Habitation.—When wild, this bird is found throughout Europe, inhabiting woods and orchards, or their vicinity; it particularly loves thick copse-wood. In September it leaves our climate, and returns about the middle of April, to enliven our woods by its brilliant and well supported song.

In confinement, when it is allowed to hop about, it is provided with a branch, or a roost furnished with several sticks, because it walks with difficulty, and prefers perching, on which account a cage is better adapted to it. At the time for departure, these birds, urged by the instinct to travel, are much agitated, especially in the night, by moonlight. The desire to rove is so strong, that they often fall ill and die.

Food.—When wild, the blackcap feeds on small caterpillars, butterflies, flies, in short, of all kinds, on insects and their grubs; in time of need, on berries and fruits also87.

In confinement this bird does very well on the universal paste, with which a little bruised hemp seed is mixed, and occasionally meal worms, ants’ eggs, or insects. In summer and autumn he is supplied with elder-berries, and they are also dried, in order that he may have some in winter, soaked in water, which is found very good for his health. He is a great eater, and when at liberty in the bird room partakes of everything, meat, bread, and even vegetables. As he is generally caught in the autumn he is soon accustomed to artificial food, by having elderberries and meal worms mixed with it for several successive days. He is fond of bathing, and must be always well supplied with fresh water.

Breeding.—This species generally lays but once a year, occasionally twice, and even thrice. His nest, placed near the ground, generally in a hedge or bush of white-thorn, is hemispherical, solid, and well built; the outside of stalks, deserted cocoons, and stubble, the inside of fine soft hay, mixed with hair. It contains from four to six eggs, of a yellowish white mottled with yellow and spotted with brown. The young are fed with small caterpillars, insects, and currants; those which are brought up by hand are fed with white bread and milk. The charming tone of their voice gives to their own song, as well as to that of the nightingale and canary, which they easily learn to imitate, a sweetness and grace which are enchanting. Before moulting there is so little difference between the young males and females that it requires great skill to distinguish them, for the cap of the former is only a slight shade darker of olive brown, and the back a greyish brown, rather more tinted with olive; but on the first moulting the head of the male begins to blacken first behind the beak, while that of the female retains its original colour, except that it becomes more bright and distinct. When it is wished to ascertain the sex of these young birds, the best plan is to pull out a few brown feathers from the head; if it is a male, black ones will come up in their place, and thus there will be no danger of taking females by mistake; these, however, would soon be known, because the males begin to warble as soon as they are able to fly and feed themselves.

Diseases.—The blackcap is subject to the same diseases as the nightingale, but is more frequently attacked by decline. As soon as the symptoms appear he must be fed with a great many meal worms and ants’ eggs, and his drinking water must be impregnated with iron, by putting a nail into it. Those which are left to run about the room are apt to lose their feathers. Under such circumstances they must be caged, and exposed to the warmth of the sun or the fire; they must be well fed, especially with the food given to nightingales; these methods generally restore them, and their feathers are gradually renewed. A tepid bath, repeated for two or three days, is very likely to help their development. In epileptic or paralytic attacks I make them swallow, with great success, two or three drops of olive oil; I lately had the pleasure of seeing the success of this remedy on a bird of this species suffering from an apoplectic fit, and which dragged his little paralysed foot about the room where he lived uncaged; he is now quite recovered, very gay, and active; his song was never before so delightful to me. These birds generally live in captivity as long as nightingales.

Modes of Taking.—Every taste but that of the palate must be destroyed if this charming bird is caught for the table. Besides, it is by no means numerous; but if it is desired as an ornament to the house, snares baited with currants must be laid for it in July and August, the greatest care being taken to save the feet, which are very likely to be broken. Patience is very necessary in order to succeed, for it is a very suspicious bird, approaching slowly, and falling into the snare only when pressed by hunger. The same suspicious disposition causes it to repair with repugnance to the water trap, though in other situations it delights in water, and often bathes. If it perceives anything unusual it will remain for hours without approaching, and will pass twenty times by currants which are hung up as a bait without touching them, though very greedy of this food; but if it sees another bird bathe, or drink, it takes courage, and soon falls into the trap. The young, before moulting, still foolish and inexperienced, are more careless, and may be taken in great numbers in autumn; and in the spring they are as easy to catch as the nightingale, by means of a net or limed twigs, in a place cleared from moss and turf, and baited with meal worms and ants’ eggs.

Attractive Qualities.—It is perhaps a sufficient eulogium to say that this bird rivals the nightingale, and many persons even give it the preference. If it has less volume, strength, and expression, it is more pure, easy, and flute-like in its tones, and its song is perhaps more varied, smooth, and delicate. It sings also for a much longer period, both when wild and in confinement, its song being hardly suspended throughout the year by day, and prolonged, like that of the nightingale, far into the night, though begun at dawn. The female sings also, but in a more limited degree, very much like the red-breast, which has caused it to be mistaken for a particular species with a redcap. The call is a sort of smart “tack,” repeated quickly several times. The sudden view of an unknown object, or of an imminent danger, makes it utter a hoarse disagreeable cry of fear, very like a cat when hurt88.

Habitation.—When wild, this bird, which is found all over Europe, appears to prefer the groves and bushes which skirt the forests, as well as orchards in their vicinity. He arrives some days before the nightingale, and departs at the end of September.

In confinement he is treated like the blackcap, and, being more delicate, must be furnished with a cage.

Food.—When wild the fauvette feeds on small caterpillars and the other little insects which are found on the bushes, where he is continually searching for them, uttering at the same time the sweetest and softest song. After midsummer he appears very fond of cherries; he eats the pulp up to the stone, and this causes his beak to be at this season always stained; he also likes red currants and elderberries.

In confinement he is so great an eater that if he is not caged he hardly ever quits the feeding-trough of the nightingale. Though he is more easily tamed than the blackcap, he seldom survives more than two or three years, and the artificial food is no doubt the cause. He appears very fond of the universal paste; but I have often observed that it causes the feathers to fall off to so great a degree that he becomes almost bare, and then I think he dies of cold rather than from any other cause89.

Breeding.—The nest of the fauvette, placed in a hedge or bush of white-thorn, at about three feet above the ground, is well built on the outside with blades of grass and roots, and inside with the finest and softest hay, very seldom with moss. The edges are fastened with spiders’ webs and dry cocoons. The female lays four or five eggs, of a yellowish white, spotted all over with light ash grey and olive brown. The young, which are hatched after fifteen days’ sitting, are no sooner fledged than they jump out of the nest the moment it is approached.

Diseases.—They are the same as in the blackcap; but the fauvette is still more subject to the loss of its feathers. It fattens so fast upon the first universal paste that it often dies from this cause.

Mode of Taking.—These birds may be caught during the whole of the summer with nooses and springes baited with cherries, red currants, or elderberries. They go also very readily to the water trap, from seven to nine in the morning, and in the evening a little before sunset.

Attractive Qualities.—“Of the inhabitants of our woods,” says Buffon, “fauvettes are the most numerous and agreeable. Lively, nimble, always in motion, they seem occupied only with play and pleasure; as their accents express only joy, it is a pretty sight to watch them sporting, pursuing, and enticing each other; their attacks are gentle, and their combats end with a song.”

Observations.—This bird arrives among us towards the end of April. It frequents hilly places covered with bushes and briars, among which it builds its nest, about four or five feet from the ground, and among the thickest foliage. The eggs, five in number, are whitish, mottled with bluish brown, and speckled with dark maroon. Incubation lasts but thirteen days. At first the young are fed with the smallest caterpillars, afterwards with larger ones, flies, and other insects; but as soon as they can fly they accompany their parents in search of cherries, red currants, elderberries, and, later in the season, the berries of the service tree. The family departs together in the month of September, and then some are taken in nooses or springes baited with elderberries. But this species is not much valued, and does not therefore excite the attention of bird-catchers, who give the preference to the fauvette.

However, this bird is an excellent singer, and though his voice is not so clear and flute-like as that of the fauvette, yet by skilfully introducing his call into his warble, he produces a very striking and agreeable variety. This species is fed and treated like the preceding, but with still greater care, for it is even more delicate. With all my care I have never been able to preserve it more than two years at the utmost: the difficulty, however, does not appear to proceed from the diet, for being caught in the autumn it soon gets accustomed to the food of the nightingale, by first giving it the berries which it selects in a state of freedom.

Habitation.—When wild it is found all over Europe, making its abode in thick deep forests. It is with us a bird of passage; but some individuals, which come from quite the north, remain during the winter near our dwellings, searching the heaps of wood and stones, the hedges and fences, and, like the wren, entering barns and stables. Those which leave us return at the end of March, stop for some time in the hedges, and then penetrate into the woods.

In confinement this bird is so wakeful and gay that it may be safely left at liberty in the room, having a roosting-place for the night; it is also kept in a cage.

Food.—When wild, the great variety of things which serve it for food prevent its ever being at a loss throughout the year. It is equally fond of small insects and worms and small seeds. In spring it feeds on flies, caterpillars, grubs, and maggots, which it seeks for in the hedges, bushes, and in the earth. In summer it feeds chiefly on caterpillars; in autumn on seeds of all kinds and elderberries; and in winter, when the snow has covered all seeds, it has recourse to insects hid in the cracks and crevices of walls and trees.

In confinement it will eat anything that comes to table. It is fond of the universal paste, hemp, rape, and poppy-seeds, and refuses none of these things immediately on being imprisoned, and it soon seems as completely at ease as if accustomed to confinement91.

Breeding.—This species lays generally twice a year; placing its nest among the thickest bushes, about five or six feet from the ground; the outside is composed of mosses, and fibres of roots, and wood, and the inside is lined with the fur of deer, hares, and the like. The eggs, five or six in number, are bright bluish green. The young are no sooner fledged than, like the preceding, they quit the nest. Their plumage is then very different from that of their parents: the breast is spotted with grey and yellow, the back with brown and black; lastly, the nostrils and angles of the beak are rose-coloured. They are easily reared on white bread and poppy-seeds moistened with milk. As soon as they are tamed these birds have a great inclination to build in the room. The male and female collect all the little straws, threads, and similar materials which they can find, to build a nest among the boughs with which they are supplied for the purpose. The female lays even when solitary; they may be paired with red-breasts, and these unions succeed very well.

Diseases.—If it were generally true, that birds in a wild state are never ill, this species must be excepted; for, however strange it may appear, the young are subject to the small pox; they are attacked by it while in the nest, or even after they can fly. I have a young bird of this kind, which, at a time when this disease prevailed in my neighbourhood, took it; he recovered, however, tolerably well, but he entirely lost the tail-feathers, which were never afterwards renewed. Old ones are sometimes caught or killed whose feet and eyes are ulcerated, or have tumours on them; perhaps they may be only chilblains. Weavers’ stoves appear to be particularly injurious to these birds; in two or three months their eyes swell, and the feathers fall off all round them; the beak is attacked with scurvy, which spreads to the feet, then all over the body; but they nevertheless continue to live from eight to ten years in these rooms.

Mode of Taking.—This is very easy at their return in the spring. As soon as they appear in the hedges, where they soon discover themselves by the cry “issri,” a little place near, where the earth is bare, must be found; after having placed limed twigs, and thrown among them earth or meal worms for a bait, the dunnock is gently driven towards them without alarming him; as soon as he perceives the worms he darts upon them and falls into the snare. In the autumn they may be caught in the area and with a noose; in winter in the white-throat’s trap; but they resort in the greatest numbers to the water trap, not so much for the sake of bathing as to seek for dead insects or decayed roots.

Attractive Qualities.—However agreeable this bird may be in the room, from its good humour, agility, gaiety, and song, it does not deserve the name of winter nightingale, which it bears in some places; its song is too simple and short; it is a little couplet, composed of a strain of the lark and one of the wren. The sounds tchondi, hondi, hondi are repeated frequently and for a long time, always descending a sixth, and gradually diminishing in power. This song is accompanied with an uninterrupted movement of the wings and tail, and lasts through the year, except at the moulting season. Some young ones, reared in confinement, will, if placed beside a fine singing bird, learn enough of its song to embellish their own. But, whatever may be asserted on the subject, they never succeed in imitating the nightingale. When the dunnock disputes with its fellow captives for a place or for food its anger evaporates in a song, like the crested lark and the wagtail.

Habitation.—When wild, these birds are found in abundance during the period of migration, on hedges and bushes, but in summer they must be sought in the woods. “This retreat,” it has been said, “is necessary to their happiness: the male is engrossed with the society of his mate, all other company is troublesome; he pursues eagerly the birds of his species, and drives them from the district he has chosen for himself; the same bush never contains two pairs of these birds.” The red-breasts return to us (in Germany) about the middle of March92; they stop for about a fortnight in the hedges, and then proceed into the woods. In October they return towards the bushes, which they busily search as they travel, and proceed gradually to their destination. Some delay their departure till November, some will even remain here and there throughout the winter, but generally to their cost, as their life is usually sacrificed by these delays. Necessity then forces them to draw near to houses, dunghills, and stables, where they are generally caught by men or cats, or die of hunger and cold if the frost is long and severe, and the snow deep. Care must be taken in hard weather not to transport them suddenly into a warm room, the rapid change from cold to heat invariably kills them. They should at first be put in a cold room, and be gradually accustomed to warm air; with these precautions they will do as well as those which are caught in the autumn or spring.

In confinement the inhabitants of my neighbourhood like to see red-breasts hopping about the room, and they make a roost for them of oak or elm branches. They find that this bird destroys flies and even bugs. Such a situation appears to agree with him very well, as he lives in this way from ten to twelve years. He is so jealous and unsociable that he must not have a companion; he must be quite alone; a second would cause battles which would end only with the death of one of the combatants; if, however, they are equal in strength, and in a large room, they will divide it, and each taking possession of his half, they remain in peace, unless one should pass his limits, in which case war begins, and is maintained to the last extremity.

In order the better to enjoy their pretty song, they are provided with a cage generally resembling that of the nightingale.

Food.—When wild the red-breast feeds on all sorts of insects, which are pursued with great skill and agility; sometimes this bird is seen fluttering like a butterfly round a leaf on which is a fly, or if he sees an earth-worm he hops forward flapping his wings, and seizes it. In autumn he eats different sorts of berries.

In confinement, by giving him at first some earth or meal worms, and in the autumn elderberries, he soon gets accustomed to eat anything: he picks up crumbs of bread, the little fibres of meat, and the like, but cheese appears his favourite food. When hopping about the bird-room he likes the universal paste very much93. He chiefly requires a regular supply of fresh water, both for drinking and bathing; and he makes himself so wet as to conceal the colours of his plumage.

Breeding.—The red-breast lays twice a year. The nest, placed near the ground, either among moss, in the crevices of stones, among the roots of a tree, or in the hole of an old felled trunk, is carelessly formed of moss, lined with fine hay, hair, and feathers. She lays from four to six eggs, of a yellowish white, with lines and spots joined and mixed together of a reddish colour; the colours become deeper as the spots approach the large end, where they form a crown of a light brown colour. The young birds are at first covered with yellow down, like chickens, they then become grey, and their feathers are edged with dusky yellow; they do not acquire the orange red till they have moulted. They are easily reared on white bread soaked in boiled milk. When their cage is placed beside a nightingale they acquire some parts of his song, which, introduced into their own, make a very pretty mixture.

Diseases.—Their most common disorder is diarrhœa, for which some spiders are administered. Decline is often cured with plenty of ants’ eggs and meal-worms; but indigestion often proves fatal, especially when it arises from having eaten too many earth-worms. It may, however, be cured by making the bird swallow spiders and meal-worms.

Mode of Taking.—In spring, when the red-breasts frequent the hedges and bushes, sticks are passed transversely through them, on which limed twigs are fastened, then two persons gently beat the hedge or bush to drive the birds towards the twigs, where they are soon caught, for red-breasts have the habit of perching on all the little low projecting branches, in order that they may discover earth-worms. This sort of red-breast chase is very common in Thuringia, where many persons keep them. Limed twigs may also be put in a bare place with earth or meal-worms, just as for the dunnock. The small nightingale net and the white-throat trap catch many. They are also caught at the water trap; but the greatest number are caught in autumn with the noose, baited with elderberries, which are at that season their favourite food. If they are caught for the room (and it is a pity to hunt so pretty a bird for the table), it is necessary, in order to preserve their feet, to cover the springes with felt or cork.

Attractive Qualities.—His pretty plumage, tricks, and great sociability would be enough to make him charming. He is soon tamed, so as to come upon the table and eat from a plate or the hand; his cheerfulness and agility must also give pleasure, always in motion, and bowing after every hop and calling “sisri;” but he is particularly valued on account of his song. This song is generally more perfect and altogether superior when he is caged than when hopping about the room. There are however exceptions. The red-breast sings throughout the year, but in spring his voice is most brilliant and his melody most enchanting. In a country residence it is very easy to teach this bird to go and come, whether reared from the nest or caught full grown.

Habitation.—When wild this species exists all over Europe94. It is a bird of passage, and when returning towards the north, in the beginning of April, it stops in large flights near streams, in hedges, and damp fields, comes even into courts, and on the dunghills of farms, if surprised by snow and a severe return of cold. In the summer it frequents those parts among the mountains abounding with water; in August it approaches cabbage fields enclosed by hedges or bushes. It is very seldom that one or two pairs build in our country.

In confinement it may be let run about; it soon grows so tame as to come when called, and feed from the hand. Its rapid motions and races are amusing; but it must not be allowed to fly high enough to get on the tables and furniture, as it would soon dirty them. It sings better and longer when caged. The cage should be, like the nightingale’e, large enough for the bird not to spoil its beautiful feathers; the tail-feathers easily drop if they are rubbed.

Food.—When wild the blue-breast feeds on all sorts of insects; it also eats elderberries.

In confinement it must at first be fed with ants’ eggs, meal-worms, and even some earth-worms. If it is kept uncaged these things must be thrown upon the universal paste, which it will thus learn to relish; but though it is easily reconciled to it, ants’ eggs, earth and meal-worms, must nevertheless be occasionally supplied, or it will soon die in decline. When caged it is fed like nightingales, and on that food it will live seven or eight years. It is a great eater, and can devour in a day its own weight of the first universal paste, so that it mutes incessantly. It requires a constant supply of fresh water for drinking and bathing: it wets itself so much that it is completely drenched. I have observed for several successive years that it never bathes till the afternoon95.

Diseases.—Diarrhœa and decline are its commonest disorders. The treatment has been pointed out in the Introduction.

Mode of Taking.—I often hear it said that the blue-breast is a rare bird; that in some parts of Germany it appears only every five, or even ten, years, but I can declare that this opinion arises from a want of observation. Since I have taught my neighbours to be more attentive to the time of their passage, they every year catch as many as they please. If in the first fortnight of April, up to the 20th, cold and snow return, plenty may be found by merely following the streams, rivers, and ponds, especially in the neighbourhood of a wood. A proper place is chosen, near the water and a bush, meal and earth worms are thrown there, with limed twigs, and soon these poor birds, if ever so little pushed towards it fall blindly into the snare; they also fall into white-throat traps and nightingale nets. In autumn, when they frequent cabbage grounds to hunt for caterpillars, plenty may be caught by planting here and there sticks with limed twigs fastened to them, baited with meal-worms. At this season they sometimes go to the water trap, but this is not usual. If it happens that any are caught in nooses or spring traps baited with elderberries, hunger must have been the cause, and they must have been entirely destitute of food.

Attractive Qualities.—Its beauty, sprightliness, sociability, and song, unite in rendering the blue-breast delightful. It runs very swiftly, raises its tail with a jerk, and extends it like a fan, keeping it and the wings in perpetual motion, uttering the cry of “fide, fide” and “tac, tac.” It is unfortunate that it gradually loses the fine blue on the breast in successive moultings, when confined to the house, and becomes at length of a whitish grey. In a few days it will become tame enough to eat meal-worms from the hand, and it will not be long before it comes for them when called by the voice or whistle. Its song is very agreeable; it sounds like two voices at once; one deep, resembling the gentle humming of a violin string, the other the soft sound of a flute.

When at liberty in the room it always seeks the sunshine, and sleeps on its belly. Its notes very much resemble those of the common wagtail, but much improved by a violin-like hum.

Habitation.—When wild it is found equally near houses, in the fields and mountains, and in every place where insects and worms are in plenty. It is in Germany a bird of passage, which assembles in autumn on the tiles, like the swallow, to prepare for its departure in the first fortnight of October96. It returns towards the end of February or beginning of March, though the weather be not mild; it may come thus early without danger, as it does not fear to approach houses, on the walls of which it finds flies that the spring sun has drawn from their retreat; and in the streams it also finds abundance of aquatic insects.

In the house it may be kept in a cage, or allowed to range; but in either case it is necessary to scatter plenty of sand about, as it is a very dirty little bird.

Food.—When wild, it feeds on gnats, water-spiders, aquatic insects, flies, and insects that fasten on cattle, round which it often roams. It also follows the ploughman to feed on the insects turned up by the plough.

In the house nothing tames it so soon as ants’ eggs, meal-worms, flies, and other insects. By degrees it acquires a taste for other food. In the cage it must be fed in the same manner as the nightingale.

Breeding.—This species breeds two or three times in the course of the season. Its nest, placed in a hole, in a crevice between stones, or even under a tile, is carelessly formed of moss, small roots, hay, or something of the kind, and lined with hair and wool. It lays five or six eggs, of a bluish white, spotted with black. The young ones brought up from the nest become so tame, that they will go and return like a pigeon, build in the room, and seek for food for their little ones in the fields.

Diseases.—Though very subject to diarrhœa, this and the two following species may be preserved in a room five or six years.

Mode of Taking.—If there is snow on the ground on their return in March, it is only necessary to clear a place (below the window will do), and scatter meal-worms amongst limed twigs, or place these on stones or wood where the birds assemble, or even fasten a meal-worm to a limed twig, loosely stuck in the earth, and you may soon catch a wagtail.

Attractive Qualities.—Its handsome plumage, its sprightliness, its quick and elegant motions, please one as much as its pretty song, which, without being striking, is varied, and continues the whole year, except during moulting. I always keep a wagtail amongst my birds, and when the blackcap, the blue-breast, the lark, and the linnet sing, it seems to form a counter-tenor.

Habitation.—In their wild state, these wagtails are found throughout Europe; but in the greatest number in mountainous and wooded parts, where the brooks flow over beds of pebbles. They are birds of passage, and return amongst us the end of February or beginning of March. A few have been observed to remain during mild winters, when they take up their abode near dunghills or warm springs.

In the house they should be kept in a nightingale’s cage, and treated like one; they are so delicate, that with the greatest care they can rarely be preserved two years.

Food.—When wild they prefer aquatic insects, and are continually chasing them among the plants and stones by the water-side.

In the house they should be fed on the same food as the nightingale, to which they may be gradually accustomed, by throwing amongst it meal-worms and ants’ eggs.

Breeding.—Their nests, placed by the water-side, in mill-dikes, or heaps of stones, are formed with rather more art than those of the preceding species. They begin to lay as early as March, five or six white eggs, mottled with flesh-colour. The young ones must be reared on ants’ eggs and the crumb of white bread, soaked in boiled milk.

Mode of Taking.—This is very simple; it is only to plant sticks with limed twigs and meal-worms attached to them, on the banks, or in the middle of a stream which they frequent; you will not have to wait long before some are caught.

Attractive Qualities.—They are as pleasing as the common wagtail; but their plumage is more brilliant, and their voice stronger. Their beautiful clear trilling sound renders their song agreeable, though rather short.

Habitation.—When wild, this species, better known than the preceding, is found throughout the plains of Europe, running about the pastures amongst the sheep and cattle. They assemble in September, and depart for warmer countries in large flights, uttering the cry “sipp, sipp!” in a clear tone; they return in March.

It must be treated like the grey wagtail, in the house; but it is not so delicate.

Food.—When wild it feeds on flies and other insects that tease the cattle.

In the house it must be fed like the preceding.

Breeding.—Its nest, made of stubble, and lined with wool, is placed at the water-side, or in a deserted mole-hill, sometimes in the grass, or corn, like the lark’k. It breeds twice in the year, each time laying five or six eggs, grey-blue, spotted all over with reddish grey, and very like those described above. The under parts of the young birds are much paler than in the old ones. They must be reared on ants’ eggs and white bread soaked in boiled milk.

Mode of Taking.—These birds are not very easily caught; at least, I have always found it very difficult to succeed; and, therefore, one is reduced to the necessity of placing limed twigs on the nest, which is cruel. If snow should fall, however, after their return in spring, some of them may be taken, by clearing a convenient place, and scattering there meal-worms amongst limed twigs, if you succeed in bringing the birds near.

Attractive Qualities.—Its beauty and agreeable song make this bird a desirable acquisition; but with every possible attention, I have never been able to keep one more than two years.