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I shall have more to say on this cross-bar.in my article on the

Brambling, which will appear at a later date.


The nest is built towards the end of April, and is

beautifully made of moss and lichens matted together, with a

lining of horsehair. In shape it is circular and rather deep.

The eggs are usually five in number, and of a pale blue colour

with large reddish-brown spots, generally with a darker centre,

although there is a nice variety in which the spots are entirely

absent.


In an aviary it is a welcome inmate. It is very lively and

ever on the move, showing off its plumage to great advantage.


A friend of mine, Mr. C. V. Bulstrode, was successful in

getting these birds to breed in confinement. They built, laid

and hatched, but then, alas! a marauder in the shape of a

Redpoll removed the bottom of the nest!


The ordinary note of this species is the well-known “pink,

pink,” from this it derives its local name of Pink or Twink, the

French name Pingon and the German Fink : whence comes our

word Finch. One may compare this with the Cuckoo, which

derives its trivial name from its note in almost all European

countries. The song proper consists of a few syllables, which

Mr. H. Saunders renders by the words “ toll, toll, pretty little

de-ar.” This is repeated incessantly from the same perch,

especially toward evening. In England it is never kept as a song

bird, but in Germany it is greatly prized and taught to sing at

word of command. It cannot, however, be taught to sing a

tune, like the Bullfinch, but only its own song with various

modifications, which are sometimes heard in wild birds. These

songs are, so to speak, cultivated, for the 3^oung are taken from

the nest and only allowed to hear the strains of a specialty

fine songster, thus learning his notes only. Bechstein, in his

“ Natural History of Cage Birds,” adtualty enumerates eight of

these variations. The best seems to be the “ Double Trill of

the Hartz,” which is entirely created by man, and “is composed

of six strains, rather long, the last of which is ended by dwelling

on the two final syllables, which I shall express here b}f the word

weingeh” (pronounced vine-gay). The names of the other

songs are Reiterzoug, Wine Song, Brautigam or Bridegroom

Song, Gutjalir, Ouakia and Pithia, all of which seem to var}^

chiefly in the pronunciation of the last two syllables. “If,”

says Bechstein, “ the bird adds to its last strain the sound ‘fink/

which bird-catchers translate by ‘ amen,’ it is of the highest

value.”



