The Chaffinch. 23 



the bachelor Pinch, has been bestowed upon the Chaffinch, 

 few of the females remaining with us in the winter, while 

 the males congregate together in large flocks. 



There are few birds, certainly none of our European species, 

 that make so beautiful a nest as the Chaffinch. It is the 

 shape of a half-globe flattened on the upper part, and so per- 

 fectly rounded that it has the appearance of having been turned 

 out of a lathe. Cobwebs and wool fasten it to the branch, 

 bits of moss with small twigs entwined form the ground- work ; 

 while the lining is composed of small feathers, thistle-down, 

 the hair of horses and other animals, and the outer covering 

 is formed of the different lichens that grow on the tree on 

 which it is placed. This last finishing touch is probably 

 designed to deceive an enemy's eye; and indeed it is extremely 

 difficult to distinguish the nest from the bark of the branch 

 upon which it is fastened. 



There are commonly two broods during the season, rarely 

 three; and the eggs, which have been already described, are 

 usually five in number. The young resemble their mother 

 until after the first moult; but experienced fanciers can tell 

 which are the females in the nest. If it be desired to bring 

 up Chaffinches by hand, which if a more troublesome, is 

 decidedly a more satisfactory method of becoming possessed 

 of these birds, than taking them when full-grown, in which 

 case they seldom get over their natural shyness and become 

 tame, they had better be taken from the nest as soon as their 

 feathers begin to sprout. They can be very readily reared on 

 bread-crumbs soaked in milk, or buckwheat flour and egg, to 

 which had better be added small mealworms and gentles. 



Chaffinches thus reared become very tame, and attached to 

 their owners, and will sometimes breed, not only in a garden 

 aviary, but even in a cage, though the young ones are not 

 always successfully reared. 



In Germany these birds are very much sought after and 

 admired, and the greatest pains bestowed upon their education: 



