THE GOLDFINCH 67 
The nest of the Goldfinch is most frequently to be found in orchards, prefer- 
ably on the lichen-covered branch of an old apple-tree, though it also occurs at 
times in the branches of a pear, horse-chestnut, beech, plane, poplar, yew, cypress, 
laurel, or even in a deciduous shrub: in Norfolk I took it from near the top of 
a tall hawthorn hedge. Usually the nest, which is small and cup-shaped, is neatly 
formed of moss and lichen, interwoven with rootlets and wool; it is lined with 
thistle-down, small soft feathers, and horse-hair: my Norfolk nest, however, is 
without the lichens, and is chiefly lined with some woolly substance, probably 
vegetable-, but hardly white enough for thistle-down: the eggs in this nest are 
also unusually small. 
The Rev. H. A. Macpherson writes :—‘‘ The most curious nest of the Goldfinch 
that I ever saw was built entirely of stems of dry grass. It contained a full 
complement of tiny Goldfinches, and was built in a plum-tree.”’ 
The eggs number from four to five, usually the latter, and are similar to those 
of a Linnet, but usually rather smaller; they are greenish-white, spotted and 
streaked, especially at the larger end, with purplish-brown, and with lilacine-grey 
shell-spots; they, however, vary greatly from this type, some eggs being merely 
speckled and spotted with dull blood-red, whilst others are almost without markings. 
The song of the Goldfinch is much over-rated; it is cheerful, but scrappy in 
character; the hen sometimes sings quite as well as the cock, and the song is the 
same: some years ago I carefully noted the whole performance, going over it 
again and again, with the bird singing close to me, until I had it all down exactly 
as follows :—Vi hee-¢-ur, whee-c-ur, whee-é-ur, too-o0-ce, ti-weea, tt-weea, whitweea, chiwhit, 
chiwit, chiwit; wheec, wheec, wheec. The last three notes are accompanied by violent 
lateral jerks of the tail and a corresponding movement of the body, which some- 
times almost upsets the bird’s balance. The call-note bears some resemblance to 
that of the Canary; but the scolding note, or note of defiance, is a sharp shrill 
chit, sometimes continued into a chitter’-tit, tit: as the Goldfinch is tolerably 
quarrelsome, this note, which somewhat reminds one of a common autumnal 
utterance of the Robin, is frequently heard. 
The food consists largely of seeds, buds, and the leaves and flower-heads of 
weeds, especially groundsel; but when rearing their young the old birds also feed 
to a great extent upon aphides and small green caterpillars: in confinement soft- 
food answers the same purpose. 
As a cage and aviary bird the Goldfinch is a general favourite; some avicul- 
turists admiring it (most unaccountably) for its energetic, though absurd song, 
others for muling purposes, others again for its lovely plumage, and a few on 
account of its capacity for learning the usual stupid tricks “violating the laws of 
