370 LINARIA CHLORIS. 



and generally more or less streaked with black. Two broods 

 are frequently reared in the season. The places usually chosen 

 for the nest are low and thick bushes, frequently evergreens, a 

 close hawthorn hedge, the ivj on a tree or wall, and sometimes 

 the fork of a tree. 



Young. — The young when fledged have the bill pale brown 

 above, flesh-coloured beneath, the tip brown. The general 

 colour of the upper parts is olivaceous, the central portion of 

 each feather faintly tinged with brown ; the quills and tail 

 dusky brown ; the edge of the wing, and the outer margin of 

 the primary quills greenish-yellow^ ; the fore-neck and breast 

 greyish-brown, as are the sides ; the rest of the lower parts 

 greyish-white ; the feet flesh-colour, tinged with brown. 



As in every instance in which the young birds are said by 

 ornithologists to resemble the females, the young Greenfinch 

 differs from the adult female so as to be easily distinguished 

 with a little attention. The more remarkable differences are 

 the following. The bill is somewhat smaller, and considerably 

 paler. In the female the general colour of the upper parts is 

 uniform, and more tinged with reddish-brown, whereas in the 

 young it is indistinctly streaked, each feather having a darker 

 centre. The secondary quill-coverts are ash-grey in the female, 

 and brown in the young, while a larger space on the edge of 

 the wing is yellow in the former, and the yellow edges of the 

 primaries form a uniform space when the wing is closed, and 

 in the latter they are merely yellow lines. The lower parts of 

 the young are paler, with less yellow. 



Progress toward Maturity. — The older the males are, the 

 lighter and purer are their tints ; but as the character of the co- 

 louring varies little, it is unnecessary to trace minute gradations. 



Remarks. — The Greenfinch, although destitute of a continued 

 song, is frequently kept in cages, where it thrives well, being 

 of a quiet and patient temper, and possessed at the same time 

 of considerable liveliness. It has moreover the faculty of ac- 

 quiring the notes of other birds, and is not delicate as to its 

 food, eating freely of the seeds of Gramineae and Cruciferse, as 

 well as green herbage of the groundsel and chickweed. 



