CHAP. XII. | The Finches. 243 
as I have been to repose by the evening hymn of the lark, 
and aroused by their early lays at the first blink of morn! 
“The goldfinch is also a good singing-bird. If any one 
wishes to have a cage-bird to cheer him with its song, let 
‘him get a male hybrid between this species and the canary, 
and I am sure he will not be disappointed..... The gold- 
finch’s nest is one of nature’s masterpieces. What a beau- 
tiful piece of workmanship! how exquisitely woven togeth- 
er! how light, compact, soft, and warm in its internal lining ! 
and how complete! What hand could imitate the woolly, 
feathery, mossy, cup-formed, half-ball-like structure? How 
vain the attempt! 
“The bullfinch, though much admired as a cage-bird, can 
not be said to be much of a songster. It is kept more for 
its beauty than its music, though it is sometimes able to 
‘pipe’ a very pretty tune. Now, with respect to its food. 
Great numbers of bull-finches are annually destroyed by our 
gardeners and nursery-men because they are supposed to be 
destructive. Now, it is a fact well known to ornithologists 
that although the sparrow, greenfinch, chaffinch, wren, bull- 
finch, and other birds, do not themselves actually live on in- 
sects, yet these form the chief food for their young. Such 
being the case, what an enormous and countless number of 
noxious and destructive creatures must they destroy! But 
we poor short-sighted mortals do not know this. We are 
all in the dark as regards the good they do us. Let them 
meddle with any of our seeds or fruits, and the hue and cry 
is, ‘Get guns and shoot every one of them.’ I hope a bet- 
ter day will soon arise for these lovely little birds, when 
they will be cherished and encouraged rather than hated 
and destroyed.” 
The story is told of an ancient philosopher having been 
killed by an eagle that dropped a tortoise upon his head for 
the purpose of breaking its shell. The story seems to be 
confirmed by the practice of the carrion and hooded crows, 
thus described by Edward: ‘“‘ They are to be found on cer- 
