The Greenfinch. 



93 



as it can be accomplislied by watching the parents and following 

 them. A field-glass is of much utility in assisting naturalists 

 to find birds' nests after this manner. As the seeker ap- 

 proaches the place where the nest is built, the birds become 

 unwontedly excited, and commence to flutter, and utter cries of 

 wailing and lamentation in the most frantic and melancholy 

 fashion, and they follow the searcher so closely and ardently as 

 almost to come within an arm's length. They never attempt 

 to allure the seeker from the spot, but their cry is one of an un- 

 mistakably beseeching character. They are most affectionate 

 birds, and their attachment to their offspring is so great that 

 it seems to inspire them with heroism, cases having been known 

 where the parent birds have literally attacked boys in the 

 act of plundering their nests and removing their callow 

 broods. They grieve terribly on losing their offspring, and 

 wail and cry for days afterwards in the most heartrending 

 fashion. 



Food and Teeatment. — In a wild state the Greenfinch lives 

 principally on seed and berries. It is also insectivorous, and 

 will feed on green caterpillars and the larvse of insects, with 

 which it feeds its young. The seeds for which it shows a 

 preference are those of the milk thistle, dandelion, groundsel^ 

 turnip radish, wild rape (runch seed), and lettuce, and, 

 consequently, it is not a favourite with gardeners, as it is a 

 very destructive bird in the spring and summer. It is fond 

 of apples, and of the seed of the hop plant, both of which it 

 attacks as soon as they are ripe. It will eat lettuce, chick- 

 weed, cabbage, and groundsel, unripe barley, and the early 

 spring buds ; in fact, it is not very choice as to its diet, 

 and will eat almost anything. In winter it eats hip-berries 

 (sometimes called dog-berries, on account of their being the 

 fruit of the dog-rose, or sweet-briar), and it is also fond of 

 haws (the fruit of the hawthorn). 



In confinement it will eat seeds of all sorts, but appears to 

 prefer summer rape, linseed, and hemp seed, to other kinds. 

 It partakes of groats readily ; also bread soaked in milk or 

 water, and any of the compounds given to soft-billed birds — - 

 such as barley and pea meal — made into a soft paste ; in fact, 

 the Greenfinch is not at all fastidious in the choice of viands, 

 and will eat and thrive on anything given to any birds of the 

 finch tribe. In the summer time it should be plentifully 



