The damage done by a pair of these birds is often very 

 serious indeed. 



Yet much may be forgiven him for his beauty. He is 

 an ornament to any garden, and he has enemies enough — ■ 

 in nesting-time at all events : the jay, the weasel, the 

 stoat — without the spray of shot from the gardener's gun. 



The wild Bullfinch has no very grand voice. But in 

 captivity and under a proper trainer, he can be taught to a 

 wonderful extent. For size the Russian Bullfinches would 

 take the palm, but for song-training one must go either to 

 Sussex or to Germany. 



Germany started regular training-schools half a century 

 ago. A writer who visited one of them at that time tells 

 us some interesting things about the process. " As a rule," 

 he says, " they are formed into classes of about six each, 

 and kept in a dark room, where food and music are supplied 

 to them at the same time. The result is that when the 

 meal is ended, if the birds feel disposed to tune up, they 

 are naturally inclined to copy the sounds they have been 

 listening to. As soon as they begin to imitate a few notes, 

 the light is let into the room. This raises their spirits, and 

 inclines them to sing. 



" After being thus taught in classes, each Bullfinch is 

 given into the charge of a boy, who plays his organ from 

 morning till night, while the superintendent goes his 

 rounds, regularly, to watch the progress of teacher and 

 j)upils. The training is continued for nine months. By 

 that time, the bird has become so used to the air which it 

 has been taught, that it can whistle it without mistake. 

 Some birds are taught three distinct tunes, but few can 

 master more than just one, and that quite a simple air." 



Such is, or used to be, the way in which "piping 

 Bullfinches " are trained. 



