GREENFINCH. 137 



which we placed in a low hedge, bordering the field where 

 they were captured. It was not long before they were dis- 

 covered by the parents, who immediately visited them, and 

 appeared to bring them food. These marks of affection in- 

 terested us, and fearing that where they were placed the 

 young nestlings might become a prey to prowling cats, we 

 gave them their liberty. The parents, however, appeared not 

 yet satisfied respecting the safety of their young ones, for a 

 short time after they were observed in the act of carrying one 

 of them away ; they were bearing it between them at about 

 the elevation of a foot and a half from the ground, and in this 

 manner were seen to carry it above fifty yards, namely, from 

 the spot where the young birds were set at liberty, to the end 

 of a gravel path, where they entered a clump of fir-trees. In 

 what manner the parents supported the nestling was not very 

 apparent, as the observers did not like to follow too quickly, 

 lest the old birds should relinquish their burthen ; but from 

 the close vicinity of the three during their flight, it appeared 

 as if they must have upheld it by means of their beaks. The 

 other nestlings had apparently been conveyed away in the 

 same manner, as none of them were to be found. 



Besides the food above mentioned as the support of this 

 species, Temminck includes the berries of the juniper, and we 

 have observed that the scarlet hips, or pods of the rose, are 

 frequently pecked at by Greenfinches. These birds may 

 readily be caught under a sieve baited with barley, of which 

 grain they are so fond that they will sit almost immoveable for 

 a quarter of an hour close to the ground, feasting on this 

 favourite grain ; their manner of eating which, is by shelling 

 or grinding it in their bill, by which means they leave the 

 spot strewed with chaff; we have seen them so busily and 

 quietly engaged in this occupation that they might be mis- 

 taken for fallen autumnal leaves, slightly agitated from time 

 to time by the wind. 



