Of the smaller graminivorous birds, many kinds have been kept tame in their native countries, and have lived long; yet, as the highest authority on cage- birds (18/37. Bechstein 'Naturgesch. der Stubenvogel' 1840 s. 20.) remarks, their propagation is "uncommonly difficult." The canary-bird shows that there is no inherent difficulty in these birds breeding freely in confinement; and Audubon says (18/38. 'Ornithological Biography' volume 5 page 517.) that the Fringilla (Spiza) ciris of North America breeds as perfectly as the canary. The difficulty with the many finches which have been kept in confinement is all the more remarkable as more than a dozen species could be named which have yielded hybrids with the canary; but hardly any of these, with the exception of the siskin (Fringilla spinus), have reproduced their own kind. Even the bullfinch (Loxia pyrrhula) has bred as frequently with the canary, though belonging to a distinct genus, as with its own species. (18/39. A case is recorded in 'The Zoologist' volume 1-2 1843-45 page 453. For the siskin breeding, volume 3-4 1845-46 page 1075. Bechstein 'Stubenvogel' s. 139 speaks of bullfinches making nests, but rarely producing young.) With respect to the skylark (Alauda arvensis), I have heard of birds living for seven years in an aviary, which never produced young; and a great London bird-fancier assured me that he had never known an instance of their breeding; nevertheless one case has been recorded. (18/40. Yarrell 'Hist. British Birds' 1839 volume 1 page 412.) In the nine-year Report from the Zoological Society, twenty-four insessorial species are enumerated which had not bred, and of these only four were known to have coupled.