THE GREENFINCH. 157 



about corn lands ; indeed some observers have 

 remarked that they seem to prefer it to the grain 

 amongst which it grows. At other times they feed 

 upon the seeds of dock, plantain, dandelion, and 

 other weeds, and in this way do good service to the 

 farmer. On dissecting specimens to ascertain the 

 nature of the food, we have invariably found tiny 

 particles of grit and even brick in the stomach, 

 swallowed no doubt intentionally, not in mistake 

 for seeds, but to assist in triturating the natural 

 food which, from its hard nature, requires grinding 

 as in a mill. This, however, is no more than we 

 have observed in the stomachs of many other seed- 

 eating birds, as well as in some that prey largely on 

 beetles, whose hard and horny wing-cases might be 

 otherwise difficult of digestion, unless either broken 

 up in this way, or rejected altogether in the shape 

 of pills or pellets, as is the case with the Shrikes, 

 Flycatchers, and some other birds. 



In some parts of the country the Greenfinch is 

 a favourite cage-bird, and although not endowed 

 with any extraordinary powers of song, it has a 

 pleasing strain of its own, and will learn to imitate 

 the notes of other cage-birds. It soon becomes 



