Ornithological and Other Oddities 



I am somewhat surprised at this difficulty in 

 keeping goldfinches in Pretoria, for these birds 

 thrive well in captivity in India, even in a cage, 

 and they are not unfrequently imported, being 

 obtainable in Bombay as cheaply as in England 

 at times. These birds come, I believe, from 

 Malta, but from whatever locality he reaches 

 India, the goldfinch exhibits remarkable indiffer- 

 ence to the heat when he gets there. I have 

 never seen the captive goldfinch panting, even 

 when the native birds were in many cases going 

 about the gardens with their mouths agape. The 

 crow and the sparrow in Calcutta most eloquently 

 testify their feelings in this way, and even the 

 coppersmith-barbet, an unblessed harbinger of 

 the hot weather, has at times to confess himself 

 overcome by the warmth he is supposed to 

 enjoy. 



This tolerance of heat, however, combined 

 with an indifference to cold which is well known 

 — so many goldfinches wintering in England — is 

 no doubt one of the causes which have favoured 

 the artificial spread of our "proud-tailor"; and 

 his species must be a successful one in the 

 struggle for existence, as in many countries where 

 it naturally occurs it is very common. Of course, 

 the scarcity of goldfinches in Britain is chiefly 

 due to the operations of the bird-catcher, and it 

 would be well if the bird could be perpetually 



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