60 BRITISH BIRDS. WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 



The call-note somewhat resembles that of a Canary, a plaintive ivhcet, but the 

 song is described by Naumann as more nearly like that of a Siskin ; and Howard 

 Saunders says: "The song resembles the word zi-zi often repeated, and a flock 

 of birds settled in a tree produces a peculiar buzzing or almost hissing sound." 

 The bird often sings on the wing after the manner of the Siskin. 



The Serin being only subspecifically distinct from the Canary, the fact recorded 

 by Dr. Carl Russ that hybrids between the two, proved fertile to the third and 

 fourth generation (Vide Gefiederte Welt, Vol. XX, p. 289) is not very surprising : 

 the only question is whether the Doctor was justified in speaking of them as 

 " Bastarde." Mr. H. C. Martin, of Old Charlton, bred three crosses between the 

 Serin and Canary in 1896, and kindly gave a female to me, so that I hope to be 

 able to repeat Dr. Russ' experience. 



Mr. Septimus Perkins in the " Avicultural Magazine," Vol. II, pp. 152-3, gives 

 his experience of the Serin in captivity ; he says : " The Serin Finch is not ex- 

 pensive to buy, but is not always to be obtained when wanted. A good many, 

 however, are generally brought over from Germany in the autumn, and it is then 

 that the wary aviculturist will purchase a pair or two, with which he may hope 

 to breed the following year. 



Canary and German rape-seed, with the daily addition of a little hemp, suit 

 the Serin Finch best as a diet. I have always found him most inoffensive towards 

 his companions in the aviary, a tame, confiding little bird, and, to my mind, 

 singularly attractive, in spite of his sober colours. 



My pair of Serins were bought in the autumn, when they were in very shabby 

 plumage and not the best of health. In due time they improved greatly in both 

 respects, but became, unfortunately, a great deal too fat. In May of the following 

 year the hen began to build, selecting a corner of the aviary, on the floor of the 

 room, as a nesting place ; although the aviary abounded with more suitable spots, 

 there being nesting boxes of various sorts and abundance of bushes. The nest 

 was a neatly formed but flimsy edifice, rather hastily put together, and the three 

 pretty eggs rolled out, one by one, upon the floor a day or two after the hen began 

 to sit. She stuck to her nest so long as an egg remained in it; but when the 

 last rolled out, she gave up in despair. No other nest was built." 



I do not doubt that if a Hartz cage had been hanging on the wall, the Serin 

 would have built inside it, and reared her brood : the common Canary in an aviary 

 prefers this to anything else, and when it is not present, builds in a bush or a 

 bundle of twigs. 



Ornithologists have long differed in opinion as to whether the specimens of 

 the wild Canary which have from time to time been caught or killed on our coasts 



