CAGE AND SIJvrGING BIRDS. 
77 
best birds whicli get through it the most quickly. It 
appears that a want of flexibility in the muscles of tha 
throat and larynx after some months of disuse^ is the caaso 
of this, and not any want of memory. Chaffinches have 
been known to live in confinement twenty years 5 they fre- 
quently become bhnd, especially if fed too much on hemp-seed, 
but this does not affect their song*, indeed, they rather sing 
the better, so that the barbarous practice of blinding them 
I with a red-hot needle is sometimes resorted to ; this cannot 
be too strongly reprobated. 
THE GREENFINCH; 
Greenbird, or Green Linnet. This, like most of the other 
\ finches, is a handsome full-bodied bird ; it is a common 
species in this country, where it is much more frequently 
seen in a wild than a domesticated state. Bechstein and some 
other naturalists call it the Green Grosbeak, on account of 
the large size of its thick conical bill. The plumage of the 
full-grown cock is very beautiful, being chiefly bright olive 
green, shaded and marked with darker green and yellow. 
In the spring and summer, greenfinches resort chiefly to the 
sheltered copseis, and plantations ; their nest, built of small 
roots, moss, and straw, lined with feathers, hair, or fine 
vegetable down, is neatly woven, and placed in a low bush, 
or evergreen, the ivy against a wall, or a tree with forked 
branches : the eggs are from four to six in number, of a 
bluish white ground colour, with spots of purple, gray, or 
brown ; they are early builders, and generally produce two 
broods in the year. The young birds should not be taken 
I until thej^ are nearly fledged. Bread soaked in milk, with 
a little raw meat scraped, or cut very fine, is the best food 
for them ; they are excessively greedy, and must be carefully 
fed, or they will injure themselves. The plumage of both 
sexes is at first a greenish gray, but a slight yellow tinge 
generally distinguishes the male. If put under good tuition 
^ they will become agreeable songsters, although their natural 
j notes are weak, and by no means melodious. They are very 
I docile, have good memories, and sing nearly the whole year 
j ithrough. If pains are taken with them, they may be taught 
I to go and come at command, and perform many amusing 
I tricks. The old birds should be fed upon rape-seed and 
