any richness or variety in its plumage. Its general colour is a rusty brown, with white on the throat and the belly. It is a bird of passage, generally appearing in this country about the beginning of April, and returning to a warmer climate at the end of summer. It is common in some of the southern counties of England, but never visits the northern or western parts. During our winter months it is found in the northern parts of Africa, and is at all times to be met with in India, Persia, China, and Japan, where it is even more esteemed for its song than in Britain. The note of the nightingale is very pleasing, the more so, perhaps, as it is often heard at a time when all the other songsters of the woods are hushed in silence. When she begins her song, the notes are at first soft and gentle; but they gradually swell from simple notes to the wildest warblings; and nothing can be more delightful than to listen in the stillness of night to the rich melody of this sweet songster. THE NIGHTINGALE. Up this green woodland path we'll softly rove, Creeping through thorny brakes with eager joy, THE GOLDFINCH. To find her nest and see her feed her young: And where those crimpled ferns grow rank among Clare, 21 8.-THE GOLDFINCH. THE goldfinch is a beautiful little bird, about five and a half inches in length. Its plumage is of a rich scarlet, mingled with deep black, white, and yellow. It is remarkable for the neatness with which it builds its nest; the outside consisting of very fine moss, curiously interwoven with wool, hair, and other materials; and the inside lined with the soft down of thistles and other delicate substances. The nest of the goldfinch is often found in orchards and gardens, built in a tree or thick evergreen shrub. is literally a cradle, and the young birds are rocked in it by the winds nearly as much as they are to be afterwards It on the tall and flexible stems on which they are to find their food. The goldfinch is often seen feeding on the seeds of the thistle; and its fondness for this plant is such that it is sometimes called the "thistle-finch." It also feeds on the downy seeds of various other plants, and is therefore regarded with favour by the farmer, who is greatly indebted to this and various other members of the finch family for preventing his land from being overgrown with weeds. THE GOLDFINCH. With equal art externally disguised, Of plane-tree spray, among the broad-leaved shoots, Sometimes in closest thickets 'tis conceal'd; All undefaced by Art's deforming hand. But mark the pretty bird himself! How light And quick is every motion, every note! How beautiful his plumes, his red-tinged head, His breast of brown! and see him stretch his wing,— A fairy fan of golden spokes it seems. Oft on the thistle's tuft he, nibbling, sits, Light as the down; then, 'mid a flight of downs, He wings his way, piping his shrillest call. Grahame. THE BULLFINCH. THE GOLDFINCH. "Goldfinch! pride of woodland glade, In the sunbeam spread thy wing. 23 9.-THE BULLFINCH. THE bullfinch is common in every part of Britain. It is a bird about the size of a sparrow, with a fine glossy black head and wings, and a red breast. The usual haunts of the bullfinch in summer are the woods and thickets. It also frequents our orchards and gardens in spring; but it is no favourite with the gardener, by whom it is regarded as one of the most pernicious of the feathered race, being very destructive to the tender buds of trees. The wild note of the bullfinch is a soft, long twitter; but when tamed, it becomes remarkably docile, and is easily taught to whistle musical airs. THE BULLFINCH. Deep in the thorn's entangled maze, Mant. 10. THE LINNET. THE linnet is a well known song bird, common in every part of Europe. It is about five inches and a half in length, and the general colour of its plumage is a reddish brown, tipped here and there with white. The song of the linnet is lively and varied, and its manners and disposition very gentle. "It delights and lives in society, frequenting open commons and grassy |