284 CLASS AVES. 



• 



about the thickness of a halfpenny, or not quite so much. If 

 some drops of blood should follow, there is no occasion for 

 apprehension. It may be staunched with a little saliva, mixed 

 with pulverized sugar. This operation, however, should only 

 be performed on those goldfinches whose bill is very pointed, 

 which often happens in captivity. This is absolutely necessary, 

 because this bird, pursuing the female, may wound her with his 

 sharp bill, and prick the little ones in disgorging to them their 

 food, which will destroy them. This inconvenience never takes 

 place with goldfinches at liberty, for their bills are never so 

 pointed, as the bills of the caged birds. If a female goldfinch 

 is paired with a male canary, she should be two years old, 

 for it is seldom that she lays in the first year. These birds, 

 naturally wild, should be rendered as tame and familiar as 

 the canaries, which may be accomplished by putting them in 

 a low place, where there is plenty of company. It must not be 

 imagined that all the mules which result from this alliance 

 will be handsome. Of some, the plumage is of a very com- 

 mon kind, and the song very inferior. It would be useless 

 to give any description of them, for they vary ad infinitum, 

 and no description would suit any but the individual de- 

 scribed. It is sufficient to say, that it is constantly observed 

 that the mules resulting from these mixtures resemble the 

 father in the head, tail, and limbs, and the mother in the 

 rest of the body ; and that the mules which come from the 

 male linnet and female canary, have neither the white colour 

 of the mother, nor the red of the father, as some have pre- 

 tended. 



The union of canaries with siskins, Avhether males or 

 females, requires less attention. It is enough to let loose one 

 or many of these birds, but always of the same sex, in a 

 chamber, or large aviary, with canaries, and they will soon be 

 seen to couple. We have said, of the same sex, because when 

 the sexes are different the birds will naturally prefer their 



