25S CLASS AVES. 



Though the goldfinches will couple in aviaries, the union 

 is rare, and the result seldom fruitful. It is true, that little 

 attention is given to this point, in consequence of the facility 

 of procuring these birds at every season, in any number 

 desired. 



A single female is said to be sufficient for one male, and 

 both should have a large cage to themselvess. In captivity 

 the male goldfinch will pair more readily with a female of 

 another species than his own ; for example, with the female 

 canary ; but the female goldfinch will seldom couple with 

 the male canary. This union is not the result of any confor- 

 mity of song, and still less of plumage ; it proceeds from the 

 goldfinch disgorging the food found in its crop in the same 

 way as the canaries do ; he pleases the female canary by this, 

 and feeds her while she is hatching. This is not to be 

 expected of the bunting or chaffinch, or any other bird that 

 brings its bill full of food to the female and the young. This 

 supplies a good rule for those who desire to make birds of 

 different races couple together. Though the broods some- 

 times succeed from a female canary and a wild goldfinch, i. e. 

 one caught in a net, yet it is better to educate them together, 

 to accustom the goldfinch to the same food as the canary, and 

 not to pair them until the end of two years. It will also be 

 much better if the female canary has never paired with one 

 of her own species, and be kept in the spring from seeing 

 or hearing any of them, that she may totally forget them. 

 Her first eggs will often prove fruitless, especially in the 

 earliest days of spring, which is not the period of reproduc- 

 tion with the goldfinches ; but the second brood will succeed, 

 and the male goldfinch then becomes more assiduous and 

 attentive than even the canary itself. He shares all the cares 

 of the household, remains almost continually on the edge of 

 the nest, and frequently feeds the female while she is hatch- 

 ing ; he also assists in the rearing of the young. 



