Aviculture.—Aviculture (see AVIARY), or the keeping of birds alive, goes back to a remote period, of unknown date, when prim itive man brought young birds of various kinds to his rude domi cile, partly through curiosity and partly to use as food. Parrots are mentioned by Ctesias, a Greek writer, a century before the time of Aristotle, as birds that spoke the language of man, and that a little later the Romans are known to have kept them in ornate, silver-wired cages of tortoise-shell and ivory.
The domestication of falcons for hunting is recorded in Persia as early as 1700 B.C., and is said to have antedated that period in China. Falconry (q.v.) is believed to have spread to Europe as early as three centuries before the Christian era. In America the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico and Arizona held the turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) in captivity at least i,000 years ago, and probably at a much earlier period, not for use as food, but for the feathers, which were plucked from the living bird and burned in prayer offerings to propitiate Deity. The accumulations of turkey bones in a number of pueblo ruins indicate the numbers maintained.
The original canary (Serinus serinus canarius) is believed to have come from the Canary islands, but in its original grey, olive green and yellowish plumage, with sides and flanks streaked with dusky, is so similar to the serin finch (Serinus serinus serinus) of southern Europe that it is probable that both these closely related geographic races have furnished the stock from which have come our modern birds. Canaries were known in a do
mesticated state at the close of the i4th century, though they seem at that time to have been rare, as Gesner, in 1555, men tions that he had never seen one. Variation in colour among them began early, as partly yellow canaries were known at Nurem berg in 1614, and in 1677 pure yellow canaries as well as white ones were recorded at Augsburg. There are now at least distinct strains and numerous varieties. Modern interest in ca naries is shown by the fact that from 1905 to 1914 more than 3,250,000 were imported into the United States, mainly from Germany and England. There are many societies of canary breeders and several journals that deal their needs.
The keeping in captivity of exotic birds of all kinds originally was the field of zoological gardens, but has engaged the attention of many individuals, and in the past 25 years has gained greatly in vogue, particularly in western Europe and in the United States. Aviaries have been brought to a high state of perfection, and the requirements of many delicate species of birds studied with the utmost care to permit success in their breeding and rearing in confinement, the highest goal of achievement of the bird fancier. Among journals dealing with the pursuit is the Avicultural Maga zine.