Diseases.—Epilepsy is one of the commonest disorders of this bird. If the eyes are weak and swollen, anoint them with fresh butter. Stupor and giddiness being very properly attributed to too great a use of hemp seed, it is best to suppress it entirely, and supply its place with the seed of lettuce and thistles. This latter is so beneficial, that it would be well to give them, from time to time, a head to pluck the seeds for themselves.
Old age makes them blind, and deprives them of their beautiful colours; yet, notwithstanding all the evils with which they are afflicted, in a cage a goldfinch has been known to live sixteen years, and even twenty, or twenty-four years.
Mode of Taking.—In spring these birds are taken on a lure bush, with a decoy bird of their own species. They will also enter the area, or barn-floor trap, with chaffinches, if bundles of thistles are placed there; but it is not without difficulty, for they are very watchful to avoid nets and lime-twigs. In the winter, by building up bundles of thistles, and placing snares and traps on them, several may be caught; but in autumn and spring lime-twigs should be placed on them in preference. It is a still better plan to place bundles of thistles in a tree stuck about with lime-twigs. The goldfinch’s call is “tziflit,” or “sticlit,” which is its name in Bohemia.
Attractive Qualities.—The goldfinch is a very beautiful, lively, active bird, always in motion, and turning continually to the right and left. Its agreeable song, which is only discontinued during moulting, is a mixture of tones and harmonies, more or less dwelt upon, and the oftener the sound “fink” is introduced the more it is admired amongst us. There are some goldfinches that utter it only once or twice in their strains, whilst others will repeat it four or five times following. This species learn with difficulty to repeat airs from the flageolet, or other birds’ songs, and in this respect is inferior to canaries and linnets; but it is remarkable for its docility. Goldfinches have been seen to let off a small cannon, and imitate death. When properly instructed they will draw up their food and water. They are taught this by means of a chain or pulley, furnished with a soft leather band, two lines wide, pierced with four holes, through which the wings and feet are to be passed; the two ends meeting under the belly, and are retained there by a ring, to which is fastened the chain that supports the bucket containing the water or food. Whenever the little waterman wants either, he draws up the chain with his beak, fixing it at intervals with his foot, and thus succeeds in obtaining what he wishes; but if his little buckets are suspended to a pulley, raising one makes the other descend, and he can only enjoy his food and water in turn.
I have also seen goldfinches and siskins, placed in different cages, that have little bells fixed to the seed drawer in such a way that the bird cannot take its food without ringing them; the bells being harmonised, tolerably agreeable chimes are produced, but one is soon tired of such trifles.
The goldfinch is taught to go and come at command, without any danger of losing it, much sooner than the linnet, though the latter learns quite as soon to build in the room. To accomplish this feat the winter should be chosen, and the cage, containing a goldfinch that has not been rendered tender by having been too long accustomed to the heat of the room, must be placed on the outside of the window every day, or on a shelf intended for it, and where the mice cannot reach it. Hemp seed must be scattered round, and a bunch of thistle heads fastened by the side, the seeds of which should be mixed with the hemp seed. Presently one or more goldfinches, attracted by the call of the prisoner, collect, to take advantage of the scattered food; as soon as you have succeeded so far it is useless to let the decoy remain any longer exposed to the cold, which may injure it. It will be quite sufficient to place the cage within the window, and to put on the outside a cage as a trap, not for the sake of catching these birds, but to scare away the sparrows, that would soon eat up all the seed unless thus prevented; and in order that the trap may only close when you wish, the door should be supported by a string, passing into the room, and loosened, to catch the sparrows, but the goldfinches should be allowed to go in and out at pleasure, till the snow is on the point of disappearing, then close the trap on those you wish to keep: the birds thus captured should be placed in a cage, where they will soon grow tame, and learn to go and return to it. Whatever form this cage is of, the door should be hung so as to remain open as long as is required, and be closed without noise or alarming the bird, either by means of a spring, that may be acted on by the bird, without his perceiving it, or by his pushing the door of it open on the inside. When a goldfinch has been thus trained it may be let fly without fear the following August, at the time of moulting. It is true that it will be lost for some time, but it will not fail to return in December, when the ground is covered with snow, and it will sing much more sweetly than it would had it been kept prisoner. As soon as it has flown, a cage should constantly be hung outside the window, and seeds placed in it, that, if it should chance to return, it may find food; but it is rarely seen again till winter: at that time the cage should be so arranged that the door may be closed as soon as the bird enters, as it used to do in the room; the surest way is to attract it by a call bird. It must not be allowed to come out so often as before, and it will remain, without injury, shut up till the season arrives for giving it its liberty again. The same course may be pursued for the tit, and with still more success for the chaffinch, which does not enter the snares of the bird-catcher as easily as the others. If it is feared that it may be caught in a neighbouring area or barn-floor trap, it may be frightened from this snare in future, by stretching a net once, in the orchard or garden near. The greenfinch is the best for this manœuvre, as it is extremely fond of hemp seed, is more rarely taken, and returns less wild than the chaffinch. The birds that enjoy their liberty in the summer sing more finely than without this advantage, and, what is almost incredible, though taken to a distance of several leagues, they have always found their master’s house again[48].
