THE GOLDFINCH. 267 



hemp seed should be strewn, or a bundle of thistle-tops fastened, 

 which, together with the call of the prisoner, will soon attract 

 other Goldfinches. When they have been accustomed to the 

 place, the caged bird may be hung inside the window, as a 

 precaution against the cold, and merely a cage left on the out- 

 side not, however, with a view to frighten the visitors, but only 

 to terrify the Sparrows. The door of this cage should be so 

 arranged as to shut, by means of a thread communicating 

 through the window into the room a contrivance which need 

 be used at first only to frighten the Sparrows, if they should 

 get into it. The Goldfinches, on the contrary, should be allowed 

 to pass in and out at pleasure till the snow begins to melt, 

 or it is probable that they might betake themselves else- 

 where. They may then be caught, and kept in the cage till 

 they are so tame as to fly about the room, and return to their 

 cage at night, or at the word of command. The cage, indeed, 

 ought to be so contrived as to close after the bird without 

 noise, when he either comes in or goes out, and such a door as 

 the bird may be taught to open for himself. A bird thus 

 treated may be restored to liberty, without fear, in the moulting 

 time in August ; and, although he may fly away, will certainly 

 return in December when the snow begins to fall, and sing far 

 better than one which has been confined during the same 

 period. From the time, however, when he is set free, it is a 

 wise precaution to hang outside the window an open cage, in 

 which a little food is occasionally scattered, that he may never 

 return and be disappointed in his hope of finding nourishment. 

 The use of a decoy-bird also would do something to ensure his 

 return ; and, when once in the cage, the door should be con- 

 trived so as to shut and confine him in the manner before 

 described. After this experiment has once succeeded, it will 

 not be necessary to repeat the training of the bird by a partial 

 liberty in the room. The only risk attendant upon the prac- 

 tice is, that the bird may be laid hold of by the fowler during 

 his season of liberty. The same method of taming is often 

 successful in the case of Tits, Chaffinches, and other birds. 



ADDITIONAL. Of all the sweet songsters that delight the ear 

 with their music, and the eye with tlieir lively motions, and 

 graceful forms, and delicately blended tints, there is none more 

 generally known, nor more universally admired, than this beau- 

 tiful Finch, termed Carduelis, or the Thistle Finch, on account 



