THE GOLDFINCH. 
*jS j _ 
$ 42 
Mr. Syme, in his excellent treatise on British Song Birds, 
gives the following amusing particulars respecting this spe¬ 
cies:—“ The goldfinch is easily tamed and easily taught, and 
its capability of learning the notes of other birds is well 
known; but the tricks it may be taught to perform are truly 
astonishing. A few years ago, the Sieur Roman exhibited his 
birds, which were goldfinches, linnets, and Canaries. One 
appeared dead, and was held up by the tail or claws without 
exhibiting any signs of life; a second stood on its head with its 
claws in the air; a third imitated a Dutch milkmaid going to 
market with pails on its shoulders; a fourth mimicked a 
Venetian girl looking out at a window; a fifth appeared as a 
soldier, and mounted guard as a sentinel; and the sixth acted 
as cannoneer, with a cap on its head, a firelock on its 
shoulder, and a match in its claws, and discharged a small 
cannon. The same bird also acted as if it had been 
wounded. It was wheeled in a barrow, to convey it, as it 
were, to the hospital, after which it flew away before the 
company. The seventh turned a kind of windmill; and the 
last bird stood in the midst of some fireworks, which were 
discharged all round it, and this without exhibiting the least 
symptom of fear.” 
The Goldfinch is very generally distributed throughout 
Europe, occurring in most of the wooded and cultivated dis¬ 
tricts. Its song commences about the end of March, and con¬ 
tinues till July or August. It may often be found in company 
with linnets, whose flight it somewhat resembles. 
DESCRIPTION. 
The goldfinch is five inches and three quarters long, of which 
the tail occupies two inches. The beak is five lines long, 
sharply pointed, and very slightly bent, compressed at the 
sides, whitish, with a horn-colored tip; the slender feet are 
brownish, and six lines high; the front of the head is of a 
A bright scarlet red; a broad margin of a similar color surrounds ^ b 
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