327 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Febbtjaby 26, 1861. 
over your young ones, taking notice of those that appear to 
have the longest ears and are the best marked, which are easily to 
be seen even at that early age. If it is the doe’s first litter, and 
•she has more than two, take the surplus number away, and if 
they are promising, place three or four with your nurse does— 
not more than four. If you notice any of the young ones 
spotted, it is better to destroy them at once. If you find your 
young doe prove a good mother you may allow her to bring 
,up three or four young ones at her next litter, but never more, 
if fine ones are desired. Some does will not notice their young, 
and these are often the breeders of the longest-eared Rabbits : 
therefore, you must endeavour to have your nurse does ready 
to receive them. 
When the young ones are about a month old they will begin 
to show their good points, and from this age till about eight or 
ten weeks, make great progress in the growth of ear ; but if you 
find there is not much to be expected from them in that respect, 
it is better to wean them at seven or eight weeks old, sooner 
than lose more time with your doe; but if, on the contrary, 
they are promising, leave them witli the doe till twelve weeks 
old. Some does will not suckle their young so long, but drive 
them about the hutch. When such is the case it is better to 
put the doe to the buck, and let the young ones remain a week 
longer if it has quieted her; but, if not, remove them. 
At this age many of them will require a cap on the ears to 
get them in the required form. When capped they must be 
put in separate hutches, otherwise they will knaw the caps off 
each other. They will not require the cap on longer than a 
week or ten days, and it should be put on directly they are 
weaned. The ears seldom grow after four or five months old. 
In breeding for length of ear it is not necessary that both 
parents should have ears of great length, provided they are of good 
blood. A nineteen-inch or twenty-inch-eared doe will prove 
the best breeder; 4he longer-eared ones are often too highly 
bred or forced in their growth to be of much value as breeders, 
often turning out barren or bad mothers. But the buck should 
be as long-eared as you can obtain, provided he is a good stock- 
getter. Very long-eared bucks will also prove barren sometimes. 
In breeding for colour it is a bad plan to breed from two 
broken colours ; it is better that one should be a self-colour, and 
the fancier should also knowhow his does are bred as to colour 
—that is, the colour of their parents, as they will often throw 
back. To get heavily-marked black and whites, a black is a 
good colour to breed from ; for tortoiseshell, a sooty fawn ; for 
yellow and white, a fawn; and let the other be of the colour 
desired. It is impossible to breed true to colour, but by 
judicious crossing a great deal may be done towards it. 
The fancier in selecting his breeding stock should be particular 
in getting them free from defects, good carriage, legs straight, 
eyes large and prominent, and in colour heavily marked, and 
large size. These are the main points to be considered.—R. S. S. 
(To be continued.') 
THE CANARY AND THE BRITISH FINCHES. 
(Continued from page 296 ) 
7.—THE SISKIN or ABERDEYINE (Fringilla spinus). 
German , Der Zeisig. French , Tarin. 
The Siskin, or, as it called about London, the Aberdevine, 
is also known in some parts of the country by the names of 
Barley-bird, Black-headed Thistlefinch, or Goldwing, is in 
shape much like a Goldfinch, though a trifle smaller and rather 
more dumpy, the tail being short and the bird having a habit 
of puffing out its feathers. The beak, also, is sharp and pointed 
like that of the Goldfinch. The general colour of the plumage 
is a yellowish-green on the upper parts of the body, and yellowish- 
white beneath. The sexes are easily recognised, the male being 
brighter and having a black top to his head ; the head of the 
female being greyish, the body-colouring duller, and the breast 
spotted. The cocks are said to increase in brightness of colour 
till the fourth moult. The base of the tail-feathers, as likewise 
the lower parts of the quill-feathers of wings, are yellow, and 
the larger wing-coverts have a yellowish margin, which forms 
stripes or bars on the wings. Not much is generally known of 
their natural history; but they are believed to breed in the fir 
woods of Scotland and the north of England, and to migrate 
southwards in autumn. During the winter months flights of 
Siskins are often to be met with in the south of England, fre¬ 
quently in the company of the Redpolls, when they frequent the 
alders along the banks of rivers, and at those times the bird- 
catclicrs capture them in the clapnets ; but they are more un¬ 
certain in their migration than most of our other winter visitors, 
and, consequently, bear a higher price. Cock birds sell from 
lv. to 2s. 6d., according to their scarcity or the time they have 
been in a cage, as many fresh-caught birds die in meating off— 
that is, before they learn to eat the seeds given to them, which, 
of necessity, are so different from what they get in their native 
state. They are, however, quiet birds and soon make themselves 
at home, and with a little attention become very tame, and seem 
happy, vivacious little birds, continually singing in a rather low, 
plaintive twitter, not devoid of sweetness, but often interrupted 
with the interjection JDe, de, dedali ! uttered with more emphasis 
in a rather squeaky key. 
Them contented manner and familiar ways cause the Siskins 
to be general favourites. They breed freely with the Canary, 
those I have had feeding their young as attentively as the 
Canaries. There seems considerable affinity between the Siskin 
and Canary. Bechstein asserts that the hybrid will breed again. 
The Siskin Mules, at least all that I have bred or seen, very 
much resembled the Siskin, though a trifle larger and rather 
brighter in colour, and the beak a little thicker than the Siskin’s. 
The cocks, too, had the black heads so distinctive of the cock 
Siskin, though not quite so jet, while the hens were more grey. 
The tails, also, of the Mules were intermediate between those of 
the Siskin and Canary. 
In song, like most Mules, they were very imitative, catching 
the notes of nearly all the other birds in the aviary, and though 
their voices are not so powerful as the Canaries’, yet they 
possessed much execution.—B. P. Brent. 
APIARIAN NOTES.—No. XI. 
Frost and its Effects. —I have to apologise to “A Ren- 
frewshire Bee-keeper ” for having taken hitherto no public 
notice of his polite request to contribute a paper on the above- 
named subject; but hardly knowing what advice to give, I 
thought it would be best to wait until the long-continued frost 
should break up, and since that period I find my time and atten¬ 
tion hare been too much engaged with other than apiarian matters 
to allow of my writing an article for the pages of The CoTTAGtE 
Gardener. As so much time has elapsed, I will not now say 
very much on the subject, as no doubt most bee-keeper3 have 
been able to satisfy themselves as to the effects of the late frost 
on their own bee3. All the hives with which I commenced the 
winter, fourteen in number, are living, and, so far as can be 3een, 
are healthy and safe. I can distinguish no difference, in point 
of strength and activity, between the stocks in wooden or in 
straw hives. The former have had no protection or covering 
other than a loose roof to carry off wet. The straw liive3 have, 
in most instances, been enclosed in wooden cases, yet I cannot 
perceive that the bees have suffered one whit more in the boxes 
than in the straw hives. In one of either sort, located a few 
miles from town, the bee-feeders had inadvertently been left on 
the top since November, the communication being left open, and 
the apertures uncemented with propolis. These rank, so far as 
I can judge, amongst the strongest stocks in my apiary. Neither 
of these had other protection than a moveable roof. The first 
fine day after the thaw I took the opportunity of cleaning the 
floor-boards of most hives. In two or three cases the bees 
seemed greatly to appreciate the attention; but in the majority 
there wa 3 but little accumulation of dirt and refuse of unsealed 
combs, and very little appeai*ance of there having been con¬ 
siderable internal condensation. On the whole, considering the 
unfortunate predicament in which the majority of bee-keepers in 
this district find their liive3,1 have, in common with the “Devon¬ 
shire Bee-keeper,” l'eason to congratulate myself on the pros¬ 
perous condition of my apiary, after as trying a spring, summer, and 
winter, as have probably been experienced by any living apiarian. 
The succeeding two months, are, however, still likely to be very 
precarious to the prosperity of existing hives, and we must not 
be too sanguine of passing the critical period wholly unscathed; 
yet I hope, by affording early and liberal supplies of food to 
those which seem to require it, to carry through the greater 
portion of my stock. I should fear that the hive of the “ Renfrew¬ 
shire Bee-keeper,” in which the thermometer fell to 25° 
below the freezing-point, will not have survived the frost, but 
should be glad to hear from him that it has done so. Such 
