THE BULLFINCH. 



Bullfinches are much admired as cage birds, on account of 

 their beauty, delicate movements, and tameness, as well as 

 for their songs. They have considerable capacity as songsters, 

 and can be taught all sorts of songs, airs, and melodies. A 

 specialty is made of their education in Hesse, and the district 

 of Fulda, from whence they are imported for this country. 

 In some cases, these birds have been taught to whistle three 

 different airs, without spoiling or confusing them ; but, 

 usually, as much as they can remember is a simple air with, 

 perhaps, a little prelude. They allow themselves to become 

 very tame, and will fly upon and eat out of the hand or mouth, 

 and will even permit themselves to be handled as if they had 

 been reared from the nest. It is not an uncommon sight in 

 the City of New York to see a man in the street with a bull- 

 finch which he caresses, perched upon a basket, and offers for 

 sale to the passers-by. Mudie says of this bird that the male 

 sings in the breeding season, but his song is low, and the bird 

 is apt to drop into the bush and be silent at the least alarm. 



DESCRIPTION. 



The length of this bird is six inches and three-quarters, of 

 which the tail measures two inches and three-quarters ; the 

 beak is half an inch long, black, short, and thick ; the feet are 

 slender and black ; the vertex, chin, and beginning of the 

 throat are of a shining velvet black ; the back, upper part of 

 neck, etc., ashy gray ; the rump is white ; the front of the 

 neck, breast, and upper part of the abdomen a beautiful car- 

 mine ; the rest of the under part of the body white ; the pinion 

 feathers blackish ; the posterior ones of a steel-blue and red ; 

 the large covert of the wings of a beautiful glittering black, 

 with reddish gray tips ; the tail somewhat forked, and of a 

 glittering steel-blue black. The female is smaller, and has all 

 the red parts reddish gray, the black brownish ashy gray, with 

 the feet smaller. There are several varieties of the bullfinch 



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