Towards the middle of February it began to sing so charmingly as quite to exceed all our expectations. Naturalists who have described the notes of this bird have not by any means done it justice, for its song may bear comparison with that of the most gifted Finches; its voice is as melodious as it is copious. The call is uttered loudly, the actual song, on the contrary, being very soft, reminds us of the tones of the goldfinch, linnet, and canary. The habits of our tame bird are very entertaining; it is constantly in motion, hops about its cage with much alacrity, and will hang like a titmouse from the wires at the top. The shyness it at first exhibited has quite disappeared, and it now greets its acquaintance with a cry of recognition. It eats millet, canary-seed, and ants' eggs, taking but few of the latter; nor does it seem partial to green food. The Carmine Bullfinch is replaced in America by a similar bird, and a species very closely allied to it is found in Arabia Petræa. [Illustration: THE DESERT TRUMPETER (_Bucanetes githogeneus_).] THE SIBERIAN BULLFINCH. The SIBERIAN BULLFINCH (_Uragus Sibericus_) is remarkable from the circumstance that, unlike most bullfinches, its tail is as long as its whole body; the fourth tail-feather on each side being the longest, the others graduating gently to the middle. The beak is of moderate size, and the upper mandible slightly bent over the lower. The fourth quill of the wing is longer than the rest. In colour the Siberian Bullfinch resembles the Rosefinch; the plumage of the old male is almost entirely of a rose colour, darker on the back, owing to the prominent marking of the shafts of the feathers. The head and throat are whitish, and of satin-like brilliancy, particularly after the moulting season. The lower part of the body is very brilliant, being of a bright carmine-red, and the beak is surrounded by a line of the same hue. The individual feathers are dark grey, lightly edged with pale carmine, and the wings and tail are also vividly tinted with the latter colour. The small upper wing-covers and shoulder-feathers are white upon the tip and outer web, or bordered with white, giving the closed wing the appearance of being white, marked with a crooked line of grey. The three external tail-feathers are also white as far as their dark shaft, and a dark border on the inner web, which becomes broader towards the middle of the tail, the feathers in the centre being merely edged with white. The female is of an olive or greyish green. The Siberian Bullfinches inhabit the marshy, reed-covered districts of Northern Asia. In the autumn they congregate in parties of from ten to thirty, and fly about uttering a monotonous piping note. In Irkutsck these birds assemble in great numbers during the month of September, and many are captured by bird-fanciers; but they entirely lose their vivacity when in a cage, and do not long survive. In Oron the