246 A MIDSUMMER WOOING. 



voices, "sw-e-e-tl" and to all appearance un- 

 conscious of the presence of two of their bright 

 young wooers, sitting in perfect silence on an 

 upper branch. Suddenly from this happy party 

 one of the damsels flew, when instantly one of 

 the black-winged suitors flashed out in pursuit. 

 On she went, flying madly, encircled one tree, 

 dashed to another, and around that, passed up 

 and down, here and there, this way and that, 

 but everywhere with her follower close after her, 

 singing at the top of his voice, till they disap- 

 peared in the distance. 



Can the goldfinch wooing be a sort of Co- 

 manche affair? Is the little bride won by force? 

 Or is she, perchance, like some of her sisters 

 of larger growth, who require a "scene" of 

 some sort to make them "name the day"? 



Again, attracted by loud eager singing, the 

 student found a pair wdio were apparently fight- 

 ing, — the peaceful goldfinch I They flew up close 

 together, they almost clinched, then flew away 

 to a group of trees, under, over, around, be- 

 tween, through, and beyond they went, never 

 six inches apart, and he singing furiously all the 

 time. At last, just as the looker-on expected to 

 see them grapple, they calmly alighted on a tree 

 eight or ten feet from each other. Nothing but 

 a frolic, obviously ! 



Another curious performance of this July 



