CAGE AND SINGING BIRDS. 
67 
THE LONG-TAILED TIT^ 
Or Miifflin, or^ as it is more generally called, the Bottle 
Tit, from the peculiar shape of its large nest, which is generally 
attached to the branch or bole of a tree with which it 
assimilates in colour, so as to escape observation. This is an 
extremely beautiful bird, not uncommon here, and yet but 
little known. We have never seen it in a cage or aviary. 
Dr. Liverpool says that he has often endeavoured to pre- 
serve it in confinement, but without success. A pair of old 
birds w^hich he caught in a trap cage were shy and ob- 
streperous, and would eat nothing but insects, and of such 
food alone sufficient could not be procured for them, so that 
they soon died. 
rOEEIGN BUNTINGS. 
There are several species of buntings brought from 
abroad, which, on account of their rarity and beautiful 
plumage, are highly valued. We will enumerate them in 
their alphabetical order, giving such particulars of them as 
it may seem desirable for the amateur to know. 
THE DOMINICAN BUNTING. 
This is a rare and costly bird, a native of Africa ; it is 
about six inches and three-quarters in length, has a red 
beak, gray feet, a black head, with a patch of orange-white 
on the top, which runs down either cheek, and is diffused 
over the whole lower part of the body ; the neck, back, and 
wing feathers, are black, edged with white ; the tail is also 
black, and has the two middle feathers pointed at the tip, 
and about two inches longer than the rest. Some of the 
tail feathers, too, have white tips, with an orange tinge on 
the outer web. The female is very different, being of an 
uniform brown colour, with no inequality of length in the tail 
feathers. This bird has a pleasing song : it should be placed 
in a large bell-shaped cage, lest it should injure its beautiful 
plumes, and fed upon canary seed, millet, and barley grits, 
with green food occasionally ; it moults twice a year, and 
often loses its chief ornament, the long tail feathers. After 
each moult, too, the colours, especially the white, become 
less pure. 
THE INDIGO BUNTING 
Is a native of Carolina; it is about the size of the siskiB 
