THE FINCHES 207 



— make for certain favourite starting-jilaces (Beachy Head 

 is one), and take wing across the Channel. 



It must have been to one of the stay-at-home birds 

 that a little poem was addressed, which I remember being 

 written for a magazine, some twenty years ago, by a young 

 lad in Cornwall. Let me quote the closing verses — 



"The summer past, thy nurslings flown, 

 Thou sittest idle all the day, 

 Nor hast thou piped a single lay; 

 But sing me one of all thine own 



For old days' sake, and I will bring 

 Thee o'er the breezy heathery downs, 

 Where burdock-heads and thistle-crowns 



Grow thicker than the buds of Spring." 



Another Finch that loves the seeds of thistle and 

 burdock is the SISKIN. He has not the gay colours of 

 the Goldfinch, and his song though sweet is less loud and 

 strong ; but he is in equal demand as a cage-bird, especially 

 in Germany. 



In that country, whence most of his tribe seem to travel 

 into England, he is freely caught. And the happy thing 

 is that he does not mope in captivity, as a rule. He is a 

 sunny-tempered bird, and makes the best of things. Give 

 a pair of Siskins the materials for making a nest, and if 

 they are in a roomy cage they will most likely set about 

 the work and take a good deal of trouble over it. 



They are gentle, affectionate little birds, and readily 

 learn any pretty tricks that their owner is patient enough 

 to teach them. I remember that one of the sorrows of my 

 childhood was the death of a tame Siskin, which I had had 

 for several years. His chief feat was the hauling up of his 

 food-waggon. The tiny cart ran up and down a sloping 

 board. The bird would pull it up with his beak, tucking 



