeUS; 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 pa.s.ses a black band, which in the lower part is shaped like a horse-shoe. The beak, feet, and claws, are black.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Sh.o.r.e LARK.]

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, LINNaeUS; 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 sh.e.l.l 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 Linnaeus, 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Sturnus vulgaris, LINNaeUS; L'Etourneau, 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 pa.s.s 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 s.p.a.ce to take exercise and keep their plumage uninjured.