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Foreign Finches in Captivity.
of South America, the song of Cardiualis is undoubtedly praiseworthy; it is clear,
loud and musical, and is industriously persevered in; but I cannot agree with
Alexander AVilsou, who says that its notes " both in a wild and domestic state,
are very various," or that "many of them resemble the high notes of a fife."
The singino- season is " from March to September, beginning at the first appearance
of dawn and repeating a favourite stanza, or passage, twenty or thirty times
suceessivelv, sometimes with little intermission for a whole morning together,
which lik^ a good story too often repeated, becomes at length tiresome and
lusipid." (Can It be credited that this paragraph is from the same pen?) He
a d d s — " I n the Northern States, they are migratory; but in the lower parts of
Pennsylvania, they reside during the whole year, frequenting the borders of creeks
and rivulets, in sheltered hollows covered with holly, laurel, and other evergreens.
They love also to reside in the vicinity of fields of Indian corn, a gram that
constitutes their chief and favourite food. The seeds of apples, chei-ries, and many
other sorts of fruits are also eaten by them ; and they are accused of destroying
bees."
" I n the months of March and April, the males have violent engagements
for their favourite females. Early in May, in Pennsylvania, they begin to prepare
their nest, which is very often fixed in a holly, cedar, or laurel bush."
According to other writers, the nest is often built in a low tree, cedar or
yew or in a thorny thicket, and rarely far from running water. It is constructed
of twigs, strips of bark, leaves and a quantity of dry grasses, aud is lined with
finer grasses. The eggs are oblong-oval, white, densely overlaid with brown and
pale lavender spots.
Speaking of the Yucatan race f C . coccineusj Mr. G. F. Gaumer says that it
is " Common in all parts, quite shy, and always met in pairs. It is alike prized
for its sweet song and for its bright plumage. Its food is mostly seeds. It
frequents open lands, or the outskirts of towns."
Mr Edward Bartlett, in his "Monograph of Weavers and Finches" says that
the brilliant plumage aud song combined make the Virginian Cardinal " one of
the most conspicuous objects throughout the swamp and forest land of the Southern
States These two great qualities might have been the destruction of this much
enloo-ized swamp-loving bird, had it not been for the vast territory which it
occupies, for not only the natives but travellers to that country, do their utmost
to procure it dead or alive. The skins were used ages ago by the natives like
those of many other birds to adorn their head-dresses and garments, for they,
like the inhabitants of' other parts of the world, have great taste for showy colours ;
The lli-ginian. Cardinal.
in this way the poor Virginian Nightingale has been a persecuted bird in its native
haunts from the time of Columbus to the present day."
Now, if this species is thus persecuted in the United States, it is little wonder
that all attempts to introduce it into this country, or even into Europe, have been
unavailing. No bird, having tlie brilliant colouring of the Cardinal Grosbeak, would
be safe from tlie destructive instincts of English gunners for a single season. The
only marvel is, considering the immense quantity of Kingfishers shot or netted
ever_\- year, that a single example of that lovely bird remains in Great Britain.
Card in a!is is a hardy bird, and will do well in an unheated aviary; but if smaller
or ^veaker birds than itself are associated \vith it, the probability is that, sooner or
later it will braiu them. It will breed occasioualh-, if provided with a good-sized
bush, a deep nest box, or even a German Canals-cage, in which to build. For
materials, aloe-fibre, straw and ha\- may be provided.
The best seeds for the Cardinal Grosbeak are oats, sunflower, canar}-, and a little
hemp ; boiled maize may also be given and any small ripe fruit when in season, also
all kinds of insects, their chrysalides and larvae. When breeding, additional insect
food should be supplied; but mealworms should then be given sparingly, as they
are too stimulating, and if given in excess, will induce the parents to brain their
nestlings and start breeding again immediately. Fresh ants' cocoons, if obtainable,
are preferable to auj' other insect food at this time.
Dr. Rnss evidently has a great admiration for the song of this species; he
thus speaks of it:—
" Beautiful bird, excellent songster; several amateurs, however, do not approve
of its song, especially in the room, because too lond and harsh, whilst most praise
it with one consent and listen with especial pleasure to its long-drawn ñute like notes.
Singing-time :—March till the autumn moult, from morning to evening, sometimes at
night ; frequently e\-en begins again in December. Extraordinarily beloved,
imported every year in considerable numbers, and distributed by many dealers over
the whole of Europe."
" Beloved iu its home by both Americans and Germans, it is protected and
onl3- caught for the cage-bird fancy. Had been bred in Holland a centur3- and a
half ago and later in England ; iii German}-, for the first time, by Mr. H. Leuckfeld
in Nordhausen, later by man)- other breeders. The hen builds the nest openly in
a bush, on a thickly branched horizontal bough, on a groundwork of bents and moss,
strips of paper, &c., with rootlets, bast-fibres, threads, &c,, carefully lined with
Agave-fibre. ]\Iore rarel)- in a Hartz cage open above, or a little basket woven
of birch-twigs. The love antics of the male consist in extraordinary dancing and
o
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