THE GOLDFINCH 211 



food. We are assured by an experienced bird- 

 catcher that thirty years ago in this part of Devon- 

 shire the Goldfinch bred in ahiiost every orchard ; 

 now it is one of our rarest and most local birds. All 

 this is sad reading, and it is a source of keen regret 

 that so handsome and once so familiar a bird has 

 now become so rare. The Goldfinch, in limited 

 numbers, may still, however, be said to breed locally 

 in all parts of England, becoming rarest in the 

 extreme north and west. In Scotland, although it 

 is known to breed as far north as Caithness, it is 

 even more local, yet said to be increasing in numbers 

 in the south. Although widely dispersed in Ireland 

 it can nowhere be called abundant, and is very local. 

 The extra British range of the Goldfinch comprises 

 the greater part of Europe, nearly up to the Arctic 

 Circle in the west, five degrees lower in the east. 

 In the south it includes the Canaries, Madeira and 

 North-west Africa, Palestine, Asia Minor and Persia. 

 In the extreme north the Goldfinch is a migrant ; in 

 Egypt it appears to be found in winter only ; whilst 

 in many southern localities (as for instance in 

 Algeria) it ascends mountains to breed. East of 

 the Ural Mountains in Siberia and Turkestan, two 

 closely allied Goldfinches occur, one of which is 

 probably only subspecifically distinct from the 

 European form. 



The Goldfinches living in the British Islands 

 appear to be sedentary, if subject to a varying 



