GREENFINCH. -Fringilla chlons. 



LINNET. Fringilla. cauiiautiiu. 



in the open country, but in the severe winter months 'it crowds to the farmhouses, 

 and boldly disputes with the sparrows the chance grains of food that it may find. When 

 young, the bird is fed almost wholly upon caterpillars and various insects, and not 

 until it has attained its full growth does it try upon the hard seeds the large bill which 

 has obtain ed for it the title of Green Grosbeak. 



The voice of the Greenfinch is very ordinary, being possessed neither of strength nor 

 melody, so that the bird is in very little demand as an inhabitant of the aviary. " 



The nest of this bird is generally built rather later than is usual with the Finches, and 

 is seldom completed until May lias fairly set in. Its substance is not unlike that of the 

 chaffinch, being composed of roots, wool, moss, and feathers. It is not, however, so neatly 

 made, nor so finely woven together, as the nest of that bird. The eggs are from three to 

 five in number, and the colour is bluish white covered at the larger end with spots 

 of brown and grey. 



In the adult male bird, the head, neck, and all the upper parts of the body are yellow, with 

 a green wash, and the wings are partly edged with bright yellow. The primary feathers 

 of the wings are grey-black, edged for a considerable portion of their length with brilliant 



