186 TREATISE ON 



employed, — never wandering far from the spot 

 where all his care and joy are centered: he brings 

 her food, and soothes and cheers her mth his 

 song. 



The young are rather delicate. They ought to 

 be pretty well fledged before they are taken ; but 

 it is unnecessary trouble to rear them from the 

 nest, as the old are so easily tamed; unless we 

 wish to pair them with canaries, in which case 

 the goldfinch must be reared from the nest. 



Of the Young and their Food, 



The young of the goldfinch, like all other song- 

 birds, must be kept very clean and dry. Damp is 

 injm'ious to all land birds. Their food ought to 

 be loaf-bread boiled in milk diluted with a little 

 water, and made into a paste and mixed with a 

 little flour of canary-seed. They ought to be fed 

 very early in the morning. Give each bii'd three 

 or four small bits on the end of a stick, and that 

 every two hom's till sunset. In about a month 

 they will be able to feed themselves. They are 

 then, as well as adult goldfinches, to be fed and 

 managed as canary-birds. The young, for some 



