THE GOLDFINCH. 213 



possessed but of one wing to bear them in their upward flight. 

 In the fens of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, where reeds 

 are of considerable value for various purposes, the mischief 

 they occasion is often very considerable, by beating down and 

 breaking them, as many as can find a grasping hold clinging to 

 the same slender stem, which, of course, bends and plunges 

 them in the water, from whence they rise to join some other 

 neighbours, whose reed is still able to bear their weight. This 

 perpetual jostling and breaking down is the probable cause of 

 the incessant clatter, which continues for a considerable time ; 

 indeed, till all have procured dry beds and a firm footing. 



Their favourite dormitory of reeds, indeed, has dwindled 

 gradually away, since the dam was raised, and the depth of 

 water increased, which may partly account for the diminution ; 

 but still reeds are left in sufficient abundance for the accom- 

 modation of ten times the number that are ever assembled ir 

 the neighbourhood of which we speak. 



Under the head of Fringilla, or Finch (which is our tran& 

 lation of the Latin word), are included, amongst Sparrows, 

 Goldfinches, and Canaries, tribes of small birds, each exhibiting 

 in its own domestic habits and arrangements as much sound 

 philosophy and wisdom in the management of their concerns 

 as the wisest of human kind. 



Some of these little birds, moreover, seem occasionally to 

 have something like a reasoning, as well as an instinctive 

 faculty. A gentleman had a Goldfinch which was chained to 

 a perch, instead of being kept in a cage. Its food was put 

 into a box, resembling a water fountain used for cages, and 

 the little opening at which the bird was fed had a cover 

 loaded with lead, to make it fall down. The bird raised this 

 by pushing down a lever or handle with its bill, which raised 

 the lid of the box, after which, by putting its foot on the 

 lever, it could feed at leisure. He had also a Redpole, chained 

 on a nearly similar perch; this bird fed from an open box 

 without the trouble of having recourse to the lifting power, 

 like his neighbour the Goldfinch. But though the Redpole 

 could have known nothing of the use of the handle from his 

 own experience, as his food was to be got at without such 



