THE CHAFFINCH. 243 



when its acquirements are more extensive ; and those are very 

 highly esteemed indeed which add to the end of their song one 

 of the syllables, Pink or Tza/p, which the bird-fanciers call the 

 Amen. There are, however, many other varieties, besides 

 those already mentioned, the names of which it is hardly worth 

 while to repeat. It is remarkable, that the song of these birds 

 varies,. according to the district which they inhabit ; and there- 

 fore that some songs are much more common in Thuringia than 

 in the Hartz mountains, and vice versa. In Austria, again, 

 where also this bird is a favourite, several songs are specified 

 as the admiration of connoisseurs ; which, as far as we can 

 judge from the names, are not the same as those common 

 with us. 



The Chaffinch, when reared from the nest, is so docile, that 

 it is able not only to acquire the song of another bird of the 

 same species, but to produce an imperfect imitation of the notes 

 of the Canary and Nightingale. In it, also, as in all other 

 Cage-birds, may be noticed great natural variations in memory; 

 for while one bird is able to repeat a song which it has heard 

 but once, at least six months' study is necessary in order to 

 enable another to accomplish the same. One is able to learn 

 only a single variety of song, another acquires several ; one is 

 never able to repeat perfectly what it has learned, another will 

 not only do this, but add notes of its own invention. 



Another peculiarity of these birds is, that every year they 

 relearn their song in a very singular manner. For four weeks 

 or more in spring, they are said to record; to utter, that is, a 

 continual murmuring or chirping, with which by degrees they 

 intermix detached passages of their song. It is considered a 

 great proof of excellence in a Chaffinch, if this process last only 

 a week or a fortnight, and the song be reproduced in all its 

 perfection at the end of that period. Other birds, which sing 

 only at certain seasons of the year, begin by repeating their 

 song in a low and uncertain tone, and introduce into it the 

 notes of other birds ; but in none is the recording so entirely 

 different in character from the usual song. Attentive observa- 

 tion enables us to conclude that this recording is not to be con- 

 sidered as a practising of the song, but rather as an exercising 

 of the physical powers of the throat and larynx, which for 

 some months have been but little used. Wild Chaffinches 

 begin to record immediately after their arrival in spring ; those 



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