The Natural History of Cage Birds Part 31

t.u.r.dus arundinaceus, LINNaeUS; La Rousserole, BUFFON; Die Rohrdrossel, BECHSTEIN.

This bird has so much resemblance to the white-throats, as to cause a hesitation whether it should be ranged with them or with the thrush; but the form of the beak and feet, and generally the whole colour of the body, are in favour of the latter. The total length is at most eight inches, four and a quarter of which belong to the tail, which is of a rounded wedge-shape. The beak is ten lines in length, and strong, flattish, brown at the point, yellowish at the base, and orange on the inside; the iris is dark maroon. The shanks are an inch high, strong, and brownish gray, blending into flesh-colour. This bird is so like the nightingale, that if the tail were reddish it would be mistaken for it.

The top of the head and neck are dark gray, with a light olive tint; a line of dusky yellow extends above the eyes from the nostrils to the middle; the cheeks are brownish gray; the back and the coverts of the wings reddish gray, which becomes lighter, and pa.s.ses at the rump into pure rust-colour.

The female differs from the male only in being smaller, rather darker on the upper, and lighter on the lower parts of the body; the white of the throat is less extensive, and the upper part of the head is tinged with red.

HABITATION.--When wild it is found all over Europe, with the exception of the most northern parts; it is a stranger in those parts of Germany only where there are neither lakes, ponds, nor stagnant rivers abounding with rushes; for it is always on their banks and in large swamps that it resides, and more frequently on the ground than in trees[71].

In confinement it is provided with a nightingale's cage.

FOOD.--When wild it feeds on aquatic insects, the enormous mult.i.tude of which it seems intended to diminish. In order to catch these it is continually seen climbing the stems of the rushes and reeds: it also eats berries.

In confinement, hitherto, no food but that of the nightingale has succeeded with it, and that even for only four or six months. It is soon attacked by a disease which carries off great numbers of white-throats: the feathers falling off without being renewed, the bird declines and dies of atrophy[72].

BREEDING.--The nest is found fastened with wool to the stems of the rushes, or the branches of neighbouring bushes. On the outside it is formed of moss and stubble, firmly mixed, and lined on the inside with fine hay and hair. The eggs, five or six in number, are grayish white, spotted with black. The young, before the first moulting, have the appearance of a white-throat, with some dark spots on the breast.

They are taken from the nest and reared, like young nightingales, on ants' eggs; and if they are placed near this winged Orpheus, they learn his song so well and so perfectly that they become as excellent performers as their masters, with the additional advantage of possessing a noise more flute-like and less shrill than that of the nightingale.

MODE OF TAKING.--The great difficulty of catching this bird makes it scarce in our rooms. The only means is to ascertain well the place it frequents, then to scratch up the earth and throw upon it some meal-worms, and cover the place with limed twigs.

ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES.--With a more beautiful and musical voice, its song is also more varied than that of the song-thrush, without being so long, so sustained, or so brilliant, as that of the nightingale, with which it most deserves to be compared. Some of its couplets resemble those of the blackcap, but broken, like those of the song-thrush. When caged it may be much improved by imitation of the notes of the nightingale, which the young easily copy. It is particularly in the morning and evening that the reed-thrush utters his beautiful warblings. Not only is his throat then in motion; his wings, his tail, and his whole body, are agitated as if to follow the cadence and the measure.

THE NIGHTINGALE.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Motacilla Luscinia, LINNaeUS; Le Rossignol, BUFFON; Die Nachtigall, BECHSTEIN.

This bird, whose plumage is very ordinary, is scarcely five inches long, two and a half of which belong to the tail. But, in confinement, when it is well fed, and especially when it has been bred from the nest, it is commonly larger, reaching sometimes the size of a lark. The straight beak is seven lines in length, thin, with the two mandibles of nearly the same size, and dark brown above, light gray below, flesh-coloured at the base, and yellow within; the iris is brownish grey. The shanks, three quarters of an inch high, are flesh-coloured; the upper part of the body is brownish gray, tinted with rust-red, and in very old birds is reddish ash-coloured.

Among individuals in confinement, some are lighter, others darker. When placed in the windows of a large well-lighted room, which is not exposed to smoke, they are in the upper parts dark gray, or light brownish gray, and the feathers have a reddish edge; below they are white, and grayish on the sides. But those which are shut up in small ill-lighted rooms, subject to smoke, soon lose their colours, the upper part of the body becoming dingy red, the under part grayish white, and the sides brownish gray.

Those accustomed to birds distinguish the female at a glance. Her shanks are not so high: she is not so erect; her head is not so long and pointed, but rounder; her neck is shorter, and more inclined back; her eye is smaller and less lively; and her throat is not so white.

Notwithstanding these characteristics, no other than an experienced person could decide the s.e.x unless he had them both before him.

Nightingales so strongly resemble the female redstart, that the latter is often caught and sold for a nightingale, while the nightingale in its turn is killed and eaten for a redstart. To avoid mistakes, we must observe the following particulars:--The female redstart is always smaller, and her plumage darker: her small feet and beak are blackish; the red of her tail is lighter, and the two middle feathers are blackish, or very dark brown; this long slender tail is in continual motion, while the nightingale moves his only at intervals, for example, when he has hopped a few steps, and he generally carries it raised higher than the point of his wings. His step and att.i.tude are prouder, and his actions seem more deliberate. When he walks, it is by measured regular hops. After a certain number he stops, looks at himself, shakes his wings, raises his tail gracefully, spreads it a little, stoops his head several times, raises his tail again, and proceeds. If any object attracts his attention, he bends his head towards it, and generally looks at it with only one eye. It is true that he jumps hastily upon the insects which const.i.tute his food; but he does not seize them so eagerly as other birds; on the contrary, he stops short, and seems to deliberate whether it is prudent to eat them or not. Generally he has a serious circ.u.mspect air, but his foresight is not proportioned to it, for he falls readily into all the snares which are laid for him. If he once escapes, however, he is not so easily caught again, and becomes as cunning as any other bird. The same, indeed, may be said of all birds pursued by man. Nightingales are called, in my opinion very unjustly, silly and curious; for a great number of new things may be offered them without exciting the least attention; but scratch or dig the earth, and they approach directly, because instinct or experience tells them that they shall there find insects, which they are very fond of. Many other species of this group do the same thing; for instance, the blackcap and the red-breast, without its having been mentioned. These birds do not, however, deserve so much of our attention as the nightingale.

HABITATION.--When wild, nightingales are found throughout Europe, as far as the north of England and the middle of Sweden: in all Asia, as far as the temperate regions of Siberia; and in Africa on the banks of the Nile. They every where choose for their residence places which are shady, cool, but not cold, such as woods, thickets, and even mere hedges in the fields. They do not go beyond the skirts of the forests on high chains of mountains, and never stop on elevations where the air is too keen. Groves, thick brambles, tufted bushes near fields and meadows, are their favourite abodes. They also like gardens planted with untrimmed elm-hedges, which are consequently thick and bushy down to the ground. It is not true that they like watery situations, and if they frequent them it is not for the water, but because they generally produce thick tufted bushes. It must also be owned that their favourite food is more constantly abundant in such places, and if the cold destroys the insects elsewhere, plenty may always be found in them. It is not however the less certain that the water is not the attraction, or all would repair to its vicinity, which experience contradicts. The fact is, that each nightingale generally establishes himself in the place which gave him birth, whether near the water or not, whether in an orchard or on a mountain; and when once he has fixed on a spot, he returns to it every year, unless the place has lost its charm or advantage. If the wood for instance has been cut down, or has lost the thick shade, which was its chief merit, in such circ.u.mstances he seeks in the neighbourhood another spot more to his liking. But if, in a considerable circuit where no change has taken place, a nightingale is seen to establish himself in a spot which was unoccupied the preceding year, it may be concluded that it is a young bird which was born in the vicinity. Convenient places are so much valued, that if the possessors die or are caught, new comers seize upon them immediately; so that the bird which we hear to-day, is very possibly not the same which sang yesterday in the same place. Many other causes may also concur in producing this change of inhabitants, which an ear well versed in the language of these birds will always discover.

It may, perhaps, be asked why, in many places which appear so well adapted to attract nightingales, none are found[73]. I reply that these spots may be concealed by woods or mountains, and not lie perceived by the nightingales in their journeys, or they may be quite out of their route, for they have a regular one which they never quit, because, their progress being slow, and subject to interruptions, it is requisite that they should find on their pa.s.sage every thing necessary for their subsistence, and too cold an atmosphere is painful to them. It may also happen that the nightingales which formerly frequented them, may have been altogether extirpated; and as it has been said that the young always establish themselves in the district which gave them birth, it is by no means surprising that they should not be chosen, at least there are many chances against it. Rather than wait in vain for this chance, there is a means of re-peopling such places with these charming birds. It is only necessary to bring up some broods of young ones, and not let them loose in the following spring till after the period of return is elapsed; because being no longer excited by the instinct which induces them to travel, and the instinct itself being subdued in a great measure by their imprisoned education, they will not wander, but will remain and propagate, provided they are not disturbed, and will return the year following with all their family. I must not omit to say that the young intended for this re-peopling must not be confined in a cage, as they would lose the use of their wings, and run the risk of perishing the first day of their liberation. As soon as they can feed themselves, they must be allowed an entire room, in which they may fly freely, and grow strong and bold. A sort of grove should be formed of branches or small trees, and nature should be imitated as much as possible also in feeding them, by throwing to them more insects and ants' eggs than usual, to accustom them to seek for them.

The period of the nightingale's return throughout the greater part of Germany, is the middle of April, rarely either earlier or later[74]: it is always when the white-thorn begins to expand its leaves.

Advancing slowly and gradually, these birds are not so likely to suffer from bad weather as those which go straight to their destination by one stage. In the middle of August each family prepares to depart; this is done quietly, removing gradually, and pa.s.sing from grove to grove to the end of their journey; then it is that these birds are caught with nooses or springes, by using elderberries or currants for a bait. The middle of September is the latest period at which they are seen in Germany. All then disappear imperceptibly, so that the time they employ in the rest of their journey is altogether unknown. Other birds, whose instinct leads them to travel in large flights, do not so easily escape observation. If by accident a nightingale is met with at the end of September, or in October, it must have been delayed by some peculiar circ.u.mstance; for instance, it may be a young one that has lost its way, or that was hatched late, or it may be an invalid.

In confinement nightingales may be allowed to fly freely, as I have often permitted them; but they do not then sing so well as when in a cage, where they are less subject to interruptions, and where also they live longer and more healthily, from being fed with more care and regularity. The nightingale's cage, of whatever form, must not be less than a foot and a half in length, by about one in width, and one or more in height. The top should be made of linen or soft stuff, that when jumping and struggling, especially when first caught, he may not injure his head. The drinking-cup and feeding-trough are fastened on the outside, unless it is preferred to introduce the latter within, in the form of a drawer. The following are the best form and proportions for a nightingale's cage, that I am acquainted with:--Length, one foot and a half; breadth, eight inches; height, fifteen inches in the middle; thirteen at the sides, because the roof is arched. The sides are made of osiers about a quarter of an inch thick; the bottom is made of the same material, but it is covered by a drawer an inch and a quarter in depth. In order to clean it more easily, I cover it with coa.r.s.e paper, which I renew every time. The feeding-trough is introduced on one side, with edges high enough to prevent the bird's spilling too much of the food. In the middle of the front of the cage, and extending from top to bottom, is a cylindrical projection in the form of a belfry, in which is suspended a large drinking-gla.s.s. The upper stick of the cage is confined here, terminating in a fork, or fixed to a semi-circle, that the projection may not be prevented from moving. This projection is made of osiers, like the rest of the cage. The middle and lower sticks are covered with green cloth, firmly sewed on, that the nightingale may have a softer perch, and not have his feet so soon injured, which is very common with imprisoned birds. The arched roof is also covered with green stuff, which is painted that colour with oil paint, as well as the whole of the cage. But it must be well dried, and quite free from smell before the bird is put into it.

My reasons for preferring this cage are, first, because being small, it occupies less room, without disadvantage to the bird or to the apartment; second, because the size of the osiers leave small intervals for the admission of light, and it is consequently darker; third, because the bird can bathe without wetting his cage or his perches: and consequently his feet remain cleaner and more healthy.

As to the situation of the cage, the prisoner's taste must be consulted. Some nightingales dislike being in the window, and prefer a dark corner of the room; others like the light and the sun. If it is wished that a nightingale should sing everywhere, it is necessary, when he is moulting, and before he resumes his song, to accustom him to a change of place, by carrying him sometimes here, sometimes there. Some will sing only when they are alone, while others like to perform alternately with a neighbour; but they never sing so loud and well when there are several in a room. Perhaps jealousy is the chief cause of this. On these occasions, the first that begins generally maintains the superiority; the others sing only when he stops, and this but seldom, and in an under tone. Some are so sulky that they will not sing at all. Some of these obstinate pouters are occasionally, from their silence, mistaken for females, and consequently dismissed from the room, but when they find themselves alone they begin to sing at full stretch.

FOOD.--When wild nightingales feed on insects, especially little green caterpillars, of which they clear the bushes and trees, small b.u.t.terflies, flies, and beetles, and the grubs of insects hid among moss or in the earth, which are discovered by turning it up. At their departure, towards the end of summer, they also eat elderberries and currants.

In confinement, meal worms and fresh ants' eggs are the first things which should be offered to birds which are just caught; in place of these, when it is not possible to procure them, some persons prepare a mixture of hard eggs, ox heart, and white bread, some mouthfuls of which they force the birds to swallow, and then throw some meal worms on the rest, to induce the nightingale to eat it; but this artificial food is so unfit for these birds, especially at first, that it kills the greater number. They may also be injured by forcibly opening their delicate beak. When ants' eggs cannot be procured, it is better to set the birds at liberty than thus to sacrifice them. Their best food in summer is ants' eggs, to which are daily added two or three meal worms[75]; when none of the former remain fresh they must be supplied by dried or rather roasted ox heart and raw carrot, both grated, and then mixed with dried ants' eggs[76]. The carrot, which may be preserved fresh in sand in the cellar, prevents heat in the stomach and bowels; a little lean beef or mutton minced small may also be used sometimes; after different trials, it is in this way I feed my nightingales. The cheapest food is very ripe elderberries, dried and mixed with ants' eggs, in the same way as the carrots and white bread.

Some bird-fanciers, in winter, bake a little loaf made of the flour of peas and eggs, which they grate, moisten, and then mix with dried ants' eggs; others, who would still be more economical, pound poppy-seeds in a mortar to express the oil, and then mix them with the crumb of white bread; when accustomed to it the birds seem very fond of it, but a proof that it does not agree with them is that they soon fall into a decline and die. This plan has lately been introduced into Thuringia; but knowing, as I do from experience, that the stomach of the nightingale is not formed to digest such food, since he is not graminivorous, I take care never to administer it; and I think I ought to warn others against it. The best will always be the simplest, and that which is most conformable to nature. Those who adopt that which I have mentioned will have the satisfaction of finding their nightingales healthy, cheerful, active, and good singers.

I have already said that I have tried letting them run about the room, feeding them upon the common universal paste; but this food is not sufficiently nutritious for them: on this diet they can hardly pa.s.s six months without falling into a decline, and they would inevitably perish if they were not speedily restored to one which is fitter for them. They require fresh water every day, as well for bathing as drinking; they habitually bathe, when caged, after singing. They have also been observed to do so the first thing in the evening, when the candles were lighted.

BREEDING.--Each nightingale has his little district; and if in the pairing season several males are found together, very angry battles take place, which end in the flight of the weakest. The commonest quarrels of this kind are between fathers and sons. The latter, having been born in the place, determine to fix themselves in it; all feeling of relationship is then extinguished, and they are strangers; the relations of father and son, those sweet ties, hitherto so close, are suddenly broken, never more to be felt.

The nest is built in a grove or orchard, among a heap of branches, or on a thorn bush, or the trunk of a tree surrounded by briars; or even on the ground when it may be hid by tall gra.s.s or thick bushes. Its form is simple and inartificial, on the outside dry leaves, on the inside hay, fine roots, with the hair of animals, is all the apparatus. The female lays from four to six eggs, of a brownish green, on which she sits a fortnight. The young are fed with small caterpillars and b.u.t.terflies. As the low position of the nest exposes them to become the prey of carnivorous quadrupeds, they soon quit it, even before they can fly. Their plumage before moulting has no resemblance to that of the old birds except the red of the tail; the upper part of the body is of a reddish grey, spotted with yellowish white on the head and coverts of the wings; the under part is of a rusty yellow, spotted on the breast with dark brown; but after moulting the resemblance is so perfect that they can hardly be distinguished. If, therefore, any of these birds are caught towards the end of summer, they are carefully examined on the back of the head, round the eyes, and under the beak and neck, for, provided there remains in these places a small feather, or mere yellow point, it is sufficient to ascertain that they are young. As these are the only means of judging, if no marks appear, it is necessary to wait for a few days till the bird begins to sing. This, however, is not a sure sign, as the young females sing as well as the males, till the month of April, though in a weaker and more unconnected way, and without so visibly swelling their throats: it is by these nice observations that connoisseurs succeed in distinguishing them. It may also be remarked, as a help to those who wish to rear nightingales, that, when in the nest, those which are marked with white, and especially those which have a white throat, are males; the reddest and brownest being always females. The young, when taken, are fed with ants' eggs mixed with white bread, grated and moistened. The males begin to warble even before their tails are quite grown: if the father and mother are taken at the same time as the young ones, they will, when caged, continue to feed them as before. It is said that nightingales sometimes build in the bird room; this, however, can only succeed by giving up to a tame healthy pair a whole room, in which a sort of grove should be formed of branches.

DISEASES.--In general moulting amounts to a disease among nightingales: at this critical time they require a more succulent diet, and sometimes a spider by way of purgative. If their stomach is disordered they puff up their feathers, half shut their eyes, and remain for hours with their head under their wing. They are relieved and cured by ants' eggs, some spiders, and by giving them occasionally water impregnated with saffron till it is of an orange colour, to drink.

As to those diseases which they have in common with other birds, they are treated according to the directions given in the Introduction. It is especially necessary, every three months, carefully to remove the large scales from their legs and toes. A nightingale may be kept in confinement fifteen years; whilst in a wild state they are never observed to exist so long in the same spot, which seems to prove that they do not attain so great an age when exposed to all sorts of accidents, both from birds of prey and bird-catchers. I have an instance of a nightingale which has lived twenty-five years in confinement. When they have reached six years they begin to sing less frequently and long, with less brilliancy and ornament; it is then better to set them at liberty in the month of May. The open air often invigorates them so much that they regain their song in all its force and beauty.

MODE OF TAKING.--Nothing is easier than to catch a nightingale in the season of pairing. If a little furrow, smooth at the bottom, is dug in a dark soil, and some meal worms or ants' eggs are thrown into it, he will immediately fly to these delicacies. By putting also in the same place limed twigs, or a small net which may be easily dropped, he will soon be caught; it is even sufficient to fix over the furrow a bit of wood supported by a stick, which will fall as soon as the bird perches upon it. He is so unsuspicious that he observes the snare being laid, and then foolishly falls into it, when the bird-catcher has moved only a few steps from it; he will even allow himself to be led to it when at a little distance, if in a gentle manner. A bird-catcher may thus, in a few hours, depopulate a whole district of these delightful songsters. If, however, this is feared, there is a means of baffling his intentions, by antic.i.p.ating him, and catching the nightingale we wish to preserve in our neighbourhood, either by a limed twig or in a net, and letting him go again. This experiment will prevent his falling so readily into the snare in future. In the greater part of Germany, indeed, it is forbidden, under a very heavy penalty, to catch nightingales. Another mode of taking them is by nooses and springes, and suspending for a bait, instead of berries, live meal-worms; but there is one disadvantage attending it, while struggling the bird almost always injures his feet, especially in springes.

ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES.--The first good quality of a nightingale is undoubtedly its fine voice, and notes which I shall endeavour to describe. The nightingale expresses his different emotions by suitable and particular tones. The most unmeaning cry when he is alone appears to be a simple whistle _fitt_, but if the syllable _crr_ is added, it is then the call of the male to the female. The sign of displeasure or fear is _fitt_ repeated rapidly and loudly before adding the terminating _crr_; whilst that of satisfaction and pleasure such, for example, as conjugal endearments, or on the occasion of finding a delicate morsel, is a deep _tack_, which may be imitated by smacking the tongue.

In anger, jealousy, rivalry, or any extraordinary event, he utters hoa.r.s.e disagreeable sounds, somewhat like a jay or a cat. Lastly, in the season of pairing, when the male and female entice and pursue each other, from the top of a tree to its base, and thence again to the top, a gentle subdued warbling is all that is heard.

Nature has granted these tones to both s.e.xes; but the male is particularly endowed with so very striking a musical talent, that in this respect he surpa.s.ses all birds, and has acquired the name of the king of songsters. The strength of his vocal organ is indeed wonderful; and it has been found that the muscles of his larynx are much more powerful than those of any other bird. But it is less the strength than the compa.s.s, flexibility, prodigious variety, and harmony of his voice which make it so admired by all lovers of the beautiful. Sometimes dwelling for minutes on a strain composed of only two or three melancholy tones, he begins in an under voice, and swelling it gradually by the most superb crescendo to the highest point of strength, he ends it by a dying cadence; or it consists of a rapid succession of more brilliant sounds, terminated, like many other strains of his song, by some detached ascending notes.

Twenty-four different strains or couplets may be reckoned in the song of a fine nightingale, without including its delicate little variations; for among these, as among other musicians, there are some great performers and many middling ones. This song is so articulate, so speaking, that it may be very well written. The following is a trial which I have made on that of a nightingale in my neighbourhood, which pa.s.ses for a very capital singer[77]:--

_Tio, tio, tio, tio.

Spe, tiou, squa.

Tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tix.

Coutio, coutio, coutio, coutio.

Squo, squo, squo, squo.

Tzu, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzi.

Corror, tiou, squa, pipiqui.

Zozozozozozozozozozozozo, zirrhading!

Tsissisi, tsissisisisisisisis.

Dzorre, dzorre, dzorre, dzorre, hi.

Tzatu, tzatu, tzatu, tzatu, tzatu, tzatu, tzatu, dzi.

Dlo, dlo, dlo, dlo, dlo, dlo, dlo, dlo, dlo.

Quio, tr rrrrrrrr itz.

Lu, lu, lu, lu, ly, ly, ly, ly, lie, lie, lie, lie[78].

Quio, didl li lulylie.

Hagurr, gurr quipio!

Coui, coui, coui, coui, qui, qui, qui, qui, gai, gui, gui, gui[79]

Goll goll goll goll guia hadadoi.

Couigui, horr, ha diadia dill si!

Hezezezezezezezezezezezezezezezeze couar ho dze hoi.

Quia, quia, quia, quia, quia, quia, quia, quia, ti.

Ki, ki, ki, o, o, o, ioioioio ki.

Lu ly li le lai la leu lo, didl o quia.