7S 
CAGE AND SINGING BIRDS. 
green food^ with a little liemp-seed now and tlien, especially 
at the moulting season ^ they are also fond of juniper berries, 
and if loose in the aviary will do very well on the universal 
paste. It iS; however, rather a disagreeable bird to its fellow 
prisoners; on account of its greediness, which prompts it to 
mount guard near the food, and deny access to alf weaker 
or more timid birds. 
Greenfinches pair readily with canaries, and they are good 
sitters, but the males are, in general, neither remarkable for 
beauty nor musical powers. 
Three distinct varieties of this species are spoken of by 
dealers, viz., the great, the middle sized, and the small 
greenfinch 3 in the first a rich yellow is the predominating* 
colour, the second has it of a lighter tint, especially in the 
under part of the body, in the third it is more green thau 
yellow : these variations, we think with Bechstein, may be 
all ascribed to age, 
THE HAWFINCH, 
Or Common, or Black-throated Grosbeak. In appearance 
this is by no means an attractive bird, having* all the cha- 
racteristics of the grosbeak family in a somewhat exagger- 
ated degree ; it has a short stout bill, stumpy tail, large 
head, and clumsy body ; the colours of its plumage, also, 
are dull and heav}^, and its natural notes harsh and disagree- 
able. Its only recommendation in a state of confinement 
appears to be its great tameness ; this is all that even Bech- 
stein can urge in its favour. If kept in a cage, it should be 
fed on rape and hemp-seed, with green food, and various 
kinds of berries, on which it chiefly feeds when wild, hence 
its scientific name, CocothrausteSy the berry-breaker; if in 
the aviary, the universal paste will do for it, with an occa- 
sional change as above. 
The hawfinch is naturally a very shy bird, and has, there- 
fore, been thought much more uncommon in this country 
than it really is. Once supposed to be wholly so, it is now 
ascertained to be only partly migratory ; it frequents the 
beech and other coniferous trees, and generally perches upon 
the highest branches, and keeps a sharp look-out upon all 
comers. Its nest has been most frequently found in the 
vicinity of Epping* Forest; it is composed of decayed leaves 
