By the Rev. A. C. Smith. 



89 



" Goldfinch " (Carduelis elegans). This is one of the few birds 

 which every body knows, and every body appreciates : its bright 

 gay plumage of brilliant colours, its sprightly form, active habits 

 and sweetness of song rendering it a great favorite : it is common 

 too throughout the County, though not so abundant as to beget 

 too great familiarity, which we have seen with other species is too 

 apt to breed contempt. Towards winter it may be seen in flocks ; 

 and commons which abound in thistles or fields where those weeds 

 ripen their seed, are the haunts which it loves to frequent, and 

 where it makes its choicest banquet. I conclude my account of 

 the Goldfinch with the following observation from the pen of the 

 Rev. G. Marsh, and which I believe is perfectly new to Ornitholo- 

 gists, no hint of any such variety as is therein described having 

 before met my eyes in any book on birds, while the names of Mr. 

 Marsh and Mr. Dyson are sufficient proofs that their observation 

 is accurate and not the result of any hastily formed opinion or 

 conjecture. Mr. Marsh writes thus : — " In the spring of 1851 

 Rev. F. Dyson first told me that there was a bird which bird- 

 catchers call the " Chevil" Goldfinch, quite different from the 

 common Goldfinch, and the only bird that will breed with the 

 common Canary : on the first of June I went with him to see one 

 of these birds paired with a canary ; it was certainly different from 

 the common bird ; the red feathers not continuing under the chin ; 

 it was a very fine bird, and the birdcatcher, (one Fisher of Crick- 

 lade) told me they were always the leading birds of the flock." 



" Siskin " (Carduelis spinus). Better known in this country as a 

 cage bird, mated with the Canary, than in its wild state : it is 

 however by no means a rare, or scarcely an occasional visitant, 

 some appearing amongst us almost every year, and sometimes in 

 considerable numbers, consorting with Linnets and Redpoles, as 

 Mr. Withers of Devizes can testify : it is a native of northern 

 latitudes, and only visits us in the winter, when it may be seen 

 clinging to the alder trees, the seeds of which it especially loves : 

 though somewhat short and thick, it is by no means a clumsy bird : 

 on the contrary it is exceedingly graceful, and most restless, re- 

 sembling the Titmice in its almost incessant motions, and the 



