THE AMERICAN YELLOW-BIRD. 



" Blooming trees, and bubbling springs ! 

 Bless me, how that wild-bird sings ! " 



The American Yellow-Bird, or what in reality 

 is the American goldfinch, is a beautiful lemon- 

 colored bird with a black cap and black and white 

 wings, and has always been a favorite with every- 

 body. He is a pretty thing to look at, and has many 

 graceful attitudes when jumping about in a cage ; or, 

 as we once heard a countrywoman say, who was a 

 great lover of birds, " He has such a many winning 

 ways with him, that one can't help liking him, if 

 even we try." Then to say nothing of his singing, 

 although that is very pleasant to listen to, — a little 

 deficient in variety perhaps, not so quick in picking 

 up tunes as a few other birds, — still he can do no 

 end of things which better singers cannot do ; and, 

 in a wild state, his song has a brisk, cheerful, heart- 

 stirring ring. Thousands are caught ever}^ season 

 by means of trap-cages, using almost any bird for a 

 decoy. If fed upon maw, millet, and a little canary- 

 seed (the two latter should be soaked a little), and 

 otherwise treated as a canary, he has been known to 

 live ten years in confinement. 



94 



