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show and not for breeding, a single specimen may be 

 kept without much risk providing there is plenty of 

 space. They are quite hardy, in spite of what some 

 writers have stated " that the least frost would be 

 fatal " ; mine have been out doors all the year round 

 for three years, in a small portable aviary, which is but 

 little more than a large box cage, with waterproof gable 

 top; they are never covered up at night, not in the 

 severest weather, and they show by their demeanour in 

 the midst of them, that our winter frosts, wet and fog 

 do not inconvenience them in the least. 



There is no apparent sexual difference, the hen 

 being perhai:)s a shade smaller and a trifle duller in 

 colour, but this distinction would only hold good, when 

 the birds were of the same age. For instance, an old 

 hen would be as large and as brilliant as a young cock, 

 in spite of this there is but little difficulty in sexing 

 up, as the male sings almost incessantly and the hen 

 but seldom. One writer states that the hen has a 

 white spot on the chin — this I cannot say — my hen 

 has no such mark, but in making this comment I must 

 state that I have had but one pair. 



Its nest is usually found in a bush, seldom more 

 than 3 feet from the ground, it is built of grass and 

 lined with softer materials ; usually four eggs are laid 

 — yellowish white, more or less spotted with buff. 

 Incubation lasts twelve or thirteen days. The young 

 are covered with whitish down and leave the nest when 

 about three weeks old. The nesting time is from 

 September to January, hence the comparative failure 

 to breed this Serin by the bulk of English aviculturists. 



One writer states that they readily breed, and 

 ought to be called love birds because of their affection 



