22 



GOLDFINCH. 



building. Mr. Hassey, of New York, however, who keeps a great 

 number of native as well as foreign birds, informed me, that a Yel- 

 low-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, as has been before observed, were seen by Mr. 

 M^Kenzie, in his route across the continent of North America, as 

 far north as lat. 54^; they are numerous 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 figure on the plate represents this 

 bird of its natural size. 



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. This description must have been taken while the bird 

 was changing its plumage. At the approach of fall, not only the 

 rich yellow fades into a brown olive ; but the spot of black on the 

 crown and forehead, becomes also of the same olive tint. Mr. Ed- 

 ^vards has also erred in saying that the young male bird has the 

 spot of black on the forehead ; this it does not receive until the suc- 

 ceeding spring. The figure in Edwards is considerably too large; 

 and that by Catesby has the wings and tail much longer than in 

 nature, and the body too slender; very different from the true 

 form of the living bird. Mr. Pennant also tells us, that the legs 

 of this species are black; they are, however, of a bright cinnamon 

 color; but the worthy naturalist, no doubt, described them as he 

 found them in the dried and stuffed skin, shrivelled up and black- 

 ened with decay; and thus too much of our natural history has 

 been delineated. 



* Nat. Hist. Car. voL i, p, 43. 



