FRI 



FRI 





their society by an act of monthly meet- 

 ing, or particular congregation, and with- 

 out subscription of articles. They dis- 

 own, in the same manner, after repeated 

 admonition, not officially only, but actual- 

 ly extended, to offenders against morality, 

 or their peculiar rules. 



FRIEZE, FREEZE, or FRIZE, in archi- 

 tecture, a large flat face, or member, se- 

 parating the architrave from the cornice, 

 being that part of the entablature be- 

 tween the architrave and cornice. See 

 ARCHITECTURE. 



FRIGATE, among seamen, a ship of 

 war, light built, and that is a good sailer. 

 A frigate has commonly two decks, 

 whence that called a light frigate is a fri- 

 gate with only one deck. These vessels 

 mount from 20 to 44 guns, and make ca- 

 pital cruizers. Merchantmen are said to 

 be frigate built, when the disposition of 

 the decks have a descent of four or five 

 steps from the quarter-deck and forecas- 

 tle into the waist, in contradistinction to 

 those whose decks are on a continued 

 line for the whole length of the ship, 

 which are called galley-built. Formerly 

 the name of frigate was only known in 

 the Mediterranean, and applied to a kind 

 of long vessels, navigated in that sea with 

 sails and oars. Oar countrymen were the 

 first who appeared on the ocean with 

 those ships, and equipped them for war 

 as well as commerce. 



FRINGILLA, the finch, in natural his- 

 tory, a genus of birds of the order Passe- 

 res. Generic character : bill perfectly 

 conic ; slender towards the end, and ex- 

 tremely pointed. Many of this tribe are 

 truly admirable, both for the elegance of 

 their plumage, and the vivacity and me- 

 lody of their song. Latham enumerates 

 96 species, and Gmelin 111 ; of which we 

 shall notice the following : F. domestica, 

 or the house sparrow of Europe, is never 

 found remote from human habitations ; 

 but, following the society of man, builds 

 underthe roofs of houses, and in the holes 

 of walls, and will frequently expel the 

 martin from its nest, to save itself the 

 trouble of preparing one of its own. It 

 breeds generally three times in a year. 

 Uy the destruction of caterpillars, these 

 birds are eminently serviceable ; but their 

 favourite food is grain, to procure which 

 they are constant attendants at the barn- 

 door, and notwithstanding every effort to 

 scare them, will dare every danger to par- 

 take of the repasts of the poultry and pi- 

 geons. They are particularly sagacious 

 as well' as daring 1 , und can, with great dif- 

 ficulty only, be decoyed by traps. Their 

 sounds are harsh and eratine:, their dls- 

 VOL. V. 



positions irascible, and their manners in- 

 trusive. F. Calebs, or the chaffinch, is 

 found in England throughout the year, 

 and builds its nest with extreme care and 

 neatness, lining it with hair, wool, and 

 feathers. It is sprightly in its movements, 

 and beautiful in its plumage ; but can 

 boast no peculiar powers of melody. The 

 most singular circumstance attending this 

 species of birds is, that, in some coun- 

 tries, th$ males remain all the year round, 

 while the females are migratory to the 

 south, returning in the spring to their for- 

 mer4jabitations and companions. Flocks, 

 composed only of females, have occasion- 

 ally been seen in Hampshire. This cir- 

 cumstance is not peculiar to these birds, 

 but affects equally some other descrip- 

 tions. It is in itself, however, not a little 

 curious, and merits attention. F. rardue- 

 lis, or goldfinch, is common in Europe 

 and to be found, though by no means so 

 frequently, in Africa and Asia. It breeds 

 twice a year, and feeds principally on 

 seeds, and especially those of thistles, 

 near which it prefers building its nest, 

 which is formed with great compactness 

 and skill. It begins to sing in April, and 

 continues its song till the period of breed- 

 ing is past. In confinement, however, it 

 will sing for the greater part of the year. 

 These birds are universally admired for 

 the brilliancy of their plumage, and the 

 melody of their sounds ; and they pos- 

 sess, moreover, a docility, which renders 

 them particularly interesting, learning, 

 with ease, a variety of ingenious move- 

 ments and exercises. They are long 

 lived, and have been known to survive 

 the age of twenty years. Buffon men- 

 tions the case of a goldfinch which sud- 

 denly became black, and, after continuing 

 so for eight months, resumed its former 

 sprightly and elegant colouring : this re- 

 volution was repeated at two subsequent 

 periods. (See Aves, Plate VI. fig. 6.) F. 

 spinus, or the siskin, is found in various 

 parts of Europe, generally migratory, but 

 at irregular periods, and in very unequal 

 numbers ; the larger flights being sup- 

 posed by some naturalists to occur only 

 once in several years. It hides its nest 

 with particular caution : and though vast 

 numbers are to be seen on the borders 

 of the Danube, which have not lost their 

 original feathers, their nests have been 

 sought, it is said, in the neighbour- 

 hood with great assiduity, but in very 

 few instances with success. It is near- 

 ly as tractable as the goldfinch, has 

 great richness and variety of notes, and 

 extraordinary power in imitating sounds. 

 F. canaria, or canary finch. These birds 

 Gg 



