184 
BEArTIFUL BIBBS. 
is low, soft, aud pleasing, but cannot be beard beyond 
:i short distance. It possesses the imitative faculty in 
great perfection, and can be taught to whistle musical 
airs witli remarkable accuracy. * jMuch time is given 
aud attention paid to the instruction of these birds in 
Germany ; they require to be taught regularly for 
nine consecutive months before they can execute an 
air n ith firmness and precision ; which should be 
uttered with a flute-like tone. AYell-instructed birds 
sell at a high price, and are as interesting on account 
of their docility and affectionate disposition as their 
voice. The common call-note of the wild Bullfinch is 
a plaintive whistle. 
The food of the Bullfinch consists, during summer 
and autumn, of various seeds ; but during winter and 
spring it subsists for the most part on the buds of 
various trees and shrubs, as the thoiai, larch, birch, the 
plum and other fruit trees, aud thus often commits 
serious injuries in fruit gardens ; the bird does not 
swallow the buds entire, but minces them to pieces by 
means of the powerful mandibles of the bill. This bird 
builds in low' thick bushes or underwood, or on the 
flat foliage of a spruce or silver fir. The foundation 
is made of birch-twigs or other slender sticks ; upon 
this is intertwined a basket of flexible fibrous roots, 
the whole forming a shallow' nest. Pour or five eggs, 
of a bluish white spotted with pale orange brown, 
is the usual number. The male bird has the head, 
Aviugs, aud tail, velvet black, with a tinge of purple ; 
the back of the neck, and back, fine bluish-grey; 
rump Avhito ; cheeks, throat, chest, and sides, roseate ; 
