68 
CAGE AND SINGING BIRD^. 
that is, six inches in length ; the whole of its plumage is a 
-beautiful shining- blue, being* most intense at the top of the head : 
the beak is of a lead colour, the feet brown, which tint also 
appears in the larger pen feathers and the tail. The female 
is more sober-coloured, something like our common linnet^ as 
is also the male while moulting, at which time, however, he 
may be distinguished from the hen by a grayish hue on his 
wings. These birds are often seen in spring in the orchards 
and gardens of New York. They should be kept in a bell- 
shaped cage, and fed on millet, canary, poppy, and bruised 
hemp-seed. Their song resembles that of the linnet. 
THE PAINTED BUNTING 
Is a native of all the warmer parts of Canada, and extends 
as far south as Mexico, Brazil, and Guiana, although it is 
not found in Carolina, at a distance of less than 130 miles 
from the coast. This bird is somewhat more than five 
inches in length, and the colour of the plumage varies 
greatly in accordance with age, acquiring its full splendour 
only after the third year's moult. The upper part of the 
back and scapulars are then yellowish green ; the under 
part, with the rump, and all the lower portions of the body, 
red; the small wing coverts violet brown, with a red tinge, and 
the larger ones pale green ; the pinion feathers are brown, 
some with red, some gray margins ; the tail is also brown, 
the two centre feathers changing into red at the extremities, 
and the rest margined with the same colour. The feet and 
beak are brown, the former with a grayish tinge, and the head 
and neck a rich violet, which tint is assumed in the second 
year, when the rest of the plumage is bluish green, except the 
wings and tail, which are brown, bordered with the former 
colour. In addition to these changes, the birds moult twice a 
year, so that two individuals are seldom seen exactly alike : 
some are met with ; which have all the lower parts of the body 
yellowish, except a red spot on the breast, which, in the 
moulting season, changes to white. These birds have a soft, 
pleasing song ; they have been induced to breed in aviaries 
in which there were orange trees, to which they chiefly 
resort in their wild state. The proper food for them is 
millet, poppy, and canary seed, with endives 3 thus fed and 
carefully tended, they will live for eight or nine years. 
