FINCH FINGAL 



195 



brown. When the wings are folded, they display a 

 row of white spots, finely contrasted witJi the black 

 ground on which they are placed. These are the 

 tips of the wing feathers, which terminate in white. 

 This bird is a native of Europe, where it remains 

 during the winter. It begins, its warbling about the 

 beginning of March, and continues melodious 

 throughout the whole spring. In winter, it assembles 

 in large flocks, and feeds upon seeds of different 

 kinds, particularly those of the thistle. It prefers 

 orchards as a residence. The nest is an intricate 

 but beautiful structure, the outside being composed of 

 moss, lichen, and coarse grass, lined with hair, wool, 

 and swallow down. The female goldfinch will some- 

 times pair with the canary. The females lay five 

 white eggs, marked with spots of a deep purple 

 colour at the larger end. They feed their young with 

 caterpillars and insects. When kept in a cage, they 

 will sing the greatest part of the year. In a state 

 of confinement, they become very docile, and can be 

 taught a variety of little tricks. 



The canary bird (F. canaria) is the most remark- 

 able and melodious of the finch tribe ; and, next to 

 the nightingale, has been most celebrated for its 

 musical powers. In a wild state, it is chiefly 

 found in the Canary islands, but has become so com- 

 mon in a state of captivity, that its native habits 

 and country have been almost forgotten. It is un- 

 certain at what period these birds were introduced 

 into Europe, but probably not till about the four- 

 teenth century, belon, who wrote in the sixteenth, 

 makes no mention of them. Gesner and Aldrovandus 

 speak of them as so great rarities, that they could 

 only be purchased by people of high rank. They 

 are now bred in great numbers, and have become so 

 common that they are of little comparative value. 

 Buffon enumerates twenty varieties ; and many more 

 might probably be added to the list, were all the 

 changes incident to a state of domestication careftdly 

 noted. In their native state, they are of a dull and 

 uniform green, and exhibit none of that richness and 

 variety which are so much admired in the tame ones. 

 Like the rest of the finch tribe, they have a high, 

 piercing note, which they continue for some time, in 

 one key, without intermission, then raise it higher and 

 higher by degrees. This note is variously improved 

 by education ; for this bird, being more easily reared 

 than most others, and continuing its song much 

 longer, has had much attention paid to it. Numbers 

 of treatises have been written on the rearing and 

 education of these birds, which we have not space to 

 analyze. Let it suffice, that in Germany and the Tyrol, 

 from whence the rest of Europe is principally sup- 

 plied, the apparatus for breeding canaries is both 

 large and expensive. A large building is erected 

 for them, with a square space at each end, and, holes 

 communicating with these spaces. In these outlets 

 are planted such trees as the birds prefer. The bot- 

 tom is strewed with sand, on which is cast rape-seed, 

 chickweed, and such other food as they like. 

 Throughout the inner compartment, which is kept 

 dark, are placed brooms for the birds to build in, 

 care being taken that the breeding birds are guarded 

 from the intrusions of the rest. Four Tyrolese 

 usually bring over to England about sixteen hundred 

 of these birds ; and, though they carry them on their 

 backs, nearly 100C miles, and pay twenty pounds for 

 them originally, they can sell them at five shillings 

 each. 



Linnet (F. linarid). This plain but melodious little 

 bird is common to all parts of Europe. It is about 

 five inches and a half in length, of a dark reddish- 

 brown colour on the upper parts, and a dirty reddish- 

 white beneath. It builds its nest in low bushes : the 

 outside is made of dried grass, roots, and moss, lined 



with hafr and wool. The female lays four or five 

 eggs, of a pale blue colour, spotted with brown at 

 the larger end, and generally breeds twice in the 

 year. The song of the linnet is sweet and varied; 

 its manners are gentle and docile ; it easily adopts 

 the song of other birds, when confined with them, 

 and, in some instances, has been taught to pronounce 

 certain words. It is frequently found in large flocks, 

 and, during winter, feeds on various kinds of seeds, 

 but more particularly on the lintseed, from which 

 circumstance it derives its name. 



There are a great number of the finch tribe, natives 

 of America, which have been arranged, by the prince 

 of Musignano, under four subgenera, spiza, carduelis, 

 fringilla, and coccothraustes, including twenty-nine 

 species, among which the F. cyanea, or indigo-bird, 

 F. melodia, or song-sparrow, F. hyemalis, or snow- 

 bird (q. v.), and F. tristis, or yellow-bird (q. v.), are 

 best known. The latter subgenus includes the gross- 

 beaks, (q. v.) 



FINCH, HENEAGE, first earl of Nottingham, was 

 the son of Heneage Finch, recorder of the city of 

 London, a descendant of the Winchelsea family. 

 He was born in 1621, and was educated at Westmin- 

 ster school, and Christ Church, Oxford, whence he 

 removed to the Inner Temple. At the restoration 

 of Charles II., his reputation as a lawyer raised him 

 to the post of solicitor-general, in which capacity he 

 signalized his zeal in the prosecution of the regicides. 

 In 1661, he was elected member for the university of 

 Oxford, and obtained a baronetcy, and, six years 

 afterwards, took a prominent part in the impeach- 

 ment of the earl of Clarendon. In 1670, he became 

 attorney-general, and," in 1673, succeeded the earl 

 of Shaftesbury as lord-keeper. This latter appoint- 

 ment was only a step towards the chancellorship, 

 which he attained two years afterwards. In 1681, 

 his services were rewarded with the earldom of Not- 

 tingham. He survived his elevation, however, little 

 more than a year. His powers, as an orator, were 

 highly rated, and Dryden has handed down to pos- 

 terity his portrait, in Absalom and Achitophel, under 

 the character of Amri. Several of his speeches, on 

 the trials of the judges of Charles I., have been pub- 

 lished, as have also some of his parliamentary ora- 

 tions; but some valuable chancery reports of his 

 remain in manuscript. 



FINE ARTS. See Arts, and the different arti- 

 cles on the various branches of the fine arts. Also 

 the Dissertation prefixed to this work on the pro- 

 gress of the fine arts, by Allan Cunningham, Esq. 



FINGAL (Fm MAC COUL, or FIONGHAL), as repre- 

 sented in the poems which bear the name of Ossian, 

 was the father of this poet. (See Ossian.) He was 

 prince of Morven, a province of ancient Caledonia, 

 born, according to the Irish annals, in 282. The 

 poems of Ossian fix the time of his birth a few years 

 later. The extent of his dominions is not to be deter- 

 nu'ned, as hunting was probably the chief occupation of 

 his tribe. His principal residence was at Selma, in the 

 neighbourhood of Glencoe. The fact that, in all 

 parts of the Highlands, we find buildings, caves, &c., 

 which bear his name, may be attributed to his leading 

 the wandering life of a hunter ; and when his name 

 once became distinguished, it was given to many 

 remarkable objects which he may have visited. He 

 constantly struggled with the Romans, who then 

 ruled as conquerors in England. He entered theii 

 provinces, and carried home the wine and wax of the 

 foreigners. That the Roman Caracul, mentioned by 

 Ossian, is Caracalla, is, notwithstanding the authority 

 of Gibbon, Whitaker, and Macpherson, very impro- 

 bable. He frequently made expeditions to Sweden, 

 the Orkney islands, and Ireland. Ossian calls these 

 places Loc/ilin, Innistore, and Ullin. These expedi- 

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