CAGE AND SINGING BIRDS. 
?1 
dry. To the stiff paste thus formed let a little poppy or 
well-soaked rape-seed be added. They reqiure great care 
and attention. 
The full-grown birds may be fed on canary, rape, poppy, 
and other seeds ; some hemp-seed may be given when the 
birds are breeding, and green food occasionally at all times. 
Lettuce or cabbage leaves, groundsel, and watercresses, are 
most relished by them. Bechstein says, that if allowed to 
I range the room they will feed freely on the second universal 
paste,* and that one which he had, although refusing to 
touch an insect, would eat freely of whatever came to table, 
both meat and vegetables. The goldfinch is a great eater, 
and will drive from the feeding- trough other birds which 
attempt to approach, unless they happen to be of the same 
I species or especial favourites. Bird dealers divide gold- 
" finches into several varieties, disting-uished by the colour 
of the plumage. Bechstein mentions five of these varieties, 
as follows: — 1st, the yellow-breasted; 2nd, the white- 
headed; 3rd, the black- headed ; 4th, the white; 5th, the 
black goldfinch. The last, he says, are altogether black, 
^ which may be the result of age, or the immoderate use of 
hemp-seed ; or it may retain a yellow spot upon its wing. 
In this country the only varieties generally distinguished 
are the speckled birds," which have a white spot under 
the throat ; the bastard whitethroats," which have a 
streak of white half-way down ; and the whitethroats," 
or " cheverels," having the streak quite down to the breast. 
These last are scarce birds, and usually fetch a high price, 
which they really are not worth, as their song is no better 
than that of the other varieties. Before their first moult- 
I ing, goldfinches do not get the bright crimson hue on the 
I head ; they are, therefore, called graypates," and these 
' are the best birds to purchase, if you have a good songster 
to place them under. 
These birds should not be kept in a bell-shaped cage, 
./ nor in any cage in which the perches are very high, as they 
are apt to become giddy ; the best-sized habitation for them 
is one about ten inches long by seven or eight wide, and 
the same high. If allowed the range of a room, a small 
tree should be provided for perching in, or a place sepa- 
rated by a grating. They are not, generally speaking, 
