The Bullfinch
Source:
What Shall We Do Now?: Five Hundred Games And Pastimes
Category:
PETS
The bullfinch is squarely built, with a black head and pink breast. No
bird can be more affectionate and intelligent. He will learn to pipe
tunes if you put him in the dark and whistle a few bars of some easy
melody to him over and over again; and he soon gets a number of
fascinating tricks. After a while you will be able to let him out of
the cage at meal-times, when he will hop about from plate to plate and
steal little tit-bits. No bird is so fond of sitting on its owner's
shoulder as the bullfinch can be. Also, unhappily, few birds are so
liable to fatal illness. A bullfinch can be apparently quite well one
minute and the next you find him lying at the bottom of the cage.
Over-eating is often the cause of his death, so that one must be
careful. Hemp-seed and apple-pips, for instance, which he loves,
should be given in moderation. Rape and millet, lettuce and ripe fruit
suit him best. Gardeners are great enemies of this sturdy little bird
on account of the damage he does amongst fruit-trees, but he probably
does a great deal more good than he does harm by eating insects which
are fatal to plants.
Next:
The Yellow Bunting
Previous:
The Goldfinch
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