THE GOLDFINCH 6 ? 



The nest of the Goldfinch is most frequently to be found in orchards, prefer- 

 ably on the lichen-covered branch of an old apple-tree, though it also occurs at 

 times in the branches of a pear, horse-chestnut, beech, plane, poplar, yew, cypress, 

 laurel, or even in a deciduous shrub : in Norfolk I took it from near the top of 

 a tall hawthorn hedge. Usually the nest, which is small and cup-shaped, is neatly 

 formed of moss and lichen, interwoven with rootlets and wool ; it is lined with 

 thistle-down, small soft feathers, and horse-hair : my Norfolk nest, however, is 

 without the lichens, and is chiefly lined with some woolly substance, probably 

 vegetable-, but hardly white enough for thistle-down : the eggs in this nest are 

 also unusually small. 



The Rev. H. A. Macpherson writes : " The most curious nest of the Goldfinch 

 that I ever saw was built entirely of stems of dry grass. It contained a full 

 complement of tiny Goldfinches, and was built in a plum-tree." 



The eggs number from four to five, usually the latter, and are similar to those 

 of a Linnet, but usually rather smaller ; they are greenish-white, spotted and 

 streaked, especially at the larger end, with purplish-brown, and with lilacine-grey 

 shell-spots ; they, however, vary greatly from this type, some eggs being merely 

 speckled and spotted with dull blood-red, whilst others are almost without markings. 



The song of the Goldfinch is much over-rated ; it is cheerful, but scrappy in 

 character ; the hen sometimes sings quite as well as the cock, and the song is the 

 same : some years ago I carefully noted the whole performance, going over it 

 again and again, with the bird singing close to me, until I had it all down exactly 

 as follows: Whee-e-ur, w/tcc-c-ur, whee-e-ur, too-oo-ee, ti-weea, ti-wcea, whitweea, chiwhit, 

 chiu'it, chiwit ; ivheec, whecc, ivheec. The last three notes are accompanied by violent 

 lateral jerks of the tail and a corresponding movement of the body, which some- 

 times almost upsets the bird's balance. The call-note bears some resemblance to 

 that of the Canary ; but the scolding note, or note of defiance, is a sharp shrill 

 chit, sometimes continued into a chittcri-tit, til: as the Goldfinch is tolerably 

 quarrelsome, this note, which somewhat reminds one of a common autumnal 

 utterance of the Robin, is frequently heard. 



The food consists largely of seeds, buds, and the leaves and flower-heads of 

 weeds, especially groundsel ; but when rearing their young the old birds also feed 

 to a great extent upon aphides and small green caterpillars : in confinement soft- 

 food answers the same purpose. 



As a cage and aviary bird the Goldfinch is a general favourite ; some avicul- 

 turists admiring it (most unaccountably) for its energetic, though absurd song, 

 others for muling purposes, others again for its lovely plumage, and a few on 

 account of its capacity .for learning the usual stupid tricks " violating the laws of 



