464- 



THE CHAFFINCH 



Among the most beautiful of these birds, the Gouldian Finch holds a high place, its 

 pluuiage beiug decorated witli the softest and most harmonious hues, the feathers glowmg 

 ■with delicately opalescent shades of lilac, green, and golden yellow. 



This exquisite little bird is a native of New South AVales, and although not very 

 scarce in the district which it frequents, is yet decidedly local iir its habits. It is seldom 

 seen in the ojien country, preferring to haunt the thicket and edges of forests, where it 

 may be seen hopping easily among the branches, in little bands of from four to seven or 

 eight in number. The voice of this finch is not remarkable for force or beauty, being 



little more than a querulous kind of twitter, 

 which it utters mournfully when disturbed, 

 at the same time flying to the summit of the 

 nearest tree, and there sitting until the cause 

 of alarm is removed. 



The colour of this bu'd is as follows : 

 The head and throat are deep velvet-black, 

 the back and wings are soft yellowish green, 

 and a stripe of bright verditer green runs 

 from behind the eye down the sides of the 

 neck, until it is merged in the yellow-green 

 of the back. Across the breast runs a broad 

 band of purple, yellow, or lUac, and the whole 

 of the under surface is golden yellow with a 

 kind of waxen gloss. The biU is scarlet at 

 the tip, and white at the base. These tints 

 belong only to the adult bird, the young 

 being soberly clad in grey, buff, and olive. 



On the opposite illustration are two 

 of the most familiar and prettiest of the 

 British songsters, the lower figure repre- 

 senting the Chaffinch, and the upper the 

 Goldfinch. 



The Chaffinch is one of our commonest 

 field birds, being spread over the whole of 

 England in very great numbers, and fre- 

 quenting hedges, fields, and gardens with 

 ' ^f^~^^\ii'U^WWM^^M^^&y^ ec[ual impartiality. It is a most gay and 



j^-'i * •.^■''MBJlrlllMrTW^^^- lively little bird, and whether singly, or 



"" '' ' ' > assembled in large flocks, it always adds 



much life to the landscape, and delights the 

 eye of every one who is not a farmer or a 

 gardener, both of which personages wage 

 deadly war against the bright little bird. For 

 the Chaftinch is apt at times to be a sad thief, 

 and has so strong a liking for young and 

 tender vegetables that it pounces upon the 

 green blades of corn, turnips, radishes, and 

 similar plants, as soon as they push their way through the soil, and in a few hours 

 destroys the whole of the seedlings. In one instance, a few Chaffinches settled upon a 

 piece of ground about one hundred and twenty yards square, that had been planted with 

 turnips, and before the day had closed, they had pulled \ip every young shoot, and eaten 

 a considerable amount of them. 



As, however, is the case of the rook, the chief food of the Chadhich cousists of insects 

 ■which ■u'ould be most noxious to the agricidturist, and in all probability the harm which 

 they do in eating young plants and buds is more than counterbalanced by the benefit 

 which they confer in destroying myriads of dangerous insects. 



I^<;^v^ 



GOULDIAN FINCH.— -•Imadiiio GoiiMiffi. 



