. British birds . usical call-notesand lively twitterings, bird following bird, they appear as gay andvolatUe as they are pretty. They are found in suitable localities throughout England, andalso inhabit Scotland and Ireland, but their distribution in the lasttwo coimtries is much more local. During late summer and autumnthey lead a gipsy life, incessantly wandering about the open countryin search of their favourite seeds. They are also seen in winter,but few remain with us throughout the year, the majority passingover the Channel, to winter in a warmer climate. On their returnin spring they c
. British birds . usical call-notesand lively twitterings, bird following bird, they appear as gay andvolatUe as they are pretty. They are found in suitable localities throughout England, andalso inhabit Scotland and Ireland, but their distribution in the lasttwo coimtries is much more local. During late summer and autumnthey lead a gipsy life, incessantly wandering about the open countryin search of their favourite seeds. They are also seen in winter,but few remain with us throughout the year, the majority passingover the Channel, to winter in a warmer climate. On their returnin spring they come to the neighbourhood of houses, and build bypreference in an apple or cherry tree in an orchard. The nest isweU made, and composed of a great variety of materials—fine twigs,roots, grass, leaves, moss, and wool—and lined with hairs, feathers,and vegetable down. The four or five eggs are white, thinly spottedwith reddish brown and pale purple. As a vocalist the goldfinch does not rank high ; but his lively,. PLATE I G O L D F IX C H. t NAT. siZK 128 BRITISH BIBD8 of southern South America, that the rail-like, spotted tinamon—abird that easily eludes ones sight among the grey and yellow herb-age—has the faculty of making itself invisible. The primitivemind is much given to explanations of this kind. The nest, placed as a rule in the fork of a horizontal branch, iscomposed of rootlets and moss, on a foundation of bents and twigsof heather, and is lined with fine dry grass and a little vegetabledown, sometimes with a few feathers. Five or six eggs are laid,pale bluish green in ground-colour, and spotted with dark reddishbrown and pinkish grey under-markings. In autumn siskins imite in small flocks and migrate south-ward; and during winter they are found widely distributed overthe country, but are most numerous in the northern counties ofEngland. At this season they may be seen associating on treesand bushes with goldcrests, redpolls, and titmice of differentspecies. Clo
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Keywords: ., bookauthorhudsonwh, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookyear1921
