THE BULLFINCH. 93 



dull, and not so dark on the belly ; in some the head only is 

 of a raven black, the rest of the body being duller ; in others 

 the black is mixed with red spots on the belly, or the latter is 

 entirely red. I have seea one in which the head and breast, 

 as well as the upper and under parts of the body, were of a raven 

 black, every other part of a dull black, with the wings and tail 

 white; it was a very handsome bird, rather larger than a red- 

 breast. 



3. The Speckled Bullfinch. It is thus called, for, besides its 

 natural colours, it is spotted with black and white, or white 

 and ash colour. 



4. The Mongrel Bullfinch. It is the offspring of a female 

 reared in the house from the nest, and of a male canary. Its 

 shape and colour partake of those of the parent birds ; its note 

 is very agreeable, and softer than that of the canary ; but it is 

 very scarce. This union rarely succeeds ; but when tried, a 

 very ardent and spirited canary should be chosen *. 



5. The other varieties are : the Large Bullfinch, about the 

 size of a thrush, and the Middling, or Common. As to dwarf 

 birds, which are not as large as a chaffinch, it is a bird-catcher's 

 story, for this difference in size is observed in all kinds of birds. 

 I can affirm it with the more certainty, having had opportuni- 

 ties every year of seeing hundreds of these birds, both wild and 

 tame. I have even in the same nest found some as small as 

 redbreasts, and others as large as a crossbill. 



HABITATION. When wild, bullfinches are found over Europe and 

 Russia. They we particularly common in the mountainous forests of 

 Germany. The male and female never separate during the whole year. 

 I n winter they wander about everywhere in search of buds. 



In the house those which are caught in a snare are often let run about 

 These birds not being very unruly or very active, a middling-sized cage 

 will do, in which those which have learned songs are kept ; but they must 

 he kept in separate rooms, as they will mutually spoil their songs if left 

 together. 



FOOD. When wild the bullfinch does not often suffer from the failure 

 of its food; for it eats pine and fir seeds, the fruit of the ash and maple, 



However difficult this pairing may be, it sometimes succeeds very well. A 

 bulliinch and female canary once produced five young ones, which died on a journey 

 which they could not bear. Their large beak, and the blackish down with which 

 they were covered, showed that they were more like their father than mother 

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