THE BLACK-HEADED FINCH. 57 



expression to their feelings, when with a croak of 

 congratulation at the success of the entertainment, or 

 of encouragement to the several performers, they fly off 

 to the seed-trough, and on their return begin all over 

 again. At first it is very amusing to watch them, but 

 the constant repetition of the performance grows monot- 

 onous in the end. 



Occasionally one of these birds will develop a talent 

 for audible singing, especially if he is caged in the 

 company of a Canary or a Linnet, but, as a rule, the 

 'song" of the Black- headed Mannikin, to give the 

 bird yet another name by which he is frequently called, 

 is quite inaudible to the average human listener, or in 

 this case, spectator. 



Not one of the Nuns which I have had in my pos- 

 session from time to time ever attempted to build, and 

 I cannot call to mind any instance in which I have 

 heard of their doing so in this country. They are 

 natives of China and may be described as fairly hardy. 



In their wild or natural state they never sleep in 

 the open air, but always in some hole in a tree, or a 

 building, or some other place, and when kept in a cage 

 they should be provided with a box or a nest-basket, 

 or a roll of cork, or something of the kind, in which 

 to pass the night comfortably. Care must be taken to 

 place their sleeping apartment out of reach of mice, 

 which do much damage to birds by disturbing them 

 during the hours of darkness and causing them to rush 



