File:Coloured illustrations of British birds, and their eggs (1846) (14755093302).jpg

Identifier: colouredillustra31846meye (find matches)
Title: Coloured illustrations of British birds, and their eggs
Year: 1842 (1840s)
Authors: Meyer, H. L. (Henry Leonard), d. 1864 Meyer, H. L. (Henry Leonard), d. 1864. Illustrations of British birds Rutter, Daniel, former owner. DSI Rolle, Mark, former owner. DSI S. & J. Bentley, Wilson & Fley, printer S. & J. Bentley and Henry Fley, printer
Subjects: Birds Birds Birds Taxidermists Birds
Publisher: London : G.W. Nickisson
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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ally in hillydistricts and uncultivated wastes, where some of the wildestand least valuable productions of the vegetable kingdomfurnish its frugal repasts. Widely extended commons whichabound in thistles, are the usual resort of this species inautumn and winter—especially where tracts of firs and otherplantations afford them shelter for the night. Here, in sunnyautumn and winter days, small flocks of these bright littlecreatures may be seen scattered about and feeding amongthe thistles, or standing upon the prickly heads of the teasel,busy in extracting the seeds from among the spines by whichthey are protected : in these pursuits they exhibit manygraceful attitudes and agile movements. In many parts ofSurrey and Middlesex, where uncultivated commons andpasture-lands afford much of their favourite food, this speciesis very generally dispersed. We once met with a curiouscircumstance with respect to this finch, which shows thespecies to be numerous in those counties. Crossing a grass-
Text Appearing After Image:
GOLDFINCH. 101 field in Middlesex, in the vicinity of the Thames, we ob-served, about the middle of it, a spot above six feet in cir-cumference, entirely covered with the remains of at least ahundred Goldfinches. These had evidently been the preyof some hawk that frequented the neighbourhood, most pro-bably a kestril; but why this particular spot should be chosenfor its dining-place, was not so apparent. On examining theplace, however, we observed that the spot was a little ele-vated above the rest of the field, and the ground had forsome days previously been covered with snow. The snowmight have lain more sparingly upon this spot than else-where, or from its slight elevation above the rest of the field,might have been swept off by the wind, and thus have afford-ed a motive to the hawk to choose it as a resting-place.Many of the hawk tribe are supposed to carry home theirprey, to a selected spot, for consumption; of which the kes-tril affords an example, for when confined by a chain,

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