iSo THE BIRDS OF THE WOODS 



together ; but the bird also frequents parks, avenues, and orchards, although it is 

 never found in pine-forests. In England goldfinches often select commons for 

 their haunts. Not unfrequently they resort to the neighbourhood of villages 

 and towns, especially where there are plum-trees, from which they can visit 

 the meadows and wastes, particularly those where thistles, burdock, and such- 

 like plants thrive. The goldfinch, which towards the close of the winter is 

 oftenest seen in poplars, aspens, alders, birches, and elms, always perches either 

 on the outermost twigs of the tops of the trees, or on the summits of bushes 

 and smaller plants. Brisk and restless, it climbs as easily as a tit, even 

 head-downwards, about the branches, never remaining in one position for any 

 length of time, and, when perching, spreading and turning its tail from side 

 to side in a characteristic manner. It is somewhat awkward on the ground, 

 and instead of hopping prefers to fly even for short distances. Its food 

 consists chiefly of the seeds of thistles, but knap-weeds, groundsels, and docks 

 are also laid under contribution. Since its food is mostly taken from the plant, 

 and rarely sought on the ground, there is hardly any doubt as to the seeds on 

 which this bird feeds. 



The goldfinch sings nearly the whole year, diligently warbling its loud, sweet 

 melody, which is not unlike that of the canary, from morn till eve. Whilst sing- 

 ing, the bird is almost incessantly on the move, turning now to the right now 

 to the left, and continuing to sing as it flies from tree to tree, occasionally in 

 a garden or among evergreens, and frequently on the fork of a fruit-tree. The 

 song is valued by fanciers, in proportion to the number of times the syllable Jink 

 is repeated. Goldfinches build at a moderate height on most kinds of trees. 

 The nest, which is difficult to find, almost equals in beauty that of the chaffinch, 

 but has no lichens on the outer surface, the materials being fine soft grass, moss 

 and wool, interwoven with willow down. The eggs can hardly be distinguished 

 from those of the linnet and greenfinch, except by their smaller size, and are distin- 

 guishable from those of the serin and siskin only when found in the nest. There 

 are two broods in a year. At first the goldfinch feeds its young with the larvae 

 of insects but afterwards with seeds, which are softened in its own throat. A 

 bird-of-passage, a partial migrant or a resident, it moves on to a warmer climate 

 only when its food-plants are covered with snow, and, as a rule, keeps within a 

 small area. Towards winter goldfinches fly about in small flocks of from ten 

 to twenty, after forming themselves into large flocks at the beginning of autumn. 

 In the south of Europe they are found in very large numbers. The distributional 

 area extends throughout Europe, from central Sweden to the Mediterranean, and 

 northern Africa, including the Canary Islands and Madeira, Algeria, Tunis, and 

 Egypt, thence through Syria to Persia. The goldfinch has been introduced into 

 Japan, North America, and New Zealand, and east of the Urals is represented by 

 the larger and whiter G. major, and in southern Siberia by C. caniceps, which 

 is whiter on the wing, but without any black on the crown and nape. The 

 goldfinch is 4 inches long, ruddy brown above and white below ; the wings are black, 

 barred with gold and tipped with white ; the tail is black tipped with white ; the 

 forehead scarlet and on the throat and cheek is a scarlet patch with a broad black 

 edging. The sexes are alike, except that there is less red on the female's face. 



