BRITISH SONG BIRDS. 295 



although that is very pleasant to listen to a little deficient in 

 variety, perhaps, not so quick in picking up tunes as a few other 

 birds ; still it can do no end of things which better singers cannot 

 do ; and in a wild state its song, which may then be heard at almost 

 every season of the year not excepting even winter, when the 

 weather is mild has a brisk, cheerful, heart- stirring ring about it. 

 Its nest, too, is very pretty ; all kinds of soft substances are felted 

 together, just as a hatter would make a hat, not a single particle 

 projects wool and feathers, hair, moss, lichen, and bark, are all 

 beautifully blended together, and in such a way as no machinery 

 could do it, without bruising and spoiling the materials. The eggs 

 are small, of a delicate whitish tint, and beautifully spotted over with 

 orange brown. Its forehead and chin are of a beautiful scarlet 

 colour ; its bill is white, tipped with black, and a black line passes 

 from each corner of the bill to the eyes, which are dark ; the top of 

 its head is black, and the same colour extends downwards from the 

 nape on each side, so as to divide its cheeks, which are white, from 

 a spot of white on the back of the neck ; its back and rump are of a 

 cinnamon brown tint, sides the same, but rather paler ; belly white ; 

 greater wing coverts black ; quills black, barred in the middle with 

 yellow, and tipped with white ; tail feathers black, with a white spot 

 on each near the end, and legs of a pale flesh colour. It will learn 

 to come and go at command, and to perform a variety of tricks, 

 such as firing a cannon, counterfeiting death, letting off a cracker, 

 or pulling up a bucket of water. In a wild state, goldfinches fre- 

 quent brambles and thickets, and woody districts, which are inter- 

 spersed with fields ; they are also partial to thistle fields, where they 

 congregate in large flocks ; they are generally taken in clap-nets. 

 In the summer they are tender, and rather difficult to rear, but in 

 winter they will soon sing after their capture. When taken young, 

 they should be fed upon white bread and milk, with a little of the 

 flour of ground canary-seed, for five or six weeks, and then give a 

 little canary-seed in addition, and the sooner you can bring them to 

 the canary- seed alone, the better. When full grown, they may be 

 fed upon poppy and canary-seeds, with lettuce and rape-seeds occa- 

 sionally by way of a change ; green food, such as duckweed, water- 

 cresses, lettuce, and endive, should also be given sometimes. If 

 your bird is troubled with a looseness, a little bit of chalk should be 

 put in the cage, and red sand strewed over the bottom of it. A 

 square cage is the best shaped one for this bird, as it does not 

 admire hopping about the upper part. Goldfinches will pair with 

 canaries, and produce fruitful mules ; it is better to pair a male gold- 

 finch with a female canary, than the reverse ; in plumage the mule 

 birds are very pretty, blending the richness of colour of the gold- 

 finch with the yellow of the canary, and in point of song they are 

 exquisite. 



THE REDPOLL. 



This bird as a singer is nought, though it is a great favourite with 

 most boys, on account of its tameness and the readiness it can learn 

 almost anything, except singing. The upper part of its body is a dark 



