114 GOLDFINCH. 



what clumsy in appearance. The general colour of 

 the plumage is bright yellowish green, shading in parts 

 to slate grey. Two broods are generally reared in the 

 season, and the first nest is begun in April. It is very 

 prettily though somewhat untidily constructed. Some 

 nests, however, are much neater than others. The 

 outside is composed of dry grass, moss, and wool, with 

 a few twigs interwoven, and is lined with rootlets, 

 hair, feathers, and wool. I have found the nest lined 

 almost entirely with rootlets. It is usually placed in 

 a shrub or evergreen or in a thorn hedge, and is easily 

 discovered, as very little pains are taken to conceal it. 

 The Greenfinch usually commences to sit after the 

 first egg has been laid. 



The eggs are four to six in number, white, or white 

 slightly tinged with blue, spotted and blotched with 

 purple-brown spots and underlying pinky-brown spots, 

 mostly at the larger end. They vary much in shape, 

 one clutch of five in my possession being of a very 

 elongated form, almost as though they had all contained 

 double yolks. Small eggs of the Greenfinch are very 

 similar to those of the Linnet and Goldfinch, so that 

 care must be taken in naming doubtful specimens. 



GOLDFINCH. 



FRINGILLA CARDUELIS. 



Family PASSERID^;. Sub-family FRINGILLIN^E. Genus 

 FRINGILLA. 



Thistle Finch Gold Spink Proud Tailor Red Cap King 

 Harry. 



The Goldfinch is distributed locally throughout 

 England, less numerously throughout Scotland and 



