126 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 
varies, a favourite place being an old apple- or pear- 
tree in an orchard ; but the woods and fir plantations 
are not seldom resorted to. The GREENFINCH is an 
equally common British bird. Of a more confiding 
disposition than the hawfinch, it makes an excellent 
cage-bird, becoming with judicious treatment exceed- 
ingly tame. It is a useful bird, travelling during the 
autumn and winter in large flocks, and feeding on 
the seeds of wild mustard and other weeds. Its nest 
differs conspicuously from that of the hawfinch, being 
a somewhat untidy structure, composed of fibrous 
roots, moss, and wool, lined with finer roots, horse- 
hair, and feathers. 
Among the True Finches, distinguished from 
the Grosbeaks by their less powerful bills, are several 
other well-known British birds. Of these, none are 
better known than the CHAFFINCH. Gay in appear- 
ance and sprightly in habit, this is a general favourite 
everywhere, and much in demand as a cage-bird. 
His short though delightful song possesses a peculiar 
charm, coming as it does with the earliest signs of 
returning spring. The fascination of this song has 
never been better expressed than in Browning’s lines: — 
O to be in England 
Now that April ’s there ; 
And whoever wakes in England 
Sees, some morning, unaware, 
That the lowest boughs of the brushwood sheaf 
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf, 
While the Chaffinch sings on the orchard bough 
In England now ! 
BULLFINCH 
Black •varieties are occasionalls taken in a ^vild state. Caged 
specimens fed on hemp-seed frequently turn black 
The nest, which is an exceptionally beautiful structure, takes about a fortnight to build. 
Closely woven, it appears to consist mainly of wool, into which moss and lichens of various 
colours are deftly woven. The outside is cunningly decorated with bits of lichen and the 
inner bark of trees, such as the birch, the whole being secured by a thin veil of spiders’ webs. 
The lichen and bark serve to render the nest inconspicuous by blending it with the general 
appearance of the bush or small tree in a forked bough of which it is placed. Inside the 
wool is more closely felted even than on the outside, and this is covered with fine hairs, 
amongst which a few feathers are intermixed. The work of building seems to be done by the 
female only, though the male helps by bringing the materials. 
Of the Goldfinch, Linnets, and Bullfinch, by far the most popular and beautiful is the 
Goldfinch, which is, and probably will long remain, one of the most prized of cage-birds. 
Gifted “ with the fatal gift of beauty,” this bird is much persecuted by bird-catchers ; and 
indeed, partly owing to the depredations of these men, and partly to improved methods of 
agriculture, which have diminished its feeding-area, this handsome bird is growing more and 
more rare every year. 
Next to the goldfinch perhaps the Linnet is most sought after as a cage-bird. Large 
numbers are taken during the autumn, when the birds congregate in large flocks before 
departure on migration. Those captured in the spring are said to be very' impatient of 
confinement, and only a small percentage seem to survive. 
The linnet is one of the most variable of birds in the matter of plumage, and for a long 
while the opinion was generally held, especially by bird-catchers, that several distinct species — 
