THE FINCHES 203 



could steal upon it without beiug perceived and its 

 presence reported by an alarm note, which is perfectly 

 understood by other Grosbeaks, and, indeed, by all birds 

 that hear it." 



The Hawfinch is a rather late-building bird, the eggs 

 being laid about the beginning of May, and not more 

 than one brood is reared each year — a contrast to some of 

 the other Finches. 



Of the second group, known as the True Finches, there 

 is none to equal the GOLDFINCH. If all bird-lovers were 

 to vote on the question, the pretty bird with the three- 

 coloured 'mask' over face and head — crimson, white, and 

 black — and the yellow and black wings, would certainly 

 come out at the top of the poll. He can sing, too, very 

 charmingly, and he is rather an affectionate little fellow 

 when he is well-treated in captivity. 



For captive he is, only too often. Those pests, the bird- 

 catchers, are always on the watch for him. And though 

 they have to go further afield now than in past years, they 

 are well aware that he is a bird worth taking some trouble 

 to find and capture. 



To-day, in England, many lovers of wild birds have 

 never seen a wild Goldfinch, so rare has it become in some 

 parts of the country. We envy those who knew the time 

 when these beautiful birds were "so abundant in some 

 districts that they were to be seen in flocks of thousands, 

 like sparrows in a cornfield." 



An old bird-catcher told Dr. Bowdler Sharpe that in 

 his youth he once caught twelve dozen Goldfinches in a 

 single morning, "placing his nets behind a hedge which 

 then existed on the present site of the Great Western 

 Railway station at Paddington." 



Dr. Sharpe adds, out of his own recollection : " We can 



