FRINGILLID.E. 



Bullfinch and the Canary ; but such a union is of rave occur- 

 rence, and requires particular management. 



The notes of the Bullfinch, as heard in a wild state, par- 

 ticularly the louder ones, have no remarkable quality of tone 

 to recommend them ; its call-note is, however, soft and 

 plaintive : it is principally for its power of imitation and its 

 memory that this bird is prized. 



" In Germany," says Bechstein, " those young Bullfinches 

 that are to be taught to sing particular tunes, must be taken 

 from the nest when the feathers of the tail begin to grow ; and 

 must be fed only on rapeseed soaked in water, and mixed with 

 white bread. Although they do not warble before they can 

 feed themselves, it is not necessary to wait for this to begin 

 their instruction ; for it will succeed better, if we may say so, 

 when infused with their food ; since experience proves that 

 they learn those airs more quickly, and remember them 

 better, which they have been taught just after eating. It 

 has been observed that these birds, like the Parrots, are 

 never more attentive than during digestion. Nine months of 

 regular and continued instruction are necessary before the 

 bird acquires what amateurs call firmness ; for if the instruc- 

 tion cease before this is obtained, they would destroy the 

 air, by suppressing or displacing the different parts, and 

 they often forget it entirely at their first moulting. In 

 general it is a good plan to separate them from the other 

 birds, even after they are perfect; because, owing to their 

 great quickness in learning, they would spoil the air entirely 

 by introducing wrong passages ; they must be helped to con- 

 tinue the song Avhen they stop, and the lesson must always 

 be repeated while they are moulting, otherwise they will be- 

 come mere chatterers, which would be doubly vexatious after 

 having bestowed trouble in teaching them. Different de- 

 grees of capacity are shown here, as well as in other animals : 

 one young Bullfinch learns with case and quickness ; another 



