^70 CLASS AVES. 



come and perch upon the hand, at the sound of a little bell. 

 The mode of teaching it is, by ringing the bell every time 

 that you are about to feed the bird. Lively and gay, it is 

 always the first to awake in the aviary, and the first to warble 

 and set the others agoing. The manners of this little captive 

 are so mild, that it never seeks to quarrel with any of its 

 companions, and it yields promptly when it is threatened. 

 Placed in an aviary where there are several birds of different 

 species, it will conceive an affection for some particular one, 

 and often feed it ; but it gives the preference to those of its 

 own race, whether males or females. * 



It has been remarked, that there is a great sympathy be- 

 tween the siskin and the canary. It is so great, that if a 

 siskin be let loose in a place where there are canaries with 

 other birds, it will fly immediately to the former, and come 

 as nearly to them as possible, and they will also seek its 

 society with eagerness. The male or female siskin will easily 

 pair with the canary, the female, as is asserted, particularly ; 

 but the male siskin, when he has once coupled with the 

 female canary, will assist her in all her labours, with much 

 zeal, aiding in the construction of the nest, carrying the 

 materials, and even making use of them. He continually 

 feeds her while she is hatching, disgorging the food from his 

 crop ; in spite of all this, however, the eggs are frequently 

 fruitless. The mules which do sometimes result from the 

 union partake, in their appearance, of the characters of both 

 parents. 



In captivity these birds will live for ten years, and are 

 very little subject to diseases, excepting the molten-grease, 

 which is brought on by feeding them exclusively on hemp- 

 seed ; they should, therefore, be accustomed, in preference, 

 to rapeseed and millet. 



A variety of the siskin has been observed with the head 

 yellowish and the rest of the plumage black. To make these 



