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a mixture of rape and canary-seed and, now and then, a few

hempseeds. I know a Goldfinch that lived in captivity for

thirteen; and another for fifteen, years. . . . The old birds


rarely live longer than a year in a cage, and most of them die in

the course of the first summer or in fall. In the cage, our

beautiful Goldfinch proves to be rather a delicate bird, and it

takes careful nursing in order to succeed with it. It shows a

ver}^ varied taste in regard to its favourite kinds of seed. The

best food consists of a selection of the following seeds : Canary,

flax, rape, oat-grits, hemp, and lettuce-seed, generally diminish¬

ing in favour in the order named.”


In full summer dress the male is pure lemon-yellow,

rather more dingy on the mantle ; greater wing-coverts, bastard

wing, quills and primary coverts black edged with white towards

the tips and round the ends. Tail feathers black with a white

spot at the tip of each, and the centre ones broadty edged with

white on the inner web. Upper tail coverts white. Bill orange,

feet yellowish-brown.


In winter plumage the male resembles the female, except

that the wings and tail are blacker with the white markings

more distindt.


The adult female, in summer, is olive-brown tinged with

olive-greenish above ; under parts yellowish-white tinged with

grey. Upper tail-coverts greyish-white. Wings and tail dusky-

black, marked with white as in the male. In the winter the

female becomes somewhat browner.


According to Ridgway, the young are like the adults in

winter plumage bur much browner, the wing markings light

cinnamon and the plumage generally suffused with this colour.


“ Nest a very neat cup-shaped structure, composed of

compactly-woven plant-fibres, etc., lined with plant-down and

other soft materials, placed in tall bushes or low trees. Eggs

3-5, -66 x -47, plain pale bluish or bluish white.”


The species is said to be resident in the whole of temperate

North America, although a partial migration undoubtedly takes

place in the Spring and Autumn.



