A TRIBE OF WEED WAREIORS 215 



seed of yellow sunflowers shouldn't make birds yel- 

 low ! " But in spite of her argument Nat and Rap 

 continued to laugh. 



" It must be hard to tell them when they lose their 

 yellow feathers," said Nat finally. 



'' No ; Goldfinches keep up a habit by which you 

 can always tell them, old or young, male or female, in 

 summer or winter. Can you guess what it is ? " 



" I know ! Oh, I know ! " cried Rap. " They always 

 fly with a dip and a jerk." 



The American Goldfinch 



Length about five inches. 



Male in summer : bright clear yellow, with a black cap, and the 

 wings and tail black with some white on both. 



Female at all times, and male in winter : light flaxen brown, 

 the wings and tail as before, but less distinctly marked with white, 

 and no black ^ap. 



A Citizen of temperate North America, and a good neighbor. 



Belongs to the guild of Weed Warriors, and is very useful. 



THE SNOWFLAKE 

 (The Autumn Leaf) 



^' It is a very warm day to talk about snowstorms 

 and winter birds, but several of these birds belong to 

 the Finch family," said the Doctor, a few mornings 

 later, as the children went through the old pasture 

 down to the river woods in search of a cool quiet place 

 to spend the morning. The sun was hot, and most of 

 the birds were hiding in the shade trees. '' But as the 

 Snowflake will walk next to the Goldfinch in the pro- 

 cession of Bird Families I am going to show you after 

 a while, we must have him now." 



