2 Practicai. Bird-Keeping. 



The most insectivorous of the finches amongst the Frhi- 

 oillidcB, are the Buntings, some of tlie Grosbeaks, the Chaffinch 

 group and the various forms of Sparrows, the Weavers and 

 Whydahs amongst the Ploceidce ; but during the winter months 

 all these birds thrive without insect-food With these general 

 remarks respecting food we may for the present leave that subject 

 and pass on to the housing of finches. 



Undoubtedly, like most other birds, these also do best 

 when kept in spacious aviaries having both an indoor and out- 

 door compartment; the indoor portion should be fitted up with 

 natural branches, the walls being partly decorated with nesting 

 receptacles of various kinds — old straw-hats with a round hole 

 near the edge of the crown and tacked to the wall through the 

 rim so as to leave the hole at the highest point, cigar nest-boxes, 

 converted travelling Hartz-cages, ordinary square Canary nest- 

 boxes, wicker-cages with the door removed, large Weaver-birds' 

 nests, or any other appliance suitable for finches to build in. 



If delicate birds are kept, this inner compartment should 

 be provided with hot-water pipes and sliding panels to shut it ofi^ 

 from the outer flight during the winter months, the birds being 

 all driven inside in the autumn and allowed egress again only 

 with the coming of warm weather ; but it is better for beginners 

 not to attempt to keep any but hardy birds, passing on to the 

 more tender species when they have gained experience. If the 

 outer compartment or flight is sufficiently large, it is better for it 

 to be as wild and natural as possible, bushes, trees and creepers 

 being grown all over it with the exception of a central more or 

 less winding path for the convenience of the owner. In such an 

 aviary many finches will nest in the shrubbery without difficulty 

 and often without the owner's knowledge provided that soft food 

 containing egg, dried ant.s' cocoons, etc., with duckweed, are 

 supplied daily, the parents finding sufficient small insects, cater- 

 pillars and spiders amongst the grass and bushes around them. 



I have found it far more difficult to breed finches in cages 

 than in aviaries, although some aviculturists have had the opposite 

 experience ; but there are a few common species which can 

 generally be depended upon to reproduce their kind under either 

 condition, such as the Saffron-finch, Java Sparrow, Ribbon-finch, 



