The Goldfinch 71 



sufficient to supplj- the bird -market, whereas the IVIerliii, Sparrow-Hawk, Hen- 

 Harrier, and most of the Owls, which are more or less destructive to small birds, 

 pay no attention to close-seasons, but destroy throughoitt the year. On several 

 occasions bird-catchers have brought me Sparrow-Hawks which have swooped at 

 the decoy-Goldfinch and been caught in the nets. 



The nest of the Goldfinch is most frequentl_y to be found in orchards, prefer- 

 abl}' on the lichen-covered branch of an old apple-tree, though it also occurs at 

 times in the branches of a pear, horse-chestnut, beech, plane, poplar, yew, cypress, 

 laurel, or even in a deciduous shrub : in Norfolk I took it from near the top of 

 a tall hawthorn hedge. Usuall}^ the nest, which is small and cup-shaped, is neatly 

 formed of moss and lichen, interwoven with rootlets and wool ; it is lined with 

 thistle-down, small soft feathers, and horse-hair : my Norfolk nest, however, is 

 without the lichens, and is chiefly lined with some W00II3' substance, probably 

 vegetable, but hardly white enough for thistle-down : the eggs in this nest are 

 also unusually small. 



The late Rev. H. A. Macpherson wrote: — "The most curious nest of the Gold- 

 finch that I ever saw was built entirel_v of stems of dr}- grass. It contained a 

 full complement of tiny Goldfinches, and was l)uilt in a plum-tree." 



The eggs number from four to five, usually the latter, and are similar to 

 those of a Linnet, but usually rather smaller; they are greenish- white, spotted 

 and streaked, especiall}' at the larger end, with purplish-brown, and with lilacine- 

 grey shell-spots ; the3% however, vary greatly from this type, some eggs being 

 merely speckled and spotted with dull blood- red, whilst others are almost without 

 markings. 



The song of the Goldfinch is much over-rated ; it is cheerful, but scrappy in 

 character ; the hen sometimes sings quite as well as the cock, and the song is 

 the same: some years ago I carefully noted the whole performance, going over it 

 again and again, with the bird singing close to me, until I had it all down exactly 

 as follows: — l]l/ci-c-ur, whec-c-ur, whtc-c-nr, too-00-cc, li-iveea, ii-ivcca, wliihvcea, cliiwliit, 

 c/iiivit, clira'it ; whetc, ivhctc, wlitcc. The last three notes are accompanied b}^ violent 

 lateral jerks of the tail and a corresponding movement of the bod}-, which some- 

 times almost upsets the bird's balance. The call-note beai"s some resemblance to 

 that of the Canary ; but the scolding note, or note of defiance, is a sharp shrill 

 (■////, sometimes continued into a chittcyi-tit, tit: as the Goldfinch is tolerabl}' 

 quarrelsome, this note, which somewhat reminds one of a common autumnal 

 utterance of the Robin, is frequeuth' heard. 



The food consists largely of seeds, buds, and the leaves and flower-heads of 

 weeds, especially groundsel ; but when rearing their 3'oung the old birds also feed 



