"Goldfinch" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... with them about the time when she should commence her school, about which she had already erected many castles in the air. A little house she had thought should be erected in the valley. Here she should dwell alone with her cat, her little goldfinch with his elegant green cage, and she would also have a shed for her cow. She also wished to take a dog with her; but finally she thought she would not do so, for he would eat too much, and aside from that, would not be of the slightest benefit to her, for Carl would certainly ...
— The Home in the Valley • Emilie F. Carlen
... his high wood whistle, Over the coppice and down the lane Where the goldfinch chirps from the haulm of the thistle And mangolds gleam in the farmer's wain. Last year's dead and the new year sleeping Under its mantle of leaves and snow; Earth holds beauty fast in her keeping But Life invincible ...
— Punch, Volume 156, January 22, 1919. • Various
... dwelt in our city, And of a craft of victuallers was he: Galliard* he was, as goldfinch in the shaw**, *lively **grove Brown as a berry, a proper short fellaw: With lockes black, combed full fetisly.* *daintily And dance he could so well and jollily, That he was called Perkin Revellour. He was as full of love and paramour, As is the honeycomb of honey sweet; Well ...
— The Canterbury Tales and Other Poems • Geoffrey Chaucer
... themselves. The male chaffinch, for instance, will place himself in front of the female that she may admire at her ease his red throat and blue head; the bullfinch swells out his breast to display the crimson feathers, twisting his black tail from side to side; the goldfinch sways his body, and quickly turns his slightly expanded wings first to one side, then to the other, with a golden flashing effect.[78] Even birds of less ornamental plumage are accustomed to strut and show themselves off before the ...
— The Truth About Woman • C. Gasquoine Hartley
... birds which are endowed by Nature with the gift of song in connection with gaudy plumage is the American Goldfinch, or Hemp-bird, (Fringilla tristis,) one of the most interesting and delicate of the feathered tribe. Of all our birds this bears the closest resemblance to the Canary, both in his plumage and in the notes of his song. He cannot be ranked with the finest of our songsters, being ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 2, Issue 12, October, 1858 • Various
... the door from the inside, glad to be once more at home. Begin to whistle or sing yourself, and forthwith you have a duet or a trio. We can imagine no more perfectly tranquil and cheerful life than that of a Goldfinch in a cage in spring, with his wife and his children. All his social affections are cultivated to the utmost. He possesses many accomplishments unknown to his brethren among the trees;—he has never known what ...
— Recreations of Christopher North, Volume 2 • John Wilson
... tastes, and all,' said Edgar, scanning Felix's clear, bright, fresh face, glossy hair, and rather short figure, at once trim and sturdy. 'The goldfinch hit him off exactly, but I don't see the force of ...
— The Pillars of the House, V1 • Charlotte M. Yonge |
