PASSERINE BIRDS. 97 



gardens and thickets, and lives almost exclusively upon the seeds of the bamboo and of various 

 other plants." The Carmine Bullfinch is often captured on account of its agreeable song : Radde 

 met with it on the Steppes and at Baikal, but more frequently on the banks of rivers, and 

 sometimes saw solitary individuals even at an altitude of 8,000 feet above the level of the sea. We 

 are not much acquainted with the habits of this bird, but know that it prefers well-watered or boggy 

 plantations, and feeds upon various kinds of seeds, amongst which we must no doubt include those 

 of reeds, as it is principally met with where beds of the latter are to be found. In its demeanour it 

 reminds us as much of a linnet as of a bullfinch. Its movements are light, its flight undulating, and 

 its call a clear piping note. Blyth tell us that the " Tuti," as this species is called in India, has a 

 weak, twittering, but gentle and expressive voice, the sound of which is something between that of a 

 goldfinch and a linnet, while its call resembles that of the canary. In Kamschatka its notes have been 

 imagined to sound like the Russian sentence, " Tsduwitschu widal — / have seen the Tscliewitschu" the 

 Tschewitschu being a large kind of salmon, which is the most highly-prized fish of that country, 

 forming, as it does, a valued article of food ; so that the song of the Carmine Bullfinch is not only 

 looked upon as a herald of spring, but as announcing the blessings that she brings in her train. The 

 nest is built in clumps of willows or canes, and always in the vicinity of water ; it is formed of the 

 stalks of plants, straw, or fibrous roots, and is lined with wool or horsehair. The eggs are larger than 

 those of the linnet, and of a green colour, with red spots spread most thickly over the broad end. 

 Tame Carmine Bullfinches are considered great curiosities ; whilst writing, however, we are so 

 fortunate as to have a male of this species before us. When it first came into our possession, the 

 autumnal moulting was just commencing, and continued until December, leaving the once beautiful 

 creature with a dull coat. Towards the middle of February it began to sing so charmingly as quite to 

 exceed all our expectations. Naturalists who have described the notes of this bird have not by any 

 means done it justice, for its song may bear comparison with that of the most gifted Finches ; its voice 

 is as melodious as it is copious. The call is uttered loudly, the actual song, on the contrary, being 

 very soft, reminds us of the tones of the goldfinch, linnet, and canary. The habits of our tame 

 bird are very entertaining ; it is constantly in motion, hops about its cage with much alacrity, and will 

 hang like a titmouse from the wires at the top. The shyness it at first exhibited has quite dis- 

 appeared, and it now greets its acquaintance with a cry of recognition. It eats millet, canary-seed, 

 and ants' eggs, taking but few of the latter ; nor does it seem partial to green food. The Carmine 

 Bullfinch is replaced in America by a similar bird, and a species very closely allied to it is found in 

 Arabia Petrxa. 



THE SIBERIAN BULLFINCH. 



The Siberian Bullfinch (Uragus Sibericus) is remarkable from the circumstance that, unlike 

 most bullfinches, its tail is as long as its whole body ; the fourth tail-feather on each side being the 

 longest, the others graduating gently to the middle. The beak is of moderate size, and the upper 

 mandible slightly bent over the lower, The fourth quill of the wing is longer than the rest. In 

 colour the Siberian Bullfinch resembles the Rosefinch ; the plumage of the old male is almost entirely 

 of a rose colour, darker on the back, owing to the prominent marking of the shafts of the feathers. 

 The head and throat are whitish, and of satin-like brilliancy, particularly after the moulting season. 

 The lower part of the body is very brilliant, being of a bright carmine-red, and the beak is surrounded 

 by a line of the same hue. The individual feathers are dark grey, lightly edged with pale carmine, 

 and the wings and tail are also vividly tinted with the latter colour. The small upper wing-covers 

 and shoulder-feathers are white upon the tip and outer web, or bordered with white, giving the closed 

 wing the appearance of being white, marked with a crooked line of grey. The three external tail- 

 feathers are also white as far as their dark shaft, and a dark border on the inner web, which becomes 



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