THE CHAFFINCH. 
653 
until October or November. In the migrating season 
Chaffinches associate in large flocks with other Finches, 
wandering about the fields in sunny corners, until they 
take their final departure. On their return-journey one 
rarely meets with them in such large assemblies. The 
males always return first, straightway visiting the old 
home, where, after some time, they are joined by the hen 
birds, when the pair soon begin to think of building their 
nest. Now, almost every minute, one may hear the 
simple, but loud-ringing song of the male Chaffinch, for 
which it is so celebrated, and which renders this bird so 
valuable in the eyes of the “ fancier.’' It is true the 
Chaffinch is only a second-rate performer,—as far as our 
private judgment and opinion are concerned, in opposition 
to that of the connoisseur in Chaffinch-song; the latter, 
however, looks upon the Chaffinch as a rival of the 
Nightingale, and the two birds have alike earned a 
reputation, and been the subjects of more than one 
stanza. The song or strain of the bird we are now 
writing of, consists of a series of short notes with a 
regular termination; still, almost each individual bird 
possesses one, or more often two, variations peculiar to 
itself, which it sings at will; and the songster of each 
neighbourhood has its peculiar characteristic. Thus it is 
that fanciers of this bird recognize so many different 
strains. In short, this especial branch of bird-fancy is in 
itself a singular taste. 
Like as islands, and oases in the deserts, are often 
inhabited by races peculiar in their individuality, so there 
are, or rather used to be, certain localities in our German 
Fatherland where the inhabitants differed essentially and 
distinctly from those of the rest of the world. These 
people were more learned in the matter of Chaffinch-song 
