268 OLH NATIVE SONGSTERS. 



seem to make life an enjo}Tnent to a LircU The 

 goldfinch has more sociability and less of rivalry 

 than some other species, and will thrive best if its 

 captivity is shared witli companions. If a mirror is 

 placed in its cage it will go and look at itself in tlie 

 glass, take the hemp-seeds, one by one, and eat 

 before it ; not, it would seem, from motives of per- 

 sonal admiration, but from tlie idea that it was enjoy- 

 ing its meal in comi)any. It may be made to acquire 

 a gi-eat precision in its movements, and to perform 

 a variety of little feats. Thus it will learn to draw 

 water in a small bucket, to fire tiny cannons, and 

 to counterfeit death exactly at the proper moment. 

 Bingley, in his Animal Biography, gives an ac- 

 count of some acts of this kind. Some years ago, 

 he tells us, the Sieur Human exhibited in this 

 country the wonderful perf<.)rmances of several 

 goldfinches, linnets, and canaries. One appeared 

 to be dead, and was held up by the tail or claw 

 without exhibiting any signs of life. A second 

 stood on its head, with its claws in the air. A 

 third imitated a Dutch milkmaid, going to market 

 with pails on its shoulders. A fourth mimicked 

 a Venetian girl, looking out of a window. A 

 fifth represented a soldier, on guard as a sentinel. 



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