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In an aviary the Cirl Bunting is by no means an easy bird 

 to keep in good health, and perhaps for this reason it has always 

 been one of my ambitions to breed it. It requires warmth, 

 plenty of space and growing grass, but after providing these and 

 insect food in abundance, still the bird will generally be found 

 to languish after a time. It seems quite contented, sings and 

 feeds well, but after a time it begins to mope and, when it reaches 

 this stage it should be at once released or it will die. 



There is always an exception to every rule and I have a 

 female of this species which has spent three years in my largest 

 aviary. Each summer it has built a nest and once it laid a clutch 

 of eggs. The Cirl Bunting is not a quarrelsome species (I have 

 five now together yet I see no fighting) but when it meets a 

 Yellowhammer, there will surely be a battle. 



There is one insult that a bird can never forgive, namely, 

 that another bird, not of its own species, should dare to wear 

 similar colours. I have at the present time a cock Blue Grosbeak 

 and a cock Jacariui Finch in an outdoor aviary. Both these birds 

 are of a dark indigo blue and they never meet without some 

 feathers falling. I do not, however, think we can call this a 

 singular characteristic for we must all have noticed that our 

 sisters are stirred to the inmost depths of their being should any 

 of their friends appear in a similar hat or gown to their own. 



My Cirl Buntings spend most of their time on the ground, 

 where they seem to expect to find their food. As a matter of 

 fact the seed tins are raised some three feet from the floor on 

 account of mice, yet they may be seen intently scrutinizing the 

 ground beneath the tins for the waste seed which the other birds 

 let fall from above. It never seems to occur to them to fly up 

 and help themselves. Their gait is singular, being neither a hop 

 nor a run, but somewhat resembling that of the Chaffinch. 

 Their call note is a weak monosyllabic chirp which is often 

 heard at night, at which time no species is more restless and 

 easily disturbed. 



Of the six species of Buntings I have kept, my favourite 

 is the Lapland, with its pretty warbling song and handsome 

 nuptial dress. The Snow Bunting will live for any length of 

 time in captivity, but is a most phlegmatic, uninteresting bird. 



