GMi9S) 
NOTES ON THE BREEDING OF THE CHAFFINCH. 
By Cuarues A. WIrTcHELL. 
SoME years ago, a friend who had bred many hybrid Finches 
of different kinds told me that hybrids could not be obtained from 
the Chaffinch, because that bird would not breed in confinement, 
a flight being necessary for the union of the sexes. This in- 
formation, and the frequent exhibition of a swooping flight by a 
pair of Chaffinches, led me to conclude that the swooping flight 
might be really necessary to the breeding of the Chaffinch; and 
it may be mentioned that Mr. W. H. Vale, in his ‘ Handbook of 
Hybrid Birds’ (1896), records that he has not been able to find 
an authentic instance of a Chaffinch mule. 
My present purpose is to offer some remarks on the question 
whether a love-flight is necessary to the Chaffinch. By “love- 
flight”” I do not mean the common straight Cuckoo-like flight of 
the male when he is leading a female from tree to tree, and flying 
with a constant and even succession of wing-beats; but I mean 
the swooping flight performed by both birds together, in which 
they are very near each other, if not actually in contact. 
During this swooping, the birds always utter the call-note 
which they particularly address to each other and to their young. ~ 
It is a little soft sound, something like ‘‘ chirri” pronounced very 
rapidly. In April and May this note may be constantly heard. 
But during the love-flight another sound is sometimes uttered, 
and this deserves very close attention. Perhaps the simplest mode 
of describing it will be to give a few instances of its occurrence. 
On April 5th, 1896, a pair of Chaffinches near each other in 
an Austrian pine in a garden at Stroud, in which tree the species 
nests nearly every season, were uttering the love-call, “ chirri.” 
They suddenly darted forth and swooped and swerved close 
together, both of them uttering the call many times; and during 
the flight the whole song was given by one of the birds (doubtless 
the male), but in a hurried manner, ending in a very full low 
rattle, seemingly lower in pitch than the usual termination of the 
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