422 GRAY LADY AND THE BIRDS 
cloak, he need no more fear being seen in the leafless 
trees than the Thrushes or Sparrows. 
‘‘Thistle-bird, Lettuce-bird, and Yellowbird are all names 
given to this friendly little Sparrow of the stout bill, 
American black cap, tail, wings, and bright gamboge- 
Goldfinch yellow plumage, who lives with us all the 
year and is almost always seen in flocks. In spring 
we find these birds and their more sober wives feeding 
on dandelion seeds. In early summer they glean grass 
seeds in the hayfields. In late summer and early autumn 
they flutter about the seeding thistle in company with 
the rich red butterflies, and after this, the male and female, 
garbed alike, then live wherever the wild composite 
flowers like asters, sunflowers, or garden marigolds and zin- 
nias have gone to seed and in the great waste fields of weeds. 
“* At all times its flight is noticeable for its dip, followed 
by an upward jerk, and as they fly, they call ‘ per-chic-o- 
ree-per-chic-o-ree’ (Chapman) in a jolly, gleeful manner. 
“In May, June, and July they sing in a varied and 
canary-like manner from tree-tops and as they swing on 
stalks of grass, having quite powerful voices for their 
size, which is under five inches. 
“A lover and close observer of these Goldfinches has 
written the summer life of a pair of these birds in so 
interesting a fashion that I will read it to you. Either 
the pair that she describes were very late in nesting, or it 
was their second brood. 
A GOLDFINCH IDYL 
Do you know of any far-away pasture where, in blue- 
berry time, Sparrows play hide-and-seek in the bushes, 
