46G THE GOLDFINCH. 



colour is pale brownish biilf, decorated with several largish spots and streaks of very 

 dark brown. 



The colour of this pretty bird is as follows : At the base of the beak the feathers are 

 jetty black, and the same hue, but with a slight dash of brown, is found on the wings and 

 the "Teater wino-coverts. The top of the head and back of the neck are slaty grey, the 

 back is chestnut, and the sides of the head, the chin, throat, and breast are bright ruddy 

 chestnut, fading into a colder tint ujDon the abdomen. The larger wing-coverts are tipped 

 with white, the lesser coverts are entirely of the same hue, and the tertials are edged 

 with yellowish white. The tail has the two central feathers greyish black, the next three 

 pairs black, and the remaining feathers variegated with black and white. The total length 

 of the bird is sis inches. The female is coloured something like the male, but not 

 so brilliantly. 



Of all the British Finches, none is so tiiily handsome as the Goldfinch, a bird whose 

 brifrht yellow orange hues suffer but little even when it is placed in close proximity to the 

 more o-audy Finches of tropical climates. Like the chaffinch, it is spread over the whole 

 of England, and may be seen in great numbers feeding on the white thistledown. There 

 are few prettier sights than to watch a cloud of Goldfinches fluttering along a hedge, 

 chasing the thistledown as it is whirled away by the breeze, and uttering all the while 

 their sweet merry notes. 



The birds are not very shy, and by lying quietly in the hedge the observer may watch 

 them as they come flying along, ever and anon perching upon the thistle-tops, dragging 

 out a beakful of down, and biting off the seeds with infinite satisfaction. Sometimes a 

 Goldfinch will make a dart at a thistle or burdock, and without perching snatch several 

 of the seeds from their bed, and then alighting on the stem, will run up it as nimbly as a 

 squirrel, and peck away at the seeds, quite careless as to the attitude it may be forced to 

 adopt. These beautiful little birds are most useful to the farmer, for they not only devour 

 nuiltitudes of insects during the spring months, but in the autumn they turn their attention 

 to the tliistle, burdock, groundsel, plantain, and other weeds, and w^ork more effectual 

 destruction than the farmer could hope to attain with all his labourers. Several Gold- 

 finches may often be seen at one time on the stem and top of a single thistle, and two or 

 three are frequently busily engaged on the same plant of groundsel. 



Like the preceding species, the Goldfinch keeps to the open ground or hedgerows 

 during the summer and autumn, but during the winter is often forced to seek for food 

 nearer to man, and accordingly vacates the fields and proceeds in flocks to the farmyards, 

 where it makes the most of its opportunities. In Mr. Thompson's History of the Birds 

 of Ireland, there is a communication from Mr. E. Patterson respecting the conduct of this 

 bird during a very severe winter. 



"When at Limerick, in August, 1843, I had the pleasure of meeting Ptandal Burough, 

 Esq. of Cappa Lodge, Kilrush, county of Clare, who communicated to me the following 

 particulars respecting an unusual assemblage of Goldfinches observed at his residence in 

 the winter of 1836. 



Mr. B. had two pet Goldfinches, which were allowed not only to fly about the room, 

 but also through the open window. The winter was beginning to be severe, and the food 

 suitable for small birds consequently scarce, when one day the two Goldfinches brought 

 with them a stranger of their own species, who made bold to go into the two cages that 

 were always left open, and regale itself on the hospitality of its new friends, and then took 

 his departure. He returned again and brought others with him, so that in a few days 

 half a dozen of these pretty warblers were enjoying the food bountifully provided for 

 them. The window was now kejot up, and the open cages with plenty of seed were x^laced 

 on a table close to it, instead of on the sill as previously. 



The birds soon learned to come into the room without fear. The table was by degrees 

 shifted from the window to the centre of the room, and as the number of the birds had 

 continued gradually to increase, there was soon a flock of not less than twenty visiting the 

 apartment daily, and perfectly undisturbed by the presence of the members of the family. 

 As the inclemency of the weather decreased, the number of birds gradually diminished, 



