The Bullfinch. 
dietary of the j'ouiig birds consists of green food, and till I solved 
this problem the result was always failure. The last occasion on 
which I bred them (about ten years ago) was in a portable garden- 
aviary-cage, consisting of three compartments, in the centre one 
of which a pair of newly-caught Bullfinches nested and reared 
two young ; the compartment in question being only i8 x iS x 22 
inches high. It had been previously used for a pair of Budgerigars 
and contained a husk in one corner. On the top of this the Bull- 
finches constructed quite an attractive nest, with fibre pulled from 
the inside of the husk and the stems of weeds and coarse grasses 
from among their green food ; three eggs were laid and two young 
birds successfully reared, both of which ultimately came to an 
untimely end — one being murdered by a Saffron and the other by 
a Green Singing-finch. Carrying my memory much further back 
into the past, I may say that in the aviary the\'^ usually availed 
themselves of cover for their nest, such as under a narrow shelf 
or near the front of their shed, and, in the majorit\' of instances, 
availing theurselves of an artificial base on which to construct 
their nest. I can only recall two instances in which typical 
natural nests were built : one in a bush and the other in a faggot 
of pea sticks, and in both instances the young weie drowned 
during heavy rains. So far as I could ascertain the young 
were entirely reared on the usual seeds and green food, the 
quantity of the latter consumed being simply enormous. I did 
not find two pairs to agree in the same compartment, however 
large; instead of nesting they merely chased one another about. 
The young males donned their brilliant garment at the 
autumn moult, but it was not then of full intensity; this with 
several specimens I kept, increased in intensity for the two suc- 
ceeding moults, when they appeared at their l)esl, Ijeing of not 
quite so rich a hue when they died at from two to three years 
later. 
I have not found this species spiteful with other birds, not 
even the smallest Waxbill, but they are very quarrelsome with 
their own kind, especially during tlie breeding season. Tliev 
should not, however, be associated with either Cardinals or the 
more robust foreign Buntings, because these will sooner or later 
kill them off, as also will the Knglish Chaf^iuch ; this has been 
the case on several occasions in my aviary. 
