NATURE'S CAROL SINGERS. 



German workmen are great Chaffinch 

 fanciers. One has been known to ex- 

 change a cow for a clever vocalist of this 

 species, and another to live upon bread- 

 and-water until he had saved the high 

 price of a prime favourite. 



It is, I must confess, always a sadden- 

 ing experience for me to hear this little 

 songster's notes ringing clear and sweet 

 from the interior of a wee prison house 

 tied up in a black cloth, and carried along 

 some dismal street beneath the arm of a 

 costermonger. However, it is only fair 

 to add that these men are, as a rule, 

 devoted to their pets, and treat them 

 with the utmost kindness. A great 

 authority upon the subject says that if 

 well treated a Chaffinch will live in con- 

 finement for twenty years. It has also 

 been asserted as a curious fact that if an 

 adult male Chaffinch is caught before 

 Whitsuntide he will sing in a cage, but if 

 he should be made a prisoner after this 

 date he will die of grief at being parted 

 from his mate and young ones. 



Chaffinches pair towards the end of 

 February and throughout March, al- 

 though flocks of " bachelors " may occa- 

 sionally be seen as late as the first week 

 in May, and commence building opera- 

 230 



