“The Goldfinch weaves, with willow down inlaid, And cannach tufts, his wonderful abode; And oft suspended at the limber end Of plane-tree spray, among the broad-leaved shoots, The tiny hammock swings to every gale. Sometimes in closest thickets ’tis concealed; Sometimes in hedge luxuriant, where the brier, The bramble, and the plum-tree branch Warp through the thorn, surmounted by the flowers Of climbing vetch, and honeysuckle wild.” GRAHAME. The following lines were written by Cowper on a Goldfinch starved to death in his cage. The Goldfinch speaks:-- “Time was when I was free as air, The thistle’s downy seed my fare, My drink the morning dew; I perched at will on every spray, My form genteel, my plumage gay, My strains for ever new. “But gaudy plumage, sprightly strain, And form genteel were all in vain, And of a transient date; For caught and caged, and starved to death, In dying sighs my little breath Soon passed the wiry grate. “Thanks, gentle author of my woes, Thanks for this most effectual close And cure of every ill. Never your cruelty repress! For I, if you had shown me less, Had been your prisoner still.” [Illustration: THE CROSSBILL. (_Loxia curvirostra._)] THE CROSSBILL is a native of the vast pine forests of northern Europe, and is by no means abundant in England. The bill of this singular bird is of considerable length, and the mandibles towards the point are very sharp and strong, curved in opposite directions, so that when closed the points cross each other, from which the bird derives his name. This curious organization enables them to obtain their food, which chiefly consists of the seeds of the cones of the fir, with the greatest facility. These seeds, for a considerable time after they have ripened, are so firmly enclosed within their ligneous scales, that the bill of no ordinary bird could reach them. Fixing itself across the cone, the Crossbill brings the mandibles of its beak immediately over each other, and insinuates them between the scales, then forcing them laterally, the scales open. The mandibles are again brought in contact, between the scales, and the bird then picks out the seed with their tips. It is very interesting to find that a structure so anomalous as that of the bill of the Crossbill is really beneficial to the creature, and not, as was formerly rather flippantly asserted, a defect or error of nature. [Illustration: THE STARE, OR STARLING, (_Sturnus vulgaris_,)]