38 BIRDS OF P. E. ISLAND 



sweet whispered notes. Sometimes a solitary bird 

 will get separated from the flock, then the loud 

 pe-eel rings through the autumn sky, and it is 

 repeated until an answer comes and the wanderer 

 is restored to the bosom of the loving flock. In 

 cold winter weather the birds crowd close to- 

 gether, as if for warmth. They come about hay- 

 stacks for seeds, and will fearlessly alight upon 

 the loads which the farmer is building, having the 

 innocence of creatures fresh from the untenanted 

 wilds of nature. 



Sometimes a rare specimen stays with us all 

 summer and builds its nest in the dark fir thicket. 

 Then the song of the male is a full, rattling 

 melody, like that of the " Linnet," and scarce less 

 clear and vigorous. 



The golden -plumed American Goldfinch ( Astra- 

 galinus tristis) is a gay rover in the fields of 

 summer. His coat of brilliant yellow, varied with 

 black on the long wing and tail feathers, and his 

 clear, lively twit make him an attractive bird as 

 he bounds about the summer pastures rifling seeds 

 from the downy groups of syngenecious plants. 

 He is here from May till October. The nest is 

 built on a small tree, and is the most neatly 



