84 
INSESSORES. 
towards the stuffed bird with all the anger which its 
little breast can contain. It alights on the edge of 
the trap for a moment, and throwing its body against 
the stuffed bird, brings down the trap and is made a 
prisoner. In this manner thousands of these birds 
are caught every spring.”* 
The beauty of the plumage of this little Finch, as 
well as the sweetness of its song, has rendered it a 
general favorite among those who are fond of keeping 
pets; it sings with great energy in confinement, and 
with care will live for eight or ten years. 
Of all the gay-winged minstrels with which our 
country abounds, the Painted Finch is one of the 
most brilliantly attired. The head is of a beautiful 
cobalt blue, a patch of bright yellow covers the back 
and shoulders, while the rump and the whole lower 
parts, including the throat and breast, are of flaming 
scarlet. The females are plain greenish -olive above, 
and dusky yellow below; the young birds of both 
sexes assume this garb from the nest, the males gra- 
dually undergoing a change with each successive 
moult until about the fourth or fifth season, when 
their dress is complete. 
In New Mexico and California there is a beautiful 
and familiar little bird called the American House 
Finch, which is probably as great a favorite among 
the people of those countries as the Barn Swallow, 
the Wren, and the Bluebird are with us. The fol- 
lowing interesting description of its manners and 
* Audubon. 
