Practical Bird Keeping. — I. The Culture of Finches. 103


trating his points with instantaneous photographs. Among the

shorter notes we may draw attention to the supposed habit of

some Jackdaws to daub their eggs with mud, the ceremonial

habits of the Magpie and the irruption of the Crossbills. Mr.

Wormald sends a further instalment of observations on his tame

Snipe, and the recovery of marked birds forms an interesting

feature of each number.



PRACTICAL BIRD KEEPING.


I. THE CULTURE OF FINCHES.


By Dr. A. G. Butler.


The Editor has suggested that I should contribute a paper

upon this subject for the benefit of beginners in aviculture, and

although I do not profess to know more about these birds than

many others of our members, the fact that I am the author of

‘‘Foreign Finches in Captivity” probably induced him to select

me for the task.


Finches are not my favourite birds, although they are

tolerably easy to provide for; they are neither so easily tamed as

a general rule, so intelligent, or so long-lived as so-called “Soft-

billed birds ” still they are very beautiful and many of them are

easy to breed in captivity. They are all seed-eaters, but most of

them eat a certain amount of living insect-food, especially when

breeding; many of them feed also upon the green seeds of

grasses, buds, small fruits and berries, and the leaves of weeds,

but especially chickweed and groundsel.


The Finches, as is well known, belong to two large

families — Fringillidce and Ploceidcc ; the former having the

bastard-primary shorter than its coverts, the latter with it lon¬

ger. The Fringillidce are related to the Larks and in a lesser

degree to the New World Starlings. The Ploceidce in my opinion

form a link between the true finches ( Fringillidce ) and the New

World Starling (Jcteridce).


The most insectivorous of the finches amongst the Frin-

gillidce, are the Buntings, some of the Grosbeaks, the Chaffinch

group and the various forms of Sparrows; the Weavers and

Whydahs amongst the Ploceidce; but during the winter months



