The Goldfinch. 243 



vincing than the argument that acantha ] means 

 in Greek a thorny or prickly tree, while the Gold- 

 finch's favourite food is the seed of the thistle. 

 Let us notice, however, first, that it is not the way 

 of the Goldfinch to sit in a thicket and sing, as 

 Virgil describes the Acalanthis ; it is a restless, 

 lively, aerial bird, fond of singing on the wing, 

 and by no means disposed to lurk under cover ; 

 and secondly, that the word axavQa. does not 

 necessarily mean a thistle, but is equally applied 

 to all kinds of thorny trees and shrubs, 2 such as 

 the dumi in which Virgil makes the voice of the 

 bird resound. 



Where did Virgil get this Greek word acanthis* 

 or acalanthis, which he thus appropriated to ex- 

 press some bird familiar to himself? Probably 

 from a very beautiful passage in Theocritus' 

 seventh Idyll, where, lying on the vine-leaves, 



1 For the connection between aKavda and aKaXavdiQ see 

 Conington's note on Georg. iii. 338. 



2 Theophrastus, for example, applies it to the Egyptian 

 mimosa, the thorns of which lately proved so damaging to 

 our troops in the Soudan. (Lenz, Botanik der Griechen, 



P- 735-) 



3 There is another reading, ' et acanthida.' 



R 2 



