102 
GOLDFINCH. 
mingling of their notes forming a kind of harmony not at all unpleasant. 
About the last of November, and sometimes sooner, they generally 
leave Pennsylvania, and proceed to the south ; some, however, are seen 
even in the midst of the severest winters. Their flight is not direct, 
hut in alternate risings and sinkings, twittering as they fly, at each 
successive impulse of the wings. During the latter part of summer 
they are almost constant visitors in our gardens, in search of seeds, 
which they dislodge from the husk with great address, while hanging, 
frequently head downwards, in the manner of the Titmouse. From 
these circumstances, as well as from their color, they are very generally 
known, and pass by various names expressive of their food, color, &c, 
such as Thistle-bird, Lettuce-bird, Salad-bird, Yellow-bird, &c, &c. 
The gardeners who supply the city of Philadelphia with vegetables 
often take them in trap-cages, and expose them for sale in the market. 
They are easily familiarized to confinement, and feed with seeming in- 
difference a few hours after being taken. 
The great resemblance which the Yellow-bird bears to the Canary, 
has made many persons attempt to pair individuals of the two species 
together. An ingenious French gentleman who resides in Pottsgrove, 
Pennsylvania, assured me that he had tried the male Yellow-bird with 
the female Canary, and the female Yellow-bird with the male Canary, 
but without effect, though he kept them for several years together, and 
supplied them with proper materials for building. Mr. Hassey, of New 
York, however, who keeps a great number of native as well as foreign 
birds, informed me, that a Yellow-bird paired with a Canary in his pos- 
session, 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. McKen- 
zie, 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 Caro- 
linas ; 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 on 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 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 plum- 
age. 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 
* Nat. Hist. Car. vol. i., p. 43. 
