MIMICRY OF FINCHES 173 



to hear another bird, never learns a perfect song, but 

 sings a series of disconnected notes, without any 

 similitude to its parent's song. Young bullfinches 

 or greenfinches, bred from the &g^ under canaries, 

 learned the foster-parents' songs, and had none of 

 the harsh notes of their actual parents ; while young 

 greenfinches taken from the nest when fledged, and 

 then reared by hand, always had some of their 

 respective parents' notes, although learning another 

 song under a tutor. A goldfinch-canary mule with 

 a pure goldfinch song, when two years old, learned 

 the song of a linnet, and sang both songs alternately 

 and mixed. The time when the young bird really 

 picks up the song is when in the nest, and before it 

 can feed itself. I have seen the featherless little 

 birds singing ; that is, I have seen their throats going, 

 and heard their squeaky notes, as though they were 

 practising " (/;/ litt^. In support of these observa- 

 tions is the fact that the males of some of the finches 

 {e.g. the greenfinch) feed the females near the nest 

 during incubation, on which occasions the call-notes 

 are abundantly employed, and hence attract the 

 notice of the young, then exposed to the air. The 

 Rev. H. A. Macpherson informs me that bullfinches 

 try to pipe as soon as they can perch (/;/ litt^. 



The great grey shrike, whose variety of tones has 



