424 GRAY LADY AND THE BIRDS 
the nest. Flies to her with a jubilant twitter, his mouth 
full of seeds. She eagerly takes from twelve to twenty 
morsels. They always meet and part with song. Once 
the brooding mate grew impatient, flew to the next tree 
to meet her provider, took eight or ten morsels, then 
flew with him to the nest and took twelve more. A 
generous commissary ! 
“August 17. Breakfast on the nest; twenty-three 
morsels from one mouthful. How is it possible for song 
to escape from that bill before the unloading? Yet 
it never fails.”’ 
Here the record comes to an untimely stop, the re- 
porter being suddenly called home. But the following 
year Nature’s serial opened at the same leaf. 
Toward the last of July, a steady increase in Gold- 
finch music, and a subtle change in its meaning marked 
the approach of nesting time. Again I quote from my 
journal : — 
“August 8. My careful search was rewarded by the 
discovery of a Goldfinch’s nest, barely outlined, in the 
rock maple near the former site, but on the road side of 
the tree. That my bird friends had returned to the old 
treestead I could not doubt, as they bore my scrutiny 
with unconcern. In six days the nest was completed. 
The builder flew to the brook and drank with her mate, 
but rarely stayed away long enough for food supply; 
that was carried to her and received on the nest. 
“August 18. An episode: a rival male flew to the 
home tree with the male Goldfinch, both singing de- 
lightfully and circling about the nest. The mate, much 
excited, several times flew from the nest and joined in 
