62 
HINTS ON CAGE-BIRDS. 
lastly (and this was considered the most important reason), because 
it was asserted that, like the Chaffinch and Sparrow, the Saffron 
Finch never fed its young from the crop. 
■Mr. Ramsay’s Aviary. 
f.4 typical “attic" birdroom). 
All the above objections have either been proved frivolous, or 
have been exploded. The colouring of eggs is extremely variable, 
and different conditions may effect a marvellous change in a single 
generation, as proved in the case of a House Sparrow’s nest which 
1 obtained in Kent, built in a hawthorn, resembling the nest of a 
Duck rather than a Sparrow, containing four eggs nearly as large 
as those of a Skylark, two of which were coloured like dark eggs of 
the Tree Sparrow, and two much more like eggs of the Corn Bunt- 
ing. Some of the Buntings are walking birds, whereas others hop. 
I have known Canaries to build in covered boxes, and 1 fancy every 
other breeder of Canaries has had the same experience. Lastly, I 
have seen both Chaffinches and Sparrows feeding from the crop, and 
I have shown that Saffron Finches (of which I have bred dozens) 
feed their young in no other way. 
It is, however, a fact that hybrids have never been produced, so 
far as I am aware, between a cock Saffron Finch and hen Canary, 
although I, and many others, have repeatedly tried to obtain this 
cross. On the other hand, in 1898 a cock Canary in one of my 
aviaries paired with a hen Saffron Finch, which brought up three 
Mules, of which only one lived through its first moult, and is still 
living; and the Hon. Mary 0. Hawke, in a letter published in the 
Aoicultural Magazine for August last, states that she saw a Canary 
pairing to a Saffron Finch, and thinks one of her five eggs is good, 
so has put it under a Canary. 
It has been stated, and 1 see no reason why it should be 
impossible, that hybrids have been bred between the Bengalese 
(which is one of the Weaving Finches) and the Canary, which is a 
