Our Native Song Birds. 
133 
the while upon a tree hard by, saying Fink, Fink, 
quite happily ! 
The Bullfinch’s nest accords with its own 
slightly clumsy habits. The nest is rough-look- 
ing outside, but inside it certainly is made very 
nice and soft. 
These birds build sometimes in a thick hedge, 
often in a thorn-bush, and sometimes I think in 
Holly-trees. The Bullfinch generally perches on a 
branch near the nest and sings to his mate while 
she is sitting. These are perhaps the most affec- 
tionate of any of our wild birds — it is quite a com- 
mon thing for a Bullfinch to die of grief if taken 
away from either its mate or people to whom it 
has attached itself — and a pet Bullfinch turned out 
of its usual sitting-room will cry all day most 
bitterly, and often refuse to eat. They are indeed 
extraordinarily sociable in their tastes, and they 
quite deserve to be made much of accordingly. 
When we are going to bring up any of these 
birds from the nest, whether as picked up or 
rescued in the country from some impending 
danger, or whether bought in towns, we must 
proceed to manage them pretty much the same 
way. A quill with a notch cut in it is the readiest 
thing to feed with, and stale bread dipped in water 
