wise only to be read of in works of this and preceding time.
Conclusive evidence as to the baleful effect of improved
cultivation on Goldfinches has been given by many observers,
and by none better than Mr. Hepburn, who, writing (Zool.
p. 800) in 1848 of East Lothian, “ where they were once as
plentiful as sparrows,” says:—“ Grey-headed ploughmen
talk of their services among the thistles, and other weeds in
the outfield; but infield and outfield, the wretched agricultural
practices of the olden times, have alike passed away,
and with them this bright finch, which is now only known
as a rare straggler.” Here we have, we may hope, an
extreme case, but something like it has doubtless been long
going on almost every where in the island.
It is still found, however, throughout Scotland to
Sutherland—suitable localities, which in many parts are but
few and far between, being of course understood.* The
like may be said of Ireland, where, though inhabiting all
four provinces, it is by no means generally distributed, and,
according to Thompson, is capricious in its appearance,
deserting, without obvious reason, places which it formerly
frequented. Precise details of its distribution, especially as
regards the south-west, are wanting, but the same author says
that Cushandall in Antrim is its stronghold in Ulster, Mr.
R. Warren records it as resident and common about Killala
Bay, and Mr. A. L. Sinclair informs the Editor that it is
very common in Donegal in winter, though rare in summer.
It is not known to visit either Orkney or Shetland. In
Norway it is not with certainty known to breed further to
the northward than lat. 641°, and that only here and there,
but in Sweden it does not seem to extend beyond Upsala,
being however common in the south. In Finland it would
appear not to have been observed till 1840, and not yet to
have occurred except in a few spots on its southern coast.
to our antipodes might be compelled to carry thither their antidote in this pleasing
bird ; and the fines, incurred by those who suffer the former to grow on then-
property, might be worse spent than encouraging the propagation of the latter.
According to Don (as quoted by Mr. R. Gray) the hard winter of 1813 inflicted
a loss upon the species which it never recovered, and Weir informed
Macgillivray that many perished in the deep snows of 1823.
In Russia on the contrary it has penetrated to Archangel,
though but rarely seen there; it is however very common on
the southern steppes. It is not known from Siberia, but is
pretty common in Circassia. It reaches Turkestan and has
been obtained by several naturalists in Persia. In Asia
Minor, from Trebizond to Smyrna, it is common and resident,
and has been met with in Palestine. In Lower Egypt it is
rather abundant in winter, but does not ascend the Nile-
valley, it is said, above Cairo. It is plentiful in most parts
of Algeria and Eastern Morocco, and there are places in the
Tell, indeed, in which Mr. J. H. Gurney says it is the commonest
bird, while it extends its range to the Canaries and
Madeira. Throughout the whole of Europe, it is more or
less universally distributed in suitable localities, and according
to Col. Irby is the most common bird in Southern
Spain.
The bill is nearly white tinged with pink and tipped with
black : irides dusky brown : a thin line over the nostrils, and
the lores, black; forehead bright, glossy crimson-red extending
to behind the eyes; crown and back of the head
black, whence a band of the same descends on each side of
the neck; nape below this band buffy-white ; back, scapulars
and rump, wood-brown; lesser wing-coverts black, but in
winter often broadly tipped with buffy-white; greater wing-
coverts and the outer web of the basal half of each primary
after the second, brilliant gamboge-yellow; the remaining portion
of the primaries, and all the other wing-quills black,
tipped with white, which on the tertials becomes buff in winter;
upper tail-coverts greyish-white tipped with wood-brown; tail-
quills black—the two outer feathers on each side with an irregularly
shaped spot of white on the inner web and the rest
tipped with buffy-white; chin and fore part of the cheeks,
bright crimson-red) the rest of the cheeks and ear-coverts
white, clouded on the latter with dull brown; throat and lower
parts dull white, more or less deeply tinged on the sides of the
breast, body and flanks, with wood-brown; lower under wing-
coverts white, except those of the carpus which are blackish :
legs and toes pale flesh-colour; claws brown.