Bullfinch and the Canary ; but such a union is oF rare occurrence,
and requires particular management.
The notes of the Bullfinch, as .heard in a wild state, particularly
the louder ones, have no remarkable quality of tone-
to recommend them ; its call-note’ is, howeverp~soft and
plaintive: it is'principally fo rjts powerg|4mitation and its
memory that this bird is prized.
“ In .Germany,” says Bechstein, “ .those young Bullfinches;
that are-to be taught to .sing particular tunes,-rgust be taken
from the nest when the feathers of the tail begin to grow ; and
must be fed only on rapeseed soaked in water, and mixed with
white bread; Although they do not warble, before they can
feed themselves, it is not necessary to wait for this to. begin
their instruction ; for it will sneceed better, if we may saÿ s
when infused with their food £a§inee— experience proves, that
they learn those airs quickly, and remember .them
better, which they have been taught jjsafeîafter -eating.
has been observed that these birds, like the Parrots, r aïe _
never more attentive than during digestion. Nine'months of
regular and continued instruction are necessary before the
bird acquires what amateurs call firmness-^for if the instruction
cease before this-is obtained, they dould destroy the
air, by suppressing or displacing the different qkrts, and
they often forget it entirely at their first moulting. In
general it is a good plan to .separate them from the other
birds, even after they are perfect ; because, owing .to- their
great quickness in learning, they would spoil the air entirely
by introducing wrong passages ; they must be helped to con-
tinue the song when they stop, and the desson miist always
be repeated while they are moulting, otherwise they will be-
come mere chatterers, which would be doubly vexatious after
having bestowed trouble in teaching them. Different de-
grees of capacity are shown here, as well as in other animals :
one young Bullfinch learns''witk ease and quickness;-’ another
with difficulty, and slowly; the former will repeat, without
hesitation, several parts of a song; the latter will hardly be
able to whistle one part, after nine months’ uninterrupted
teaching i but it- has been remarked that those birds which
learn with most difficulty, remember the songs which have
©flee been well-learned,’ better and longer, and rarely forget
them, even when moulting. The instrument used is a bird-
organ, or a . flageolet, but geneiallyfthe 'former. Many birds,
when young, will lëartf-ébihV strains of airs whistled or played
to them' regulatly every day; but it is only those whose memory
is capable-**o'f’"retaining' them that will abandon their
natural and adopt fltfefitly, ‘arid repeat without hesita-
-tiön, the air that has been taughtfc’fehem. Thus a young
Goldfinch learns,tit’ is true, some part?of the melody played
to*4 Bullfinch ; but it will never ;be able to render it as perfectly
aS^ffi#Mi*d: this difference is-'-not'caused by the greater
-er less: flexibility of the organ, but rather by tjie superiority
of memory in the ohe^llp^öréS over that of the other. Num-
beVs?off been taught in the manner
describedf-are brought frëiti Germany to London every spring,
and are fiequentfy advertised for sale* in the Londoh newspapers
? * -thé' "prie^ which is* sometimes considerable, depends
flfeidhe' powers and proficiency* of the performer.^
j^T h e ' Bffi'lhnch, as before observed, is Common in Éngland,
Mr. William Thondp'soh writes me word that it is not
uncommon* in certain’ localities in Ireland. According to Sir
William Ja-rdihe ahd Mr. Macgillivray, it is also frequent in
the iobéhern parts of" Scotland it4§* not found in thé
nprthernbSëottish islands of Orkney or Shetland. I t inha-
* bits* Denmark, Norway, Sweden; and Russia; is particularly
'tfobnmon i^tl^fóre&tS of Germany, and from thence to the
shorfeS ©fi'fthfe Mediterranean. To the' eastward in this parallel
it'is-foiind aS far as the öoüntriës spread "between the
BlackI and the Caspian Seas. ' M. Thunberg long ago said