5 
that a canary will learn. It is seldom seen on the ground, but usually on a bush or tree, 
or climbing about or hanging on to a thistle or some weed, picking out the seed. It is fond of 
the company of others of the same species, and will frequently consort also with other allied 
species. Its flight is light, somewhat jerky, and tolerably swift ; and when on the wing it con- 
tinually utters its call-note, pick, pick, pickelmik, or sticklit, from which its Swedish, Danish, 
and German names are derived. On the wing its bright colours and mode of flight render it 
tolerably easily recognizable; and were it not for those its constantly uttered call-note would 
serve to identify it. Its song is sweet, but scarcely as good as that of the Linnet; but it is a very 
industrious songster, and the male may be heard singing from March to the end of July or the 
beginning of August. It is a hardy, strong bird, and does not leave unless driven away by very 
severe weather and consequent difficulty in obtaining food. It feeds on seeds of various kinds, 
especially on that of the thistle and many of our common weeds; but it would seem that it feeds 
its young on insects, and may, to some extent, itself feed on these during the spring; seeds, how- 
ever, form the staple portion of its food. It is not a very early breeder, and never prepares its nest 
until the trees are in leaf. The nest is an exceedingly neat structure, nearly as artistically built 
as that of the Chaffinch. It is carefully and closely constructed of moss and lichens interwoven 
with fine roots &c., and carefully lined, first with the down off plants, most generally thistle- 
down, and inside this there is a slight lining of horse-hair; it is cup-shaped, and carefully 
finished off, the sides being neatly rounded. The nest is most frequently placed in a tree; but I 
have found it ina bush. Mr. Benzon informs me that in Denmark it usually places its nest in a 
fruit- or a chestnut-tree, and always in a non-evergreen tree, at some distance out from the main 
stem, and consequently not easy to find or take. Near Altenkirchen, in Rhenish Prussia, 
Mr. Sachse informs me, it usually builds in a pear, plum, chestnut, or poplar tree, usually in the 
outer branches, and the eggs are generally deposited late in May or early in June, the number 
of eggs being four or five, seldom six; and sometimes a second brood is raised. “A pair have 
built,’ he says, ‘several years in succession in a tree under which a man is almost always sitting 
breaking stones; and the continual noise does not seem to trouble the birds. On the 27th of 
June 1867, I took five eggs; and the birds, after wandering about in the neighbourhood till the 
Ist July, selected another site and built so quickly that on the 9th July I found the female had 
deposited five eggs in the new nest.” The female alone works in the construction of the nest, 
but is closely attended by her mate, who cheers her with his sweet song. The eggs, usually four 
or five in number, are white, with a pale blue-green tinge, and are marked with faint reddish 
underlying shell-markings and dark reddish brown blotches or streaks, which are almost confined 
to the larger end. Specimens in my collection vary in size from 75 by 49 inch to 75 by Zo inch. 
The specimens figured are an adult male and a young bird from England, and a slightly 
different variety from the Ural, all being in my collection. 
In the preparation of the above article I have examined the following specimens :— 
E Mus. H. E. Dresser. 
a, ¢. Cookham, Berks, November 1869 (R. B.S.). 6,2. Hampstead, February 11th, 1870 (Davy). , d,e,f. 
Hampstead (Davy). g,juv. Hampstead (Davy). h, juv. Hampstead, October 14th, 1871 (Davy). 7%, 2 juv. 
ool 
