THE GOLDFINCH 213 



every tall plant likely to yield the seeds on which it 

 subsists. The Goldfinch is perhaps least seen on the 

 ground ot all our common Finches, the peculiarity 

 of its food confining it to bushes and tall plants. If 

 alarmed it ofien alights in trees ; its visits to the 

 ground are chiefly confined to a search for the seeds 

 of such weeds as groundsel, plantain and dandelion. 

 The Goldfinch is rather a noisy bird, if in a quiet 

 sort of way, and its peregrinations 2 re generally 

 accompanied by its twittering call-note. In early 

 spring the parties of Goldfinches disband and retire 

 to various haunts to breed. 



At this season, too, the charming little song of the 

 male begins to be heard amongst the orchards and 

 hedges. This song though not very loud nor long 

 is exceptionally sweet. The bird is a somewhat coy 

 sinofer, soon silenced if disturbed, and deli^htine to 

 sit and warble amongst the cover of its haunts. We 

 never heard the Goldfinch's music to better advan- 

 tage than in an Arab garden in Algeria, where the 

 apple trees abounded with these birds, exhibiting a 

 tameness unknown in England, three or four singing 

 in concert or rivalry at a time. The Goldfinch 

 continues in song through the summer to August, 

 but its music is more desultory and less stirring in 

 the later months. We always think it sounds the 

 best when the apple trees are in full bloom. 



In many localities the Goldfinch may be seen in 

 pairs right through the autumn and winter ; but 



