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YELLOW-BIRD, OR GOLDFINCH. 9 
of seeds, which they dislodge from the husk with great address, while 
hanging, frequently head downwards, in the manner of the Titmouse. 
From these circumstances, as well as from their color, they are very 
generally known, and pass by various names expressive of their food, 
color, &c., such as Thistle- Bird, Lettuce-Bird, Salad-Bird, Yellow-Bird, 
&c. The gardeners, who supply the city of Philadelphia with vege- 
tables, often take them in trap-cages, and expose them for sale in 
market. They are easily familiarized to confinement, and feed with 
seeming indifference a few hours after being taken. ‘ 
The great resemblance which the Yellow-Bird bears to the Canary 
has made many persons attempt to pair individuals of the two species 
together. An ingenious French gentleman, who resides in Pottsgrove, 
Pennsylvania, assured me, that he had tried the male Yellow-Bird with 
the female Canary, and the female Yellow-Bird with the male Canary, 
but, without effect, though he kept them for several years together, 
and supplied them with proper materials for building. Mr. Hassey 
of New York, however, who keeps a great number of native as well 
as foreign birds, informed me, that a Yellow-Bird paired with a Canary 
in his possession, and laid eggs, but did not hatch, which he attributed 
to the lateness of the season. 
These birds were seen by Mr. M’Kenzie, in his route across the 
continent of North America, as far north as lat. 54°; they are numer- 
ous in all the Atlantic states north of the Carolinas; abound in 
Mexico, and are also found in great numbers in the savannahs of 
Guiana. " ; 
The seeds of the lettuce, thistle, hemp, &c., are their favorite food; 
and it is pleasant to observe a few of them at work in a calm day, 
detaching the thistle-down, in search of the seeds, making it fly in 
clouds around them. : 
The American Goldfinch has been figured and described by Mr 
Catesby,* who says, that the back part of the head is a dirty green, 
&c. his description must have been taken while the bird was 
\ 
Syme, in his History of British Song Birds, when speaking of the Sieur Roman, 
who some years since exhibited Goldfinches, Linnets, ama Canaries, wonderfully 
trained, relates, that ‘‘ one appeared dead, and was held up by the tail or claw 
without exhibiting any signs of life; a second stood on its head with its claws in 
the air; a third imitated a Dutch milkmaid going to market with pails on its 
shoulders ; a fourth mimicked a Venctian girl looking out at a window; a fifth ap- ° 
peared as a soldier, and mounted guard as a sentinel; and the sixth acted asa 
cannonier, with a cap on its head, a firelock on its shoulder, and a match in its claw, 
and discharged a small cannon. The same bird also acted as if it had been 
wounded. It was wheeled in a barrow, to convey it, as it were, to the hospital ; 
after which it flew away before the company: the seventh turned a kind of wind- ” 
mill ; and the last bird’stood in the midst of some fireworks. which were discharged 
all round it, and this without exhibiting the least symptom of fear.” The American 
Goldfinch is no less docile than its congeners. Mr. Audubon relates, that they are 
often eee in trap-cages; and that he knew one, which had undergone severe 
training, draw water for its drink from a glass, by means of a little chain fastened 
toa soft, leathern belt round its body, and another, equally light, fastened 1o a little 
bucket, which was kept by its weight in the water: it was also obliged to suppl 
be with food, by being obliged to draw towards its bill a little chariot filled vit 
seeds. 2 
Female is represented in Bonaparte’s continuation. — Ep. 
* Nat. Hist. Car. vol. i. p. 43. 
