I40 OUR BIRD ALLIES. 
certain times, and justifies its claim to our encourage- 
ment and protection. During seed-sowing, no doubt, 
it must be kept at a distance; but upon no account 
should the bird be killed. 
The chaffinch is a capital architect, and makes one 
of the neatest of nests with moss, hair, wool, feathers, 
and lichens, the latter of which it carefully fastens 
upon the exterior by the aid of spiders’ web, so as to 
assimilate the walls, as far as possible, to the appear- 
ance of the surrounding branches. In almost every 
case the nest is placed in the fork of a branch at its 
junction with the main stem, or with a larger bough, 
and a sharp eye is generally needed in order to detect 
it from below. ‘The eggs, four or five in number, are 
of a peculiar dun colour, spotted and streaked towards 
the larger end with dark brown. 
Tue Goldfinch, again, is a very useful bird to the 
agriculturist, feeding largely upon the seeds of plants 
which not only exhaust the soil by their growth, but 
can only be eradicated by dint of considerable labour 
and expense. Of such seeds as those of the thistle 
and groundsel the goldfinch is especially fond, and 
may often be seen chasing them as they are blown 
along by the wind, or tearing them out in quantities 
before they have left the parent stem. Quite a little 
flock of these birds may often be seen in spots where 
these weeds abound, perching upon the stems, and 
devouring the seeds by thousands before they are 
dispersed by the wind. 
In the spring, too, and particularly during the 
