169 

 GOLDFINCH. 



Carduelis elegans {S/eph.). 



Resident, local, not common, decreasing in numbers ; a few 

 migrants in autumn. 



This species was first alluded to as a native of Yorkshire 

 by Marmaduke Tunstall, in 1783, thus : — " Goldfinch. — 

 Called in the north of England Redcap and Gold Linnet." 

 (Tunst. MS. p. 68.) 



Thomas Allis, in 1844, wrote of it as follows : — 



Carduelis elegans. — Goldfinch — Common at Doncaster and Hebden 

 Bridge ; formerly by no means uncommon near Halifax, now nearly 

 extinct ; it is met with near Leeds ; is not very common about 

 Huddersfield ; it is very plentiful in the moorland districts near 

 Barnsley ; it is rarely seen in the immediate neighbourhood of York, 

 though pretty abundant a few miles to the east of the city ; it is 

 obtained about Thirsk. 



This charming little finch, which was formerly abundant 

 in most cultivated districts, is becoming extremely rare, its 

 decrease in highly farmed neighbourhoods being attributable 

 to the destruction of those plants on whose seeds it usually 

 feeds ; in some places linseed and flax were extensively 

 cultivated for manufacturing purposes, and in harvest time 

 the birds were attracted to the ripening seeds ; this industry 

 has almost died out, and, with its decline, a corresponding 

 decrease in the number of Goldfinches has taken place. 

 The professional bird catchers are also partly responsible 

 for their scarcity, as many used to be snared in autumn 

 to sell for cage birds, and so recently as 1904 no fewer than 

 seventeen were captured near Knaresborough ; the result 

 is that in only few places can it, at the present time, be found 

 nesting in a wild state. In the south, south-west, and south- 

 east portions of the West Riding it is almost extinct as a 

 nester, though it was formerly plentiful in suitable localities ; 

 odd pairs still breed near Wakefield, and about Ackworth 

 it is slightly increasing. In the Leeds area it used to be 

 frequent near Sherburn-in-Elmet when teazle was cultivated. 



