BRITISH SONG-BIRDS. 207 



Song, 



The natural note of the chaffinch is so unvaried, 

 and so frequently repeated, that, although very 

 sweet in the open air, when heard at intervals 

 among the richer melody of others of the feathered 

 choir, it possesses little interest in a domestic state; 

 but, if bred from the nest, the chaffinch easily ac- 

 quires the note of any good warbler that they are 

 brought up with; such, for instance, as the bird 

 we have noticed in the foregoing page, whose song 

 is both melodious and varied, being composed of 

 part of the redbreast's and part of the mule-bird's 

 song. In a wild state, the chaffinch begins its 

 gay, brief carol early in April, and continues to 

 sing until midsummer, at which time " the wee^. 

 wee, drucken sowie^' is entirely laid aside for a 

 mere chirp. 



During rain, they make a curious kind of whir- 

 ring noise. The note of the female, like that of 

 the male, after the summer solstice, has a sort of 

 metallic sound, which Montagu expresses by the 

 repetition of the word " twink," from whence 

 comes one of the English names of this bird. 



