GOLDFINCH. 171 



site, at that time being a waste covered with thistles, knap- 

 weed, etc. ; these were caught by a famous bird-catcher 

 called Greenhough, and large numbers were taken in other 

 years by him and other well-known bird-snarers. More 

 recently these birds have been regularly sought for in the 

 autumn ; the bird-catchers traverse the country in all 

 directions with a Goldfinch in a small cage, which, on hearing 

 its wild relatives, immediately gives warning ; the men, from 

 long experience, know all the likely localities, such as 

 commons, where the knapweed is seeding freely, and bits 

 of uncultivated, or waste, land, where thistles are allowed to 

 seed. In the early autumn the old birds and their broods 

 usually keep together, and the young are easily caught, 

 the old birds falling victims later. It still nests in a few 

 localities in Holderness, especially in plantations of old Scotch 

 firs, and in spring it feeds on the seeds of the fir cones. It 

 has also nested sparingly near Hedon and Aldborough. 



As a migrant the Goldfinch occurs regularly on the coast 

 in October, but never in large numbers, although it was 

 fairly plentiful in 1880. The returns from the light stations 

 afford but slight information respecting its occurrence, and 

 there is only one entry referring to its spring passage. The 

 following items are extracted from the Migration Reports : 

 " 1881. A few seen at Spurn on October 27th. 



1882. At Spurn, on April 20th, six from south, remaining 



all day. 

 ,, At Spurn in autumn. Some in October. 



1883. November 22nd. Tees L.V. One on board." 



In the year 1898 there were several noted on the sand- 

 dunes at Spurn on the iQth of November, and in 1901 I 

 noticed an arrival at the Teesmouth on the 4th of November. 



There is a common belief amongst bird-fanciers in 

 Yorkshire that the Goldfinches obtained from pear-trees 

 and sloe-bushes are better singers than those reared from 

 other trees ; the former are synonymous with the " Cheverel " 

 or " Chevil " ; in some parts this is termed the pear-tree 

 Goldfinch, while the other so-called variety is the apple-tree 

 Goldfinch, though, technically speaking, there is only one true 



