276 HISTORY OK 



or the Canary bird, we have some notion of the manners of the 

 gold-finch ; by exhibiting the history of the nightingale, we see 

 also that of the black-cap or the tit-mouse. But the swallow 

 tribe seems to be entirely different from all the former ; differen: 



In autumn the goldfinches assemble together, live, during -ninter, in nu. 

 merous flocks, aud frequent those places where thistles aJid wild endive 

 gro«'. During the severe cold, they shelter themselves in thick bushes ; 

 but they seldom recede far from the place where their food is found. Some- 

 times they mingle with other granivorous birds. Hempseed is the grain 

 given to familiarize them with the cage ; but it would be better to mingle 

 millet and rape-seed with it, and to vary their aliment ; thus the maladies 

 mi^ht be avoided which attack them in captivity. This is a point not al. 

 M-ays properly attended to, for cage birds of all desciiptions. Variation of 

 food preserves them in good health, lengthens their days, and approximates 

 them to their natural state. 



The species of the goldfinch is extended throughout the whole of Europe 

 nearly, aud through some parts of Asia and Africa. It is found in Greece, 

 where it bears the name oi karedreno -, though no migrating bird, properly 

 speaking, it does not remain all the year round on all the islands of the Ar- 

 chipelago. It prefers the largest, aud also the lands of the neighbouring 

 continent, because it doubtless finds there more safe and agreeable retreats 



Few species present more varieties than this ; besides those which prc: 

 ceed from forced alliances, there are others attributable to aliment, to ag*. 

 and to domestication. There is one which is white where the others ar«. 

 red, namely, on the forehead and eyebrows, which colour also prevails on 

 the top of the head, instead of black. On some the red is shaded with yel. 

 low, and the black appears through these coloxu-s. A goldfinch, with the 

 head striped with red and yellow, has been found in America. One with 

 the cap altogether black has but a few red spots on the forehead ; the bai-k 

 and chest are of a yellowish brown ; the iris yellowish, and the bill and fee*- 

 fiesh-colour. The whitish goldfinch has the tail and wings of an ashe^. 

 brown, the upper and under parts of the body whitish, and the yellow of the 

 Mings pale. Some varieties are totally white, and others, among which are 

 the handsomest races, have the head red and the wings bordered with yel- 

 \o\v. On the bodies of many the tints are more or less mingled with white. 

 Among the black goldfinches some arc entirely black ; others more or less 

 varied with this colour. These last varieties are chiefly attributable to 

 fond, especially to the exclusive use of hempseed. Still the colours are not 

 fixed, for goldfinches have been known to resume their primitive tints alter 

 the moulting; and some which were even totally black, to retain very fine 

 feathers of that hue. These changes from one moulting to another become 

 still more palpable when millet or other grain is substituted for hemp- 

 seed. 



The Linnet. Several naturalists have made two species of the linnet, 

 properly so called, tinder the denominations of grc-y and red ; others have 

 no doubt of the identity of the red and grey liimet ; and this opinion is con. 

 firmed by repeatedly multiplied and indefatigable observations. Both kinds, 

 young and old, male and female, are grey in the back season, and resemble 

 narli other so nnich, that the sexes cannot be distinguished, exciiit by l!i8 



