FINCHES. 



153 



dient docility. One would feign to be dead, and 

 suffer itself to be held up by the tail or claw, 

 without exhibiting any signs of life; another would 

 stand on its head, elevating its tail and feet in 

 the air ; a third would imitate a Dutch milkmaid 



GOLDFINCH. 



going to market with her pails on her shoulders ; 

 a fourth mimicked a Venetian girl looking out 

 at a window ; a fifth represented a soldier, mount- 

 ing guard as a sentinel ; a sixth was a cannonier, 

 with a cap on its head, a firelock on its shoulder, 

 and a match in its claws, with which it discharged 

 a little cannon. This bird also pretended to be 

 wounded, and was wheeled in a barrow to the 

 hospital, after which, to shew that its misfortune 

 was only feigned, it flew away before the com- 



