33 

 THE GOLDFINCH. 



Fringilla Cardnelis. 



Description. Length, five inches and three- 

 quarters; the beak, whitish and very pointed ; front of 

 the head is a fine crimson ; cheeks, white ; the top of 

 the head is black, which extends downwards from the 

 nape towards the breast; the back is brown ; the under 

 part of the body, whitish ; on each side of the breast, 

 brownish : wings, black and yellow spotted ; tail, black, 

 with white spots. When a year old, the female is dis- 

 tinguished from the male by being smaller, having less 

 red on the head, and the shoulders being brown instead 

 of black. 



This is one of the handsomest of all wild birds in 

 Europe, and the most known and admired of the finch 

 family, and deservedly so, alike from its beautiful plu- 

 mage, remarkable cleverness, proved docility, together 

 with its sweet song. This little funny fellow has such a 

 way of turning his body rapidly from side to side, as he 

 utters his sprightly notes, and so many amusing tricks, 

 that one cannot help being pleased with him. The 

 goldfinch is found all over Europe in the summer; but 

 in the fall and winter they assemble in flocks and seek 

 such localities where they find plenty of food, which con- 

 sists of all kinds of small seed : at this time they are 

 caught on bird-lime and exported to other countries. 

 When caged, the best food is a mixture of rape, hemp. 



