The New Student's Reference Work/Finch

Finch, is the popular name for a large variety of birds, which for the most part belong to the scientific family Fringillidae. The birds called finches are for the most part small, often beautifully colored and not seldom endowed with the gift of song. In the United States and Canada there are said to be 135 kinds of finches; and there, indeed, is no tropical or temperate country in which finches are not found, although some scientists have wrongly excepted Australia, where, in fact, finches are plentiful. The indigo-bird, purple finch, horse-finch, American goldfinch, pine-finch, grass-finch and rosy finch are among the best-known species in this country. Canaries and sparrows are also classed as finches.