44 THE BULFINCH. 



in rather a dark place during the process of train- 

 ing. 



Taken as they are when quite young, and brought 

 up by hand, they are always tame, and will take food 

 from the hand of any one, and may be trained to 

 sing or pipe their tune at command : they very soon 

 learn to know the person who feeds them, — and 

 we will here remark that the same person should 

 always feed them^ — and will pipe their tune, making 

 beautiful and elegant gestures, now moving the 

 body, and then the head, first to the right, then to 

 the left, spreading the tail like a fan, and seem- 

 ingly "fanning" with it, when they commence with 

 a short flourish, or prelude, and pipe their tune 

 through perfectly. 



The bulfinch should be fed principally on sum- 

 mer rape-seed, to which may be added a little 

 canary, and occasionally one or two hemp-seed, as 

 a reward for piping his tune. Sugar, sweet-cakes, 

 or such-like delicacies, spoil their taste, and should 

 not be given to them. A little greens in the sum- 

 mer, or sweet apple in the winter, is very whole- 

 some, Z'^M of which 7niist bz fresh. As their claws 

 grow very fast, and also very hooking, they must be 

 cut at least twice a year. They must always be 

 handled very gently, as they are easily frightened, 

 and harsh treatment often causes their death. 



These birds usually moult in the month of Sep- 

 tember ; and, as they shed their feathers very rap- 

 idly, — sometimes becoming almost bare in one day, 

 — great care must be taken to keep them from all 



