GoLpFINCH. PASSERES. FRINGILLA. 285 
ment, and possessing great docility, soon becomes attached to 
its owner, and may be taught a variety of amusing perform- 
ances, such as feigning itself to be dead, letting off fire-works, 
&e. In its natural state, it breeds in gardens, orchards and 
plantations, and will often select an evergreen for the site of 
its nest; which displays much elegance of workmanship, be- Nest, &c. 
ing outwardly formed of lichens, moss and dry grass inter- 
woven with weol, and very warmly lined with a mixture of 
the last-named substance, hair, and the seed-down of the wil- 
low or thistle. This contains four or five eggs, of a bluish- 
white, scantily marked with orange-brown spots towards the 
larger end. 
In confinement it readily pairs and breeds with the canary 
finch. ‘The produce are mules, and are called by the bird- 
fanciers Canary goldfinches. 
This species is subject to considerable varieties of plu- 
mage, most of which are enumerated by Laruaw, in his In- 
dex Ornithologicus. It is common in all the temperate and 
northern parts of Europe, and is found as far to the south- 
ward as the islands of the Archipelago.—Its food consists of Food. 
the seeds of the several kinds of thistles, the burdock, and 
dandelion, as well as the oily seeds of many of the cruciform 
plants. _ 
Goldfinches do not associate in large flocks; their societies 
rarely exceeding twenty in number. 
Pirate 55. Fig. 8. A male bird of the natural size. 
Bill yellowish-white, with the tip blackish-brown. Base General 
of the bill, space between it and the eyes, occiput and at 
nape of the neck, ink-black. Forehead, temples and 
throat arterial blood-red. Cheeks, earc-overts, and 
lower parts of the neck white. Sides of the breast, back 
and scapulars deep yellowish-brown. Lower part of the 
back whitish, intermixed with yellowish-brown. Lesser 
wing-coverts black. Greater coverts, and basal-half of 
the quills, brilliant gamboge-yellow; the other half 
