;^^6 The Irish Naturalist. 



MY BIRDS. 



BY REV. THOMAS B. GIBSON, M.A. 



( Conchided from page 3 13.) 



The Greenfinch is quite hardy ; and the cock is undoubtedly 



ornamental, though his plumage does not improve in the 



aviary ; but the melancholy note, and the other indicative of 



fright, are the only tones to which I am accustomed. The 



bird is not easily made quite tame, though an approach towards 



that state can be obtained with all of them. No bird is more 



easily obtained in Dublin ; and a price of three-pence, for the 



very best plumaged bird, is so small that one need never 



worry about losing a bird ; though, to be sure, a real bird-lover 



laments the loss of a cheap pet almost as much as he does 



that of a dear one. This bird is called — on account of its price 



I suppose— the " penny bird" by little boys in Dublin; and 



hens, at least, can easily be obtained at that rate. It, and the 



Bullfinch, are particularly fond of a branch in bud. This 



latter bird is a prime favourite with me ; and the pair I possess 



could hardly be tamer. They have built a nest, hatched and 



brought out young ; but the young died when only two or 



three days old, and the old ones have not nested this spring. 



The nest was loosely made, after the usual style, some of the 



hairs having been obtained by the cock out of my beard, after 



strenuous exertions. The hen — but not the cock, singularly 



enough — can pipe a few bars of " Pop goes the weasel" ; but I 



have never been able to teach any other tune — a circumstance 



due, I fear, to the incapacity of the teacher rather than the 



taught. The Bullfinch is fond of water; and usually disputes 



with the Bramblingfor first place at the bath, though he never 



plunges in or rolls about in the thorough-going way the 



latter does. Moulting-time is very serious in regard to 



the health of the Bullfinch — especially with the hen, 



which appears to lose almost all its feathers at once 



— but perhaps the impossibility of keeping the birds 



away from the hemp, in an aviary, may account for this. 



I have for about a year or so, kept a good many Crossbills ; 



but I am sorry to say only two survive now. One of these is 



very red in colour, being, I suppose, a year-old bird, while the 



other is yellowish and sings continuously. It must therefore, 



I suppose, be an older bird. At first, when I learned that 



