6 THE FINCH 



as the thouo-lit oF my prisoner kej)l ninnino- in mv head. 

 1 had Ilea id that finches have a marvelous musical apti- 

 tude and tliat with patience one can train them to he 

 regular aitists; so that when my eyes closed at last, 

 1 heard my |)upii singini)- in my dreams like the blue 

 bird of fairyland. At dawn I ran to mv basket. The 

 finch had scarcely slept better than I ; it was lluttering- 

 about sullenly, peckini;' furiouslv at the sides of the 

 basket. I s])ent all the monev I had saved on a cage 

 containing a trough and a manger which I filled with 

 hempseed. I moved mv bird into its cage and while it 

 was getting accustomed to its new dwelling, I climbed 

 into our garret, where 1 consulted some old vokimes on 

 ornithology, so as to get well acquainted with the habits 

 and tastes of mv guest. 



There I learned that finches are naturally very 

 merry, that they sing early in the sjiring, long before 

 the nightingale, and that besides their regular song, 

 they throw out three peculiar notes : a cry of apj^eal 

 at the time of courtship, a war cry when they fight 

 against a rival, and finallv. when it is going to rain, 

 a long wail which is a certain prognostic of bad 

 weather. I saw besides that finches Imild their nests 

 in the most thicklv spreading trees; these nests are 

 round, solidiv woven of moss on the outside, of hair 

 and spider-webs on the inside ; the female lays five or 

 six red brown eggs spotted with black at the broader 



