702 



CARDUELIS. 



in flower at the time the goldfinch builds. Grahame 

 is more correct when he says 



" The goldfinch weaves with willow-down inlaid, 

 And cannach tufts, his wonderful abode ; 

 Sometimes suspended at the limber cud 

 Of plane-tree spray, among the broad-leaved shoots, 

 The tiny hammock swings to every gale ; 

 Sometimes in closest thicket 'tis conccak-d, 

 Sometimes in hedge luxuriant, where the briar, 

 The bramble, and the plum-tree branch, 

 Warp through the thorn, surmounted by the flowers 

 Of climbing vetch, and honeysuckle wild." 



It is of very elegant construction, composed on 

 the outside of lichens, moss, and dry grass, smoothly 

 interwoven with wool, and very warmly lined with a 

 mixture of the last-named substance, hair, and the 

 seed down of the willow. The eggs are four or five 

 in number, of a bluish-white, with a few small orange- 

 brown spots, chiefly at the larger end. 



Like most other birds of this family, goldfinches 

 associate after the breeding season in flocks, and 

 traverse the open country ; these, however, are never 

 very numerous, their societies rarely exceeding twenty 

 in number ; they are in winter always wandering 

 from place to place, often fly at a considerable 

 height from the ground, and always against the wind ; 

 but their course is ever instantly arrested by the call 

 of a single one from below. The same may be- ob- 

 served in all our native finches, and this call-note 

 may perhaps be an invitation to food, though more 

 probably it is merely expressive of its propensity to 

 join in company. It is by means, however, of 

 the wild birds being so readily attracted by this call, 

 that so very many of them are taken by the bird- 

 catchers. 



Goldfinches are not generally subject to vary much 

 in plumage, but individuals are occasionally taken 

 With the throat white, and sometimes with a white 

 spot on each side of this ; these are termed by the 

 bird-catchers cheverels, and are often sold at a high 

 price. This species also is very frequently paired 

 with the domestic canary finch, with which it readily 

 breeds, and the mixed produce are commonly termed 

 goldfinch-mules or canary-goldfinches; the hybrids 

 preserve generally the markings of the goldfinch, 

 with the yellow tint of the canary ; and their song 

 most resembles that of the former, but is much more 

 powerful ; they readily breed back with either of the 

 parent species, but it does not appear that two of 

 these hybrid birds will ever propagate together. 



Among the different groups of finches (Fringillida;'), 

 there is a remarkable diversity in the mode of bringing 

 up the young ; in the chaffinches, the sparrows, and 

 one or two other divisions, these are wholly fed upon 

 insect food; whereas in the-grosbeaks(Co<?eo^razw^s), 

 the goldfinches and siskins, the linnets, and the dif- 

 ferent canary finches, they are entirely brought up 

 upon semi-prepared vegetable diet, ejected from the 

 craws of the old birds. This difference is not, how- 

 ever, so important, but that species from each group 

 will sometimes, in captivity, breed together ; the 

 writer of this has seen a hybrid production between 

 the domestic canary bird and the common chaffinch. 



Hybrid animals, it may not be amiss here to re- 

 mark, are never produced by two animals both in a 

 state of nature, but are invariably, either directly or 

 indirectly, brought about by man's influence ; that is, 

 by the unnatural condition into \\hich at least one 

 (the female) parent had been placed by the direct 

 agency of man. Some cases to the contrary have 



been mentioned, but they are exceedingly dubious 

 and questionable ; and the assertion may very safely 

 be adhered to, that not a single instance rests upon 

 what may be considered conclusive evidence, or 

 satisfactory foundations. For the details, however, 

 of this subject, we must refer to the article HYBRIDS. 



There are two or three species of goldfinch, very 

 similar to that of this country, especially one which 

 inhabits the slopes of the Himalaya. This differs a 

 little in the markings, and it has no black upon the 

 head ; its under parts, also, are of a more uniform 

 pale brown than in our bird ; but its general appear- 

 ance, and most probably its habits, are extremely 

 similar. There is, indeed, a very remarkable resem- 

 blance between a great many of the birds ot the 

 Himalaya mountains, and those which inhabit 

 Europe ; the same general types of organisation 

 seem to prevail there as with us, but intermixed with 

 a great variety of splendid tropical forms. We find 

 there some remarkable counterparts, as we may 

 term them, of the European jay, green and black 

 woodpeckers, nutcracker, blackbird, great titmouse, 

 nuthatch, and a host of others, much more similar to 

 our species than any which are elsewhere known ; 

 yet all these are sufficiently well characterised to 

 leave no doubt of their being separate and distinct 

 species. Of these, one, and not the least remarkable, 

 is the Himalaya goldfinch. 



AMERICAN GOLDFINCH (Cardudis lutcus}. This is 

 the Fringilla Iristis and Carduelis Anierirumis of dif- 

 ferent authors, neither of which terms are very appro- 

 priate, not being sufficiently exclusive ; trht'is refers 

 to the dull appearance of its winter dress, although 

 its summer garb is very bright and showy. The 

 species is intermediate between the goldfinches and 

 siskins ; having the habits and general proportions of 

 the former, with the plumage and yellow colour of 

 the latter, but much brighter than in the more typical 

 siskins. Its summer plumage is a bright lemon yel- 

 low, fading into white about the rump ; the crown of 

 the head black, as are also the wings and tail, the 

 former of which are edged and tipped with white. 

 The female is of a dull olive-brown, marked with 

 dull white, and yellowish ; and the male, in winter 

 plumage, is very similar. This species is said to 

 moult twice in the year. 



Its habits, as described by Wilson and Audubon, 

 appear exactly to correspond with those of the corn- 

 mo:: goldfinch of Europe. Wilson says, '' They 

 build a very neat and delicately formed nest, which 

 they fasten to the twigs of an apple tree, or to the 

 strong branching stalks of hemp, covering it on the 

 outside with pieces of lichen, which they find on the 

 trees and fences ; these they glue together with their 

 saliva, and afterwards line the inside with the softest 

 downy substances they can procure. The female 

 lays five eggs, of a dull white, thickly marked at the 

 greater end ; and they generally raise two broods in 

 a season. The males" do not arrive at their perfect 

 plumage until the succeeding spring; wanting, during 

 that time, the black on the head, and the white on 

 the wings being of a cream colour. In the month of 

 April they begin to change their winter dress, and 

 before the middle of May, appear in brilliant yellow ; 

 the whole plumage towards its roots is of a dusky 

 bluish black. 



" Its song resembles that of the goldfinch of Bri- 

 tain ; but is in general so weak as to appear to 

 proceed from a considerable distance, when perhaps 



