The Chaffinch. 21 



*' There is a little one", she said, carefully returning the 

 branch to its usual position. ''Let me see, please?" so she 

 lifted me up. "What a little black thing!" I cried; but 

 the old bird had returned, and was hopping about with a 

 small caterpillar in her beak, apparently afraid to approach 

 while we were near her treasure: so we retired, my mother 

 and I, and left her to her labour of love, in which she was 

 presently joined by the happy husband and father. 



These young Chaffinches grew apace for some days; but one 

 morning we found, to our great grief, the nest deserted, and 

 the little birds gone: some cat, or owl, had made its supper 

 off them: ''What a pity! and they were growing so nicely, too." 



The parents, however, nothing daunted, and attached, appa- 

 rently, to the site, made a new nest not very far off, using 

 a portion of the first to construct the second nest, which was 

 finished in due course: and this time my father took one of 

 the pale bluish grey eggs, thickly spotted with brown, and 

 placed it under the Canary, which happened to be sitting. 

 She hatched the egg very carefully; but directly the dark 

 stranger made its appearance, she perceived that her good- 

 nature had been imposed upon, and straightway held a con- 

 sultation with her mate, the result of which was that the 

 poor little hungry gaping Chaffinch, instead of being fed and 

 cared for like one of their own offspring, was lifted out of 

 the nest, and thrown down upon the floor of the cage. Once 

 or twice my mother replaced it, but it was thrown out again, 

 and died. 



Some time after this I became possessed, I forget exactly 

 in what manner, of a half-fledged Chaffinch, which I reared 

 successfully on hlenoir and milk, as I had done the Linnets, 

 and which proved to be a hen. She was placed with a fine 

 yellow Canary, and became great friends with him, so much 

 so that in the following spring they made a match of it, and 

 she building a nest in the cage, laid four eggs, upon which 

 she sat with praiseworthy patience; when, lo and behold! a 



