226 THE GOLDFINCH. 



before Linnaous were distinct from our insular forms. A large pro- 

 portion of the names, ancient and modern, assigned to the goldfinch 

 bear special referenoe to its subsisting, partially, on thistle seeds. 

 To go back no further than Augustan literature, we are all familiar 

 with Virgil's allusion to the goldfinch, together with the kin-fisher, in 

 the third Georgic. The generic term Carduelis, the French name 

 Chardonneret, obviously owe their origin to the same habit. Brachet 

 says, " chardonneret, que l'ancien francais appelait chardounet. 

 proprement oiseau qui recherche les chardons. Ce qui confirme cette 

 origine, c'est que les Latins disaient de meme carduelis, derive de 

 carduus (chardor) ; les Grecs anavdis de aicavdos (acanthe ; plante 

 epineuse) ; enfin les Allemands appellent le chardonneret Distelfink, 

 proprement linotte de chardon." — Dictionnaire Etymologique, page 

 126. 



But the popular names of the goldfinch, in England at any rate, 

 point rather to our enjoyment of its bright, well-blended colours. 

 Tims, it is the "foolscoat" of Sir T. Browne. Nicholas Cox, in 

 his " Gentleman's Recreation," tells us that it is also known in Norfolk 

 as the " Christmas fool ; " whether from its being easily captured about 

 homesteads in severe frost, or from its gay tints harmonising well with 

 (in pageantry of Christmastide, members may decide for them- 

 selves. 



The word finch, applied to the goldfinch amongst other members 

 of the family, owes its origin to the monosyllabic ' pine ' of the 

 chaffinch, which recurs in the French form pinson, of which Brachet 

 says, " auciennement pineon, diminutif d'un radical pine, qui est 

 d'origine celtique (kymri pine, pinson)." The form ' spink ' attached 

 to the syllable gold in Scotland, exists in Early English as a synonym 

 for the chaffinch, the goldfinch being at the same time distinctly so- 

 called. I am not aware that any English name has been conferred on 

 the goldfinch, from its call-note, as Mr. Dresser, in his " Birds of 

 Europe," points out, has been the casein Norway, in Sweden, and in 

 Germany, where the goldfinch is called stillids, stiglitsa, ami stie glitz 

 ig respectively ; the cry or call of " pick, pick, pickehnik," 

 being most commonly uttered when the finch is displaying its rapid, 

 jerky flight at some elevation. The Anglo-Saxon love of training small 

 birds to draw iheir water, &c., resulted in the goldfinch being termed 

 the " draw-water" in some districts, though the siskin, the lesser red- 

 pole, the greater titmouse, learn the trick with greater readiness. 

 liven the hawfinch is sometimes thus educated by Spitalfields 

 bird fanciers, whose draw-water boards are identical, to the best of 

 my recollection, with one figured in Wright's work on Anglo-Saxon 

 hie. 



The Staffordshire name for the goldfinch of " Proud Tailor," is 

 derived, I fancy, from the rudder-like motion of the tail of this finch 

 during the breeding season. That of "King Harry" is apparently 

 transferred to the goldfinch from Henry the Eighth. 



The distribution of our European goldfinch extends eastward to 

 Southern Asia, where it exists, to some extent, side by side with < 'unhid is 



