THK GREEN FINCH. 227 



\Mul(' birds and biitterflii's and flowers 

 Make all one band of puramoui'S, 

 Thou, ranging np and do^vn the bowers, 



Ai't sole in tlij- emplopnent ; 

 A life, a presence Kkc the air, 

 Scattering thy blessings without care, 

 'J'oo blcss'd with any one to pair, 



Thyself thy own enjoyment. 



Upon yon tuft of hazel trees, 

 That t^^•inkle to the gusty breeze, 

 ]5chold him perch'd in ecstasies. 



Yet seeming still to hover ; 

 There ! where the flutter of his wings 

 Upon his back and bod}' flings 

 Shadows and sunny glimmerings. 



That cover him all over. 



My sight he dazzles, half deceives, 

 A bird so like the dancing leaves. 

 Then flits, and fi-om the cottage eaves 



Pom-s forth his song in gushes ; 

 As if by that exulting strahi. 

 He mocked and treated with disdain 

 Tiic voiceless form he chose to feign 



AMiilo fluttering in the bushes." 



Tu summer, the green finches frequent the hedges, bushes, and copses, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of cultivated groimd, and are often found nestling in gardens, especially where 

 they have the shelter of ivy or of close hedges. The note of the male is mild and 

 subdued, but it can hardly be caUed a song ; though in confinement he may be tauglit to 

 sing to a certain extent ; but then, as in the free state, the birds are more recommended 

 to notice by the gentleness of their manners than their notes. 



The nest of these bii'ds is placed in a thick bush, composed of vegetable fibres, moss, 

 and wool, with a lining of hair and feathers ; the eggs are four or five in number, of a 

 very pale greenish white, with light reddish spots near the thick ends. 



As the green finches have their nesting time in the finest part of the season, and their 

 nesting places in those localities where both food and building materials are foimd in 

 abundance, matters go on more smoothly with them than with many other birds. The 

 pair are very attentive to the young and to each other ; and W'hen the incubation begins, 

 the male takes his turn. The principal food of the grown-iip birds is small seeds, 

 especially those which abound in fixed oil. 



