GOLDFINCHES 



LXIX 



The spring and summer of 1905 will be remembered by 

 lovers of wild birds (who, be it noted, are the 

 very antithesis of bird-fanciers) because of the 

 reappearance of the goldfinch in Scotland in considerable 

 numbers. Reappearance, I say advisedly; for although 

 this beautiful and useful creature probably has never been 

 wholly absent from the country, it had become so ex- 

 ceedingly rare that, until this season, many years passed 

 without my seeing a pair, except in a cage, in Galloway. 

 The reason is not far to seek : the goldfinch pays dearly 

 for the fatal gift of beauty, and its pretty, engaging 

 demeanour in captivity ; moreover, it is the easiest of all 

 songsters to capture, owing to the simplicity with which 

 it yields to the summons of a decoy bird. The trade in 

 goldfinches at one time was enormous. In the year 1860 

 Mr. Hussey stated in the Zoologist (page 7144) that the 

 annual average taken and sent away from Worthing was 

 more than 11,000 dozens, nearly all cock-birds; and in 

 1873 a witness declared before a select committee of the 

 House of Commons that, when he was a boy, he could 

 take forty dozens in a morning near Brighton. These 

 being birds just arriving on their spring migration, 

 intending to nest in Great Britain, it is no matter for 

 wonder that goldfinches became nearly extinct with us. 

 That they have begun to return in considerable numbers 

 is one of the gratifying results of the Wild Birds Protec- 

 tion Acts. 



Unluckily, the powers under these Acts are not 

 universally appreciated as yet. While some local 

 authorities have been slow to adopt restrictive measures, 



