224 ADVENTURES AMONG BIRDS 



for the generality the first favourite is undoubtedly 

 the goldfinch, and if few are seen in cages compared 

 with larks and linnets it is because they are much rarer 

 and cost more. Our " devotion " to it, as we have 

 seen, nearly caused its extermination in Britain, and 

 we now import large numbers from Spain to supply 

 the demand. One doubts that the bird will stand 

 this drain very long, as the Spanish are just as fond of 

 it (in a cage) as we are. 



Here I am reminded of a very charming little poem 

 about a caged goldfinch by one of my favourite authors 

 — El Colorin de Filis, by Melendez, an eighteenth- 

 century poet. I do not think that any one who reads 

 this poem and others of equal merit to be found in the 

 literature of Spain, would deny that the sentiment of 

 admiration and tenderness for birds is sometimes 

 better and more beautifully expressed in Spanish poetry 

 than in ours. Not only in the old, which is best, but 

 occasionally in reading modern verse I have been sur- 

 prised into the exclamation, Would that we could 

 have this poem, or this passage, suitably translated ! 

 This may seem strange, since we cannot allow that the 

 Spanish generally, wedded as they are to their ancient 

 barbarous pastimes, and killers of all small birds for the 

 pot as they are now becoming in imitation of their 

 French neighbours, can surpass or even equal us in 

 sympathy for the inferior creatures. It is the lan- 

 guage which makes the difference : the Spanish is 

 better suited to the expression of tender sentiments 

 of that kind. The verse flows more freely, with a 



