A cold autumn day, the clouds hang lowering in the sky; on one side flows the river, sullen, dark, and swollen by the recent rains, on the other stretch wild and bare meadows whose flat level is broken by clumps of nettles, thistles, and other coarse plants distasteful to cattle. One thing alone breaks the general dreariness—it is a flock of Goldfinches, who, as they hang in strange attitudes on the thistle heads, show the bright yellow of their wings, making it appear as though some plant, forgetful of the season, was about to burst into flower. As we approach to get a closer view, first one and then another will rise and in undulating flight move on to another clump and call his companions to a fresh hunting-ground with his little “ti-whit!” His bright colours and the ease with which he adapts himself to cage life have led to a great diminution in his numbers, in addition to which the higher and more scientific methods of farming have sadly restricted his feeding-grounds. Legislation, however, has stepped in, so that, although still a comparatively local bird, he is steadily increasing in numbers, and we have reason to hope that he may long remain a welcome inhabitant of our fields. The whole winter is spent roaming about on waste lands feeding on seeds or berries, and destroying countless weeds which would otherwise overrun the land. In spring the flocks break up, and our friend returns to the orchard or garden where he nested the previous year. He constructs an open cup-shaped nest of moss, bents, and small twigs fairly high up in some tree, often covering the outside with lichen to assimilate better with its surroundings. The lining consists chiefly of hair and thistle-down, and the eggs are blue, spotted and streaked, especially at their larger ends, with reddish brown. The young are fed at first by the regurgitation of half-digested food from the crops of their parents, and at this time of year a large number of insects are consumed. Two broods are often raised during the season, and then the family party wanders out into the open fields to seek their food, returning at night to the gardens, till they get gradually farther and farther from home and no longer visit their summer haunt till the following spring.

This bird is so well and generally known that no detailed description is necessary. The female may be distinguished by her more slender bill and brownish shoulders, (lesser wing coverts). In the adult male the shoulders are jet black, but young males sometimes show traces of brown.

The young, known as “grey pates,” are greyish brown on the upper parts and lack the characteristic markings on the head. The true Russian Goldfinches are rather larger in size and have a nearly white rump. The true “Siberian Goldfinch,” which is seldom or never imported, lacks the black on the head. Length 5 in.; wing 3 in. Many of the Goldfinches sold by dealers as Russian and Siberian are merely large fine birds of our native species, probably imported from abroad.