FOR CAGES AND A VI ARIES. 71 



tree, and is very neatly and compactly put together: they 

 are suspicious, however, and often begin a number of 

 nests, before finally deciding on a site; but once they have 

 settled down, they are extremely attentive to their domestic 

 duties. They have been bred in cage and aviary with 

 increasing frequency of late, and if their pursuit is 

 carried out as it has been in the past, it is much to 

 be feared that in no other way can the extermination of 

 the race, at least in this country, be prevented, or rather 

 postponed. 



The Goldfinch breeds freely in confinement with other 

 birds, the most popular cross being with the Canary, 

 and the next with the Bullfinch : other crosses have been 

 tried, as with the Linnet, Redpoll, Siskin, Greenfinch and 

 Twite ; but the reported cross with the Chaffinch and 

 Brambling is either the result of mistaken identity or of 

 pure imagination on the part of the person making the 

 assertion. 



In confinement, the Goldfinch does best on a diet 

 consisting for the most part of hemp, on which indivi- 

 duals have been known to survive for as long a period 

 as twenty-four years. The young birds should have 

 canary seed soaked for them, and their hemp should 

 be slightly crushed; they also should have plenty of 

 green food and an unfailing supply of grit, remembering 

 that fine sand is of no use as a substitute, and that 

 the grit is employed in the gizzard in lieu of teeth, 

 for triturating (masticating) the food and so preparing it 

 for assimilation. 



Never put a Goldfinch in a round cage, but use a 

 square or an oblong one, and if the bird exhibits a 

 tendency to look up and so make itself giddy, cover it 

 over on top. 



A Goldfinch that is well cared for will not ail, but if it 

 is improperly fed, or otherwise ill-treated, it will soon 

 develop a variety of complaints for the most part incurable. 



The eggs, four or five in number, are not unlike 

 those of the Canary, but are smaller : the young of the 

 first nest are mostly males, and those of the second, 

 mostly females. In their wild state the favourite food of 



