Cl oacliccl upon bis domuin. The Ohaffiiicbcs of the fine hcing’in^ woods ofCJlivcdeii and Hedsor rarely descend 
to the newly-sown ladish-beds of the underlying garden of Formosa, nor do those of the primitive forests of 
Norway resort to the gardens of Christiania and Bergen ; but Formosa and all other gardens have Chaffinches 
of their own, as well as the neighbouring woods, and these certainly do call forth the ire of the gardener 
for the pertinacity with which they will pick out his spring seeds, devour the young shoots of his early 
peas, and the like depredations. Chaffinches are, indeed, very destructive to gardens in the spring-time, 
few birds more so ; but immediately they have young, their good offices come into play by the daily 
destruction of vast numbers of grubs, caterpillars, and perfect insects, which, if unmolested, would commit 
incalculably greater mischief, especially among our fruit and other trees. The farmer’s newly-sown fields of 
oats and turnips, too, are unsparingly plundered ; he has therefore good reason to complain ; and hence the 
bird has, with some degree of truth, acquired a bad name. At this season he is, in fact, both troublesome 
and annoying ; still, were it possible to protect tbe products of the garden and the field, which are not 
the natural food of the bird, I would do so rather than destroy a creature at once so beautiful and so useful 
as it really is. I would then, I say, spare the Chaffinch, and endeavour to find some means by which he may 
be scared from the newly-sown beds and fields : a string of dangling feathers from the wing of the next pullet 
your cook may kill will serve to effect this purpose in a garden. 
In mentioning the note of this bird, I asserted with truth that it is wanting in variety ; on the Continent, 
however, particularly in Germany, it is “ one of the most highly prized of caged songsters, being exceedingly 
docile and teachable, and having great aptitude for acquiring musical proficiency mucb is it esteemed ; and 
great are the sums given for those which have acquired a more than ordinary excellence in this respect. 
Bechstein says “ that it would not be difficult for him to fill several sheets with observations on the song 
of this bird, and mentions as many as twelve different strains into which it has been divided by his bird- 
loving countrymen. They distinguish each of these by the term Schlag, or trill : thus there is the double trill 
of the Hartz, the rider’s trill, the wine trill, the bridegroom’s trill, good-year trill, &c. ; and some of these are 
again divided into several (what shall we call them ?) trillettes. In fact, not a note of this bird seems to have 
escaped the nice ears of the Thuringian foresters, who, in their little villages, amid the dark pine-woods and 
rugged mountains of their old ‘fatherland,’ spend much of their leisure time in cultivating the musical powers 
of the little Chaffinch. One of these knife-smiths (for such is their chief calling) has been known to go to a 
distance of sixteen German (that is, about eighty) miles for the mere chance of catching a good bird ; and it 
has even been known that a cow has been given in exchange for an accomplished singer. Hence, they have 
a proverb which says that a ‘ Chaffinch is worth a cow,’ which reminds us that the French also have a 
proverbial expression in reference to this bird, ‘ as gay as a Chaffinch,’ alluding to its prettily varied plumage, 
cheerful song, or sprightly manners, — perhaps to all three.” “ It is remarkable,” says the same author, “ that 
the song of these birds varies with the district they inhabit, so that different songs are sung in the forest from 
those sung in the Hartz ; and by this the taste of amateurs is regulated. By this it would seem that these 
different strains or trills are the natural songs of the birds, capable, however, of being greatly improved by 
culture. The double trill of tbe Hartz is the most rare and difficult, and the hearing of this always throws a 
Thuringian into an ecstasy of delight. To gain such a bird he will part with a large sum of his hard earn- 
ings, although he live on bread and water for a week after.” 
Are the Chaffinches of the Continent identical with ours, or different birds ? My Norwegian notes remind 
me that I observed a slight diversity between those of that country and of Great Britain ; and I well remember 
how much larger, finer, and more richly coloured they were ; the flight-birds seen at Malta also appeared 
larger than our own ; but these differences are too slight, in my opinion, to induce any one to regard the 
Continental and British birds as more than races of one and the same bird. Local variations of limited 
extent occur in most species, particularly where they are stationary, as the Chaffinch is in this country. 
I have said that the Chaffinch is stationary ; for although it is stated that we have accessions from the 
north in the autumn which leave us again in spring, the greater number are with us at all seasons. Not so, 
however, on the Continent ; for the cold blasts of Lapland and the lifeless forests of Norway and Sweden 
cause them to seek countries further south ; and probably those I saw at Malta were en route to northern 
countries. 
After its autumnal moult, the Chaffinch has some very beautiful tints which are not found at any other 
season : the blue-coloured bill, characteristic of summer, is now changed to flesh-white, the grey of the head 
is suffused with brown, the tips of the secondaries are yellow instead of white, and yellow also fringes the 
edges of the primaries ; these yellow tints, however, soon fade, and those parts are then white like the 
shoulders. But little change takes place in the females. 
To append a lengthened description of its colouring is unnecessary, as the accompanying Plate correctly 
represents the two sexes in spring, the season of the Flowering Crab, on which they are drawn. 
