66 THE YELLOW-BIRD. 
finches is the Yellow-bird (Chrysomitris tristis, 
Bon). This tiny finch—robed in golden-yellow, 
delicately shaded and streaked with rich brown, 
a velvet black cap on its head, and just enough 
white as a fringe to light up the dark tail and 
wing-feathers—may be ranked as the most 
exquisitely-plumaged of North-western birds. 
One could almost imagine, as it silently climbs 
amidst the green foliage of the pines, that it was 
an orchid-blossom blown from the tropics into 
colder regions, rather than a bird. 
As a singer the ‘yellow-bird’ has little to boast 
of—as an architect it is deserving the highest 
credit. The nest is a perfect work of art, most 
delicately woven, in shape symmetrically round, 
and skilfully lashed with real ropes of fibre to 
the forked branches chosen as the building-site. 
Fine linty materials gathered from different 
plants, thistledown, spiders’ webs, and silk pil- 
laged from insect cocoons, make up the walls; 
the inside, lined with feathers, hair, and _ soft 
fibres, is a bed fit for a fairy-queen to sleep in. 
Five eggs are usually laid in June or early in 
July, soon after the birds make their appearance, 
They are distributed plentifully throughout Bri- 
tish Columbia, and are sometimes seen on Van- 
couver Island, but were more abundant east 
than west of the Cascades. 
