THE GOLDFINCH. 
13 
the other had seven. At one time, I saw about a 
hundred birds come out of them. Instead of being 
the nest of a single pair of birds, they seemed to be 
towns of birds, or the property of a single pair, in 
which they accommodate all their descendants. A 
homed Owl had taken possession of the outside of 
the roof of the largest, for a nest. She was sitting 
on it, and it appeared from the bones and hair 
strewed under, that she lived upon the field-mouse. 
The whole was neatly thatched, and had a hollow in 
the middle to contain the Owl, but no passage leading 
to the inside. 
Our Goldfinches partake a good deal of this sociable 
character, for they are usually seen in little flights, 
calling each other together, and betraying uneasiness 
if separated from their friends. They are also 
docile, easily tamed, and have occasionally been 
known to show a certain degree of confidence in 
man, when they found no danger to be apprehended, 
as the following will prove. In the Spring of 1 827, 
a Goldfinch had been lost from a cage, which was 
left hanging up, and the door open, in the passage- 
entrance to a back court of a house in a country 
town of the west of England; when a Goldfinch 
was one morning found feeding in it, and the door 
was closed upon the prisoner ; but, as it appeared to 
be a female, it was shortly after let out again. In 
the course, however, of about two hours, it returned, 
and re-entered the cage, when it was again shut in, 
and once more, after a short time, released; and 
these visits were repeated daily, for a considerable 
time. She was then missing for a few days, but 
then returned, accompanied by a male bird; when 
