The Chaffinch. Oe 

Length, six inches. Eggs greenish and clouded, tinged 
with pink and marked with purple-brown. 
In Germany this bird, being a very good Big 
is looked upon as a valuable household pet; and 
should there be one whose song is considered better 
than another's, though many miles away in open air, 
several persons will be after it, trying to catch it with 
bird-lime. There is a common saying in Germany, 
“Such a chaffinch is worth a cow,’ —and I should sup- 
pose it to be so, when time and expense are specu- 
lated upon in such a way as this, for we read of ninety 
miles’ travel being accomplished for this purpose. In 
many towns in Belgium and in Holland, a very cruel 
practice exists, with a view to improve the vocal powers 
of this beautiful bird, which always sings as if in ecs- 
tacies. The Germans confine them in wooden boxes 
or cages, just large enough for this poor little prisoner 
to turn round. 
It is sweet, indeed, to hear the song of the Chaffinch 
as we walk under shady trees, and see it perched among 
the boughs, with the feathers on the top of its head 
- risen as if to form a crest, throwing all its life into the 
beautiful warble; but when we know the practice of. 
piercing the bird’s eye with a hot needle exists with 
