Thb; Cur/ruRE of Finches. 5 



which the Buntings as a rule do not care much ; they are also, 

 perhaps, the least insectivorous of the true finches, though the}- 

 will accept small green caterpillars or green fly : Goldfinches and 

 Siskins, but especially the latter are eager for this kind of food 

 and need a more liberal seed-diet; thistle, teazle, and hemp, with 

 an occasional pinch of maw-seed being much appreciated by them. 



The Grosbeaks, with a few exceptions, care little for green 

 food, but the larger forms require a generous seed-diet ; sun- 

 flower, beech-mast, hemp, millet, canary and German rape 

 forming a good general mixture ; berries are also eaten by some 

 of them ; but the smaller forms, of which the White-throated 

 finch may be considered typical, do well upon white millet and a 

 little canary seed. Waxbills, in addition to the last-mentioned 

 seeds like spray-millet and grass-seed in the ear, both in the 

 milky and ripe stage. The Grass-finches should be treated like 

 Waxbills although some of them never touch green food and 

 merely use the grass-stems with their seed-panicles to build 

 with. The Mannikins also with the exception of the Java 

 Sparrow which likes oats or paddy rice in addition to millet and 

 canary, should be similarly treated. 



The Weavers and Whydahs eat oats and hemp as well as 

 millet and canary and, as previously stated they are eager for 

 insects, their larvae, and spiders. The Long-tailed Whydah will 

 eat cockroaches at any time as also will the Grenadier and 

 other large Weavers. I have never seen one of these birds 

 eating green food. 



For nesting materials hay is the principal thing, to which 

 may be added feathers, fir-needles, cow-hair, coarse cocoa-fibre, 

 and moss, with white wadding; but many of the finches use hay 

 alone in the construction of their nests. Do not forget to supply 

 nesting birds with abundance of cuttle-bone, crushed up egg- 

 shells or old mortar, to lessen the chance of egg-binding ; and 

 remember at this period to supply a pan of soft-food daily with 

 plenty of living insect-food when necessary. 



It is better, even in the case of birds coming from the 

 Antipodes, not to encourage them to breed during our winter 

 although in a heated aviary, for the young then produced are liable 



