398 CARDUELIS ELEGANS. 



mentioned town, within a few inches of which dozens of people 

 used to pass and repass during the most part of the day. So 

 exceedingly tame were they that they alighted in the gutters, 

 in company with the s^iarrows, in pursuit of their food. I knew 

 the man who took the young ones out of their nest, and put 

 them in a cage, which he ^^laced at his window, wdiere they 

 w^ere fed by their parents until they were able to provide food 

 for themselves. I knew" a remarkable instance of a female 

 Goldfinch pairing with a male Green Linnet in the wild state. 

 They first built their nest in a thorn hedge in a garden, in the 

 immediate neighbourhood of Bathgate, in which they reared 

 four young ones. They were taken out and brought u^) by a 

 young man in the town. They built a second time in an old 

 beech hedsfe on the estate of Mrs. Maijoribanks of Balbardie, 

 where they succeeded in hatching another brood, of which 

 they were again deprived. They were given to a weaver, who 

 succeeded in bringing them up. They lived for several years, 

 but they were not much admired for their fine singing, their 

 note being accounted rather harsh by our connoisseurs. 



" I knew another instance of the same kind, which took place 

 some years ago, in the garden on the north side of the Castle 

 of Edinburgh, at present in the possession of Messrs. Eagle and 

 Henderson. The male Green Linnet and the female Goldfinch 

 were caught by a bird-catcher, who kept the latter for some time 

 as a call-bird. I saw" both of them last year, and one of their 

 brood, which a cabinet-maker in Edinburgh has now in his 

 possession. It is a very strong and fine male, which, he says, 

 sings remarkably well. 



'' These seemingly unsociable birds, as soon as the breeding 

 season is over, flock together in numbers. About the end of 

 autumn, and during the winter months, they come to this parish, 

 and that of Whitburn. At their first arrival they feed on the 

 seeds of the meadow thistle, then on the common thistle, after- 

 wards on the self heal. Prunella vulgaris, and sometimes on the 

 RagWort, Senecio Jacobaea. A great many of them, particu- 

 larly the males, are caught with bird-lime, by bird-catchers 

 and other people. About the beginning of spring, or as soon 

 as the courting season commences, they separate, each pair 

 making choice of a particular situation for their abode." 



