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work entailed in pulling out each grain seems to delight the

birds and to give their appetites a great zest. Perhaps there is

some truth in the theory that the husk of the millet contains a

little silica which is lost by the ears being threshed, and that this

silica is very beneficial to the digestion and to the growth of the

feathers. I also gave ordinary white French millet and Canary

seed ; but never sugar, meat, eggs. Sometimes a little green-

meat, never fruit.


My little lot of Indian Amaduvades and African Green

and Grey Singing-finches and Orange-cheeked Waxbills were

pictures of health, and beautiful indeed ; they lived for } T ears.


THE SERIN FINCH,


By Septimus Perkins,


This charming little creature is reckoned as a British

Bird by the ornithologists, because a few stragglers have been

«oceasionall} r taken in this country. It is common in Germany

and throughout Southern and Central Europe. In colour it is a

pleasing mixture of quiet greens and browns and yellows, the

yellow being much more prominent in the adult male than in

the female and immature male. The female is, in fadt, a plain

little brown bird. In size and form the Serin Finch seems to

me to be midway between the Canar)^ and the lesser Redpoll.

Perhaps some hypercritical people will tell me that I am all

wrong, and that the bird is yellow and brown, but not green-

all I can say is that he looks green to me, and I think he makes

what I may call a “ green impression ” on most people.


The Serin Finch is not expensive to buy, but is not

always to be obtained when wanted. A good many, however,

are generally brought over from Germany in the autumn, and it

is then that the wary aviculturist will purchase a pair or two,

with which he may hope to breed the following \^ear.


Canary and German rape seed, with the daily addition of

a little hemp, suit the Serin Finch best as a diet. I have

always found him most inoffensive towards his companions in

the aviar}*, a tame, confiding little bird, and, to my mind,

singularly attractive, in spite of his sober colours.


My pair of Serins were bought in the autumn, when they

were in very shabby plumage and not the best of health. In

due time they improved greatly in both respeCts, but became,

unfortunately, a great deal too fat. In Ma} r of the following

year the hen began to build, selecting a corner of the aviary, on



