FINCHES AND NUNS. 



PINCHES AND NUNS. 



AVIARY COLLECTIONS. 



THERE are very many people who take pleasure in keeping birds, whose knowl- 

 edge of the feathered family is confined to the birds called Canaries and Parrots. 

 To them a bird that cannot sing, or scream loud enough to start a good headache m 

 ten minutes, seems of no value. Quiet, soft, warbling birds are all called "Spar- 

 rows," and considered not worth the keeping. But if we ask those who keep all 

 sorts of birds for pleasure, "Which cage do you like best?" the quick reply is, 

 ' The aviary collection." 



While both English and American Goldfinches and Linnets, Bullfinches, African 

 Red-face Love-birds, Australian Paroquets, and White and Gray Java Sparrows,, 

 are found in the aviaries, the majority of the birds in the collections is small 

 Finches from Africa, China, Australia, and India, and the tiny Nuns from Japan. 



The varieties of these small birds are numbered by the hundreds, and twenty or 

 thirty kinds can usually be found on sale in the shops in New York. 



All these birds are very social ; and, when twenty or thirty are kept in a large 

 cage, they will all sit on the same perch, and, whafc-is singular enough, will sing m 

 regular succession. They are very active, and when singing bow their bodies up- 

 and down, or else, spreading their tails like fans, sway from side to side in a 

 ludicrous manner. At night the bird at each end of the long row hops over 

 towards the centre of the perch, that he may keep both his sides warm : thus the 

 outside birds keep hopping into the middle, and crowding down in between, until 

 darkness leaves some unfortunate on the ends who cannot see clearly enough to 

 jump safely into the middle. 



They vary in length from two inches and a half to four inches. Most all kinds- 

 have been bred in cages, but for this purpose should be confined in single pairs ; 

 and the temperature of the breeding-room should be constantly kept as high as 

 eighty degrees Fahrenheit. Most of the pairs breed from September to March, 

 and sit fourteen days. 



In comparison with the tiny Avadavats, a trifle over two inches long, the Para- 

 dise Whydah makes a great show, and might be considered too large for the aviary ; 

 but he is a quiet bird, and his sweeping train is seldom moved with force enough ta 

 disturb his companions. From January to midsummer the Paradise Whydahs, 

 both male and female, resemble dark Linnets. But when the time of the year 

 comes which in their native country is their breeding season, about July, a marvel- 

 lous change takes place in the appearance of the male bird. The head and wings 



