334 



GOLDFINCH. Class 11. 



This bird Teems to have been the %fy(7p,LtiTf tj * of 

 Ariftotle ; being the only one that we know of, 

 that could be diftinguifhed by 2i golden fillet round 

 its head, feeding on the feeds of prickly plants. 

 The very ingenious tranflator-f oi Virgirs eclogues 

 and georgics, gives the name of this bird to the 

 acalanthis or a can this : 



Littoraque alcyonen refonant, acanthida dumi. 



In our account of the Halcyon of the antients, 

 p. 191 of the former edition, we followed his opi- 

 nion ; but having fince met with a ^ pafTage in 

 Jriftotle that clearly proves that acanthis could not 

 be ufcd in that fenfe, we beg, that, till we can dif- 

 cover what it really is, the word may be rendered 

 linnet % fince it is impolTible the philofopher could 

 diftinguifii a bird of fuch ftriking and brilliant 

 colors as the goldfinch^ by the epithet >ia}iox^oo;^ or 

 bad colored ; and as he celebrates his acanthis for 

 a fine note, (po:rw f^sv roi T^iyvpav Bxacri J, both charac- 

 ters will fuit the linnet, being a bird as remark- 

 able for the fweetnefs of its note, as for the plainefs 

 of its plumage. 



* Which he places among the aHav^o(paycc. Scaliger read's 

 the word ^vo-qijlIt^i^, which has no meaning ; neither does the 

 critic fupport his alteration with any reafons. ffl/. an. 887. 



f Dr. Martyn. 

 X Hiji, an, I055» 



Le 



