THE GOLDFINCH.thistle in bloomThisexceedingly pretty bird measures about five inches in length. The top of its head, nape, and the feathers from the base of the bill to the eye are black; forehead and throat rich scarlet; cheeks and under parts white, tinged on the breast and sides with pale, tawny-brown. Back pale tawny-brown, wing-coverts and quills black, the latter barred across with yellow and tipped with white. Tail quills black marked with white, and buffy-white near their tips.Seventy years ago this species was extremely abundant, and as recently as 1873 a boy caught close upon five hundred during a single morning near to Brighton; but it is now, alas!comparatively rare, on account of the reclamation of waste lands having destroyed its seed-food plants, such as the thistle and burdock, and the heavy demands made upon its numbers for cage pets. Of course, a check has now been put upon the latter source of drainage to a great extent by the Wild Birds’ Protection Acts, and the birds are obtained from Germany.During recent years I have met with it breeding in Surrey, Sussex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Devonshire, and Westmorland. I know a place in the second-named county where as many as ten pairs bred in one season, and within the last half-dozen years I have twice seen small flocks in the autumn near London, which, let us hope, is an encouraging sign.It is now rare in Scotland, but has been described as still common in the poorer and wilder parts of Ireland.The Goldfinch is a migratory bird, although a few individuals winter with us, and are known in the spring from members of the species that have spent the cold season farther south by their less brilliant colours.NEST AND EGGS OF GOLDFINCHNEST AND EGGS OF GOLDFINCH.The nest is placed in the fork of an apple, pear, or other fruit tree in orchardsand gardens; sometimes in evergreens or on the bough of a sycamore or chestnut tree, and occasionally in a thick hedgerow. It is composed of rootlets, moss, dry grass, wool, spiders’ webs, and lichens on the outside, and has an inner lining of vegetable down, hairs, and soft feathers. It is a neat and beautiful structure.The eggs number from four to six, and are greyish-or greenish-white, spotted and streaked with light purplish-and reddish-brown and grey.Although some people do not rank the Goldfinch very highly as a feathered vocalist, its twittering song is full of melody and sweetness, and together with its striking beauty and lively manners endear it to the heart of every lover of the country and its sights and sounds.Bechstein says, “Its agreeable song, which is only discontinued during moulting, is a mixture of tones and harmonies more or less dwelt upon.”It sings both when perched and upon the wing. Instances are upon record of young Goldfinches taken from the nest when only two or three days old, reproducing when they grew up not the music of their own kind, but the songsof other species heard from their places of captivity.The poets have not given the bird a great deal of attention, but our photograph of a nest and eggs proves that Grahame was a good observer, else he could not have penned the following lines:“Sometimes suspended at the limber endOf planetree spray, among the broad-leav’d shootsThe tiny hammock swings to every gale.”The call notes have been written down asziflitortisflit,twee-eetortwit, oft repeated, andglituttered quickly.bushes and trees
thistle in bloom
Thisexceedingly pretty bird measures about five inches in length. The top of its head, nape, and the feathers from the base of the bill to the eye are black; forehead and throat rich scarlet; cheeks and under parts white, tinged on the breast and sides with pale, tawny-brown. Back pale tawny-brown, wing-coverts and quills black, the latter barred across with yellow and tipped with white. Tail quills black marked with white, and buffy-white near their tips.
Seventy years ago this species was extremely abundant, and as recently as 1873 a boy caught close upon five hundred during a single morning near to Brighton; but it is now, alas!comparatively rare, on account of the reclamation of waste lands having destroyed its seed-food plants, such as the thistle and burdock, and the heavy demands made upon its numbers for cage pets. Of course, a check has now been put upon the latter source of drainage to a great extent by the Wild Birds’ Protection Acts, and the birds are obtained from Germany.
During recent years I have met with it breeding in Surrey, Sussex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Devonshire, and Westmorland. I know a place in the second-named county where as many as ten pairs bred in one season, and within the last half-dozen years I have twice seen small flocks in the autumn near London, which, let us hope, is an encouraging sign.
It is now rare in Scotland, but has been described as still common in the poorer and wilder parts of Ireland.
The Goldfinch is a migratory bird, although a few individuals winter with us, and are known in the spring from members of the species that have spent the cold season farther south by their less brilliant colours.
NEST AND EGGS OF GOLDFINCHNEST AND EGGS OF GOLDFINCH.
NEST AND EGGS OF GOLDFINCH.
The nest is placed in the fork of an apple, pear, or other fruit tree in orchardsand gardens; sometimes in evergreens or on the bough of a sycamore or chestnut tree, and occasionally in a thick hedgerow. It is composed of rootlets, moss, dry grass, wool, spiders’ webs, and lichens on the outside, and has an inner lining of vegetable down, hairs, and soft feathers. It is a neat and beautiful structure.
The eggs number from four to six, and are greyish-or greenish-white, spotted and streaked with light purplish-and reddish-brown and grey.
Although some people do not rank the Goldfinch very highly as a feathered vocalist, its twittering song is full of melody and sweetness, and together with its striking beauty and lively manners endear it to the heart of every lover of the country and its sights and sounds.
Bechstein says, “Its agreeable song, which is only discontinued during moulting, is a mixture of tones and harmonies more or less dwelt upon.”
It sings both when perched and upon the wing. Instances are upon record of young Goldfinches taken from the nest when only two or three days old, reproducing when they grew up not the music of their own kind, but the songsof other species heard from their places of captivity.
The poets have not given the bird a great deal of attention, but our photograph of a nest and eggs proves that Grahame was a good observer, else he could not have penned the following lines:
“Sometimes suspended at the limber endOf planetree spray, among the broad-leav’d shootsThe tiny hammock swings to every gale.”
“Sometimes suspended at the limber endOf planetree spray, among the broad-leav’d shootsThe tiny hammock swings to every gale.”
“Sometimes suspended at the limber end
Of planetree spray, among the broad-leav’d shoots
The tiny hammock swings to every gale.”
The call notes have been written down asziflitortisflit,twee-eetortwit, oft repeated, andglituttered quickly.
bushes and trees