THE GREEN BIRD. 97 



means a wild bullfinch will in eight days become accustomed to fly im- 

 mediately to the hand, or wherever it hears the bell ; in order to finish its 

 education, it is well to increase the difficulty of getting at its food, by 

 putting it in a small bag with a very little opening ; it must also only 

 have rape seed in the cage, keeping the hemp seed, which it likes best, for 

 the hand or little bag. It may be taught to drink out of one's mouth 

 by keeping it Avithout water for five or six hours. It may even be accus- 

 tomed to go and return, provided the house is not too near a wood. The surest 

 means of preventing too long an absence is to put a female bullfinch in a 

 cage in the window, or to leave her in the room with her wing clipped ; its 

 affection will soon bring it back to her, and it will certainly never 

 abandon her altogether . 



Tame bullfinches have been known (says Buflfon) to escape from the 

 aviary, and live at liberty in the woods for a whole year, and then to 

 recollect the voice of the pes^on who had reared them, return to her, never 

 more to leave her. Others have been known, which when forced to leave 

 their first master, have died of grief. These birds remember very well, 

 and often too well, any one who has injured them. One of them having 

 been thrown down, with its cage, by some of the lowest order of people, did 

 not seem at first much disturbed by it, but afterwards it would fall into con- 

 vulsions as soon as it saw any shabbily dressed person, and it died in one of 

 these fits eight months after the first accident. 



A bullfinch, belonging to a lady often mentioned before, being subject to 

 very frightful dreams, which made it fall from its perch, and beat itself in 

 the cage, no sooner heard the affectionate voice of its mistress than, notwith- 

 standing the darkness of the night, it became immediately tranquil, and 

 re-ascended its perch to sleep again. It was very fond of duckweed, and as 

 soon as it perceived one bringing it to him, however much care was taken 

 to prevent its finding it easily, it would show its joy by its actions and 



THE GREEN BIRD. 



Loxia chloris, LINNJEUS ; Le Verdier, BUFFON ; Der Gronling, BECHSTEiN. 



THIS bird is rather larger than the chaffinch, being six inches 

 in length, of which the tail measures two and a half ; the beak 

 five lines in length. The iris is dark brown ; the shanks are 

 eight inches in height, and of a bluish flesh colour. The pre- 

 vailing colour of the plumage is yellowish green, lighter on the 

 lower part of the body, still more so on the rump and breast, and 

 shading to white on the belly. 



The female, which is smaller, is still more distinguished by 

 the greenish brown of the upper part, and the ash -colour rather 

 than yellowish green of the lower part of the body ; she has 



