130 
AMERICAN GOLDFINCH. 
of the Goldfinch recalled to my remembrance its transatlantic kinsman, and 
brought with it too a grateful feeling for the many acts of hospitality and 
kindness which I have experienced in the “old country.” 
The nest also is perfectly similar to that of the European bird, being 
externally composed of various lichens fastened together by saliva, and lined 
with the softest substances. It is small and extremely handsome, and is 
generally fixed on a branch of the Lombardy poplar, being sometimes 
secured to one side of a twig only. I have also found it in elder bushes, a 
few feet above the ground, as well as in other trees. The female deposits 
from four to six eggs, which are white, tinged with bluish, and marked at 
the larger end with reddish-brown spots. They raise only one brood in a 
season. The young follow the parents for a long time, are fed from the 
mouth, as Canaries are, and are gradually taught to manage this themselves. 
When it happens that the female is disturbed while on her nest, she glides 
off to a neighbouring tree, and calls for her mate, pivoting herself on her 
feet, as above described. The male approaches, passes and repasses on the 
wing at a respectful distance from the intruder, in deeper curves than usual, 
uttering its ordinary note, and when the unwelcome visitant has departed, 
flies with joy to his nest, accompanied by the female, who presently resumes 
her occupation. 
The food of the American Goldfinch consists chiefly of seeds of the hemp, 
the sun-flower, the lettuce, and various species of thistle. Now and then, 
during winter, it eats the fruit of the elder. 
It* ascending along the shores of the Mohawk river, in the month of 
August, I have met more of these pretty birds in the course of a day’s walk 
than anywhere else ; and whenever a thistle was to be seen along either 
bank of the New York canal, it was ornamented with one or more Gold- 
finches. They tear up the down and withered petals of the ripening flowers 
with ease, leaning downwards upon them, eat off the seed, and allow the 
down to float in the air. The remarkable plumage of the male, as well as 
its song, are at this season very agreeable ; and so familiar are these birds, 
that they suffer you to approach within a few yards, before they leave the 
plant on which they are seated. For a considerable space along the 
Genesee river, the shores of’ Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and even Lake 
Superior, I have always seen many of them in the latter part of summer. 
They have then a decided preference for the vicinity of water. 
It is an extremely hardy bird, and often remains the whole winter in the 
Middle Districts, although never in great numbers. When deprived of 
liberty, it will live to a great age in a room or cage. I have known two' 
instances in which a bird of this species had been confined for upwards of 
ten years. They were procured in the market of New York when in 
