AMERICAN GOLDFINCH. 
The All-wise CreaEor probably intended to 
death them constantly with a colouring like 
that of the shrubs and trees wher-e they inha- 
bit ; the better to hide and preserve them from 
voracious birds of prev, and-o:her anitnaist^at 
feed on birds." : '-rr—' 
, On the uncommon circumstance of this 
bird's moulting twice a year, BufFon agrees 
with Edwards, that the Cock would probably 
have done the same ; and, he adds, in that re- 
speft resembles the Bengals, the Widow Biids, 
and many other natives of warm climates. 
In the subjevSl obsen^ed bv Brisson," con- 
tinues BufFon, *' thebeliv, the loins, the inferior 
coverts of the tail and of the wings, were of 
the same yellow with the rest of the bodv , the 
superior coverts of the tail were white-grey ; and 
the bill, the legs, and the nails, w ere white : but 
most of these differences mav be owin:^ to the 
different states in which the bird has been 
examined. Edwards drew it from the life ; 
and his specimen appears, besides, to have been 
larger than that of Brisson. Catesby tells us, 
that it is very rare in Carolina, more frequent 
in Virginia, and very common in Xew \ork. 
The 
