ABERDEVINE, 



years in a cage liad a pleasing and sweetly varied 

 song, and that it imitated the notes of other birds. 

 Its song, however^ is not so musical and sweet as 

 that of the Goldfinch ; it is sharper and more pier- 

 cing, and finishes always with a remarkably harsh 

 jarring note. It is almost perpetually singing ; and 

 though by no means a loud songster, its voice 

 may often be heard over those of much more 

 powerful song, from the peculiar sharpness of its 

 notes. 



Sepp has delineated the nest placed in the cleft 

 of an oak tree, built with dry bent, mixed with 

 leaves, and amply lined with feathers ; the base 

 being neatly rounded, and the feathers projecting 

 above the brim, and concealing the eggs, which 

 are three in number. According to Bechstein, 

 this bird has two broods in the year, each of five 

 or six eggs. Temminck says it builds in the high- 

 est branches of the pine ; which accounts, perhaps, 

 for its having escaped the researches of the earlier 

 naturalists. 



This bird is known in Sussex by the name of 

 Barley-bird, because it comes to them in barley- 

 seed time. 



In the cage its food is poppy-seed and a little 

 hemp-seed bruised. It is a complete glutton, and 

 though so small, eats more than the Chaffinch : 

 it is at the seed-drawer from morning till night : 

 it does not drink less, and requires abundance of 

 fresh water ; yet it bathes but little, only plunging 

 the bill in the water, and thus scattering it over 



c 



