PPaillou eastern goldfinch-FSS Erhet_Magnolia_species; Wellcome Taylor White Wikimedia (T1kkat3) PPaillou Lizards closeup-FSS PPaillou farmyard scene Burghley House-FSS PPaillou North Prospect of London taken from the Bowling Green at Islington. John Bowles 1752-FSS PPaillou serins 1755 McGill-FSS PPaillou Lizard (McGill)-FI PPaillou Islington 1780-FSS

The Nuremberg Lizard, a supplement

It may be a coincidence, but the last two major discoveries concerning the history of the London Fancy and the Lizard canary have been made by European enthusiasts: Hein van Grouw (Netherlands) and Didier Mervilde (Belgium) in the case of the 1850 London Fancy, and Michael Monthofer (Germany) in the case of the Nuremberg Lizard.  […]... Read More
LF 1850 Wing&tail HvG-FSS LF 1850 head HvG-FSS LF 1850 ILN jonque-FSS LF 1850 Waller LFs-FSS LF 1850 Tabernacle Walk 1880s-FSS LF 1850 HvG-FI LF 1850 OY wing bar-FSS LF 1850 C&AB 2020.09.02-FSS

A London Fancy canary circa 1850

Wonderful news.  A specimen of a London Fancy canary dated to circa 1850 has come to light; the holy grail for canary historians.   We can thank Hein van Grouw for the discovery; he seems to have made a speciality of investigating birds that became extinct. (1) Hein’s photograph of the bird was first published […]... Read More
Hervieux's list 1711-FI Hervieux's list, 1793 translation-FSS Hervieux's list-Boswell 1842-fss Hervieux's list English trans 1718-fss

History, part 11: Hervieux’s list

Nouveau traité des serins de Canaries: a small book, you can hold it comfortably in the palm of your hand; leather bound, but otherwise crudely printed; 327 pages (excluding the contents, preface and dedication); three illustrations, but sadly none of the birds themselves.  Nothing special you might think, yet this book propelled the canary into […]... Read More
Oiseleurs-Pont au Change-FI Oiseleurs-Passages Rue de Faubourg-fss Oiseleurs-Quai de la Megisserie-fss Oiseleurs-Passages Rue de Faubourg-fss Oiseleurs releasing birds-fss Oiseleurs-Rue de Faubourg-fss

History, part 8: the oiseleurs of Paris

Anyone who wanted to buy a pet bird in Paris in the late 1600s would have known exactly where to find one: the quai de la Megisserie, a bustling area on the right bank of the Seine (1); or, if it was a Sunday, on the Vallée de Misère and the Pont au Change at […]... Read More