He is fond of bathing, and should have a bath every day. The goldfinch will sometimes mate with the canary, and the mules are very pretty. He must, however, be taken away from his wife as soon as she begins to lay, as he has a mischievous propensity for breaking the eggs. After the young birds are hatched he may be put back into the cage, and will help in feeding them. I have never had a siskin, but it is a very favourite bird among bird-fanciers, especially in Germany, where it is ranked as one of the best of cage birds. It is smaller than the canary, and its song is not so loud - a low sweet warble, which suits some people better than a more beautiful song. It is a very sociable bird and very easily tamed, and is very amusing to watch in a cage, on account of its whimsical postures and climbing propensities. It seems to delight in doing things which it would be next to impossible for ordinary birds to accomplish: it will drink in a perpendicular position, hanging by its legs, with its head downwards, and sleep clinging to the wires instead of roosting on a perch, and will run along the top of its cage like a fly upon the ceiling of a room. It seems to use its feet very much like parrots, and to throw somersaults like a mountebank for amusement.

Doubtless it would soon learn all the feats which have been spoken of as accomplished by the goldfinch, to perfection. The siskin is said to be very fond of eating, and to eat much more than most birds of its own size. It should be fed on canary, rape, and poppy-seed, with occasional treats of hemp-seed and almonds, of which it is very fond, and must have plenty of water both for drinking and bathing. Very handsome mules are obtained by mating the siskin with the canary.

Siskin.