264 
FRINGILLA TKISTIS. 
at each successive impulse of the wings. During the 
latter part of summer they are almost constant visitants 
in our gardens, in search of seeds, which they dislodge 
from the husk with great address, while hangingi 
fre(|uently head downwards, in tlie manner of the tit' 
mouse. From these circumstanc(?s, as well as fro”’ 
their colour, they are very generally known, and 
by various names expressive of their food, (colour, 
such as thistle bird, lettuce bird, salad bird, yello”' 
bird, &c. The gardeners, who supply the’ city 
Philadelphia with vegetables, often take them in trap- 
cages, and e.xpose them for sale in market. They or« 
easily familiarized to confinement, and feed w ith seemiu.^ 
indifference a few hours after l>eing taken. 
The great resemblance which the yellow bird bea^ 
to the canary has made many person's attempt to p”’*’ 
individuals of the two species together. An ino'euioo^ 
French gentleman, who resides in Pottsgrove, Penn- 
sylvania, assured me, that he had tried the male yello”' 
bird with the female canary, and the female yellow bin* 
M’ith the male canary, but without eflfect, though h” 
kept them for several yi'ars together, and supplied the”* 
with proper materials for building. Mr Hassey of 
York, however, who keeps a great number of nativ« 
as well as foreign birds, informed me, that a yello’^ 
bird paired with a canary in his possession, and 
eggs, but did not hatch, which he attributed to tli^ 
lateness of the season. 
These birds, as has been before observed, (vol- *' 
p. 2C1,) were seen by Mr M'Kenzie, in his route acro^** 
the continent of North America, as far north as 1”^ 
S4° ; they are numerous in .all the Atlantic States nort” 
of the Carolinas; abound in Mexico, and arc also fou”® 
in gre.at numbers in the savannahs of (iiiiana. 
The seeds of the lettuce, thistle, hemp, &c. are the"^ 
favourite food, .and it is pleasant to observe a few" o* 
them at work in a calm d.ay, detaching the thistle dow* 
in search of the seeds, making it lly in clouds arou”® 
them. 
The American goldfinch has been figui-ed and 
