‘PHE GOLDFINCH 
some half-dozen nests came under’my notice. ‘That the 
Goldfinch must have been very common near London 
“once upon a time” seems proved by the fact recorded 
by Mr. Sharpe that twelve dozen had been netted in a 
single morning on the spot where Paddington Station 
now stands! ‘The builder has done almost as much 
as the bird-catcher in exterminating the Goldfinch in 
London ; but the bird still persists in its visits during 
winter, and the most likely places to meet with it are the 
rough bits of dock- and thistle-grown land, the last relics 
left of what was once open country. Like so many others 
of its kind, this Finch is more or less gregarious and social 
during winter, and it roams about a great deal in quest of 
its food. ‘This chiefly consists in summer of insects and 
larve, but at other times seeds of many kinds, especially 
of noxious weeds, are the favourite fare. It is an active, 
restless bird when feeding, and is incessantly twittering 
to 1ts companions as it flits from tree to tree or from one 
tall weed to another. ‘The call-note, by which the species 
may be readily identified, is a very musical twee-et ; 
whilst its song in the nesting season is a by no means 
unmusical one, something like that of the Linnet. ‘The 
Goldfinch is a rather late breeder, the nesting season 
commencing in May, and being prolonged into July in 
instances where a second brood is reared. So far as 
London is concerned I have found the favourite nesting- 
sites of the Goldfinch to be close, low hedges in the vicinity 
of orchards and gardens, but a universally favourite spot 
is a fruit-tree of some kind. ‘The cup-shaped nest, neatly 
made and exquisitely rounded, is formed of moss, down, 
roots, and dry grass stems, garnished with lichens and 
bound together with spiders’ webs, the whole lined with 
feathers, vegetable down, and hair. ‘The four or five eggs 
are greyish or greenish white, spotted with reddish or 
purplish brown and grey. ‘The broods often remain in 
company through the winter. 
169 
