180 BIRDS THROUGH AN OPERA-GLASS. 
and tail. The summer yellow-bird, on the con- 
trary, wears heavier yellow, and is not only with- 
out the contrasting black, but looks dull from the 
“obsolete” brown streaks on his vest. The gold- 
finch is a larger bird, and, as he lives on seeds 
rather than insects, has the thick finch bill instead 
of the fine one of the warbler. On the wing, at 
a distance, the peculiar curved undulating flight 
of the goldfinch marks him; and when you are 
near enough to hear him sing, you will find that 
his canary-like song is totally unlike the warbler 
trill of the summer yellow-bird. 
One spring we discovered a golden warbler’s 
nest in the top of an apple-tree in the old North- 
ampton orchard, near the nest a song sparrow had 
built at the bottom of a brush heap, and the loose 
bunch of twigs the catbirds had patched up with 
newspaper in an apple-tree crotch. Perhaps the 
little bird thought its persistent enemy, Madam 
Cowbird, would be less likely to visit its nest if 
other mother birds were on the watch near by — 
for the golden warbler is the bird spoken of as 
having had to build three stories to rid itself of 
the cowbird’s eggs. 
LXI. 
REDSTART. 
THE long tail of the redstart makes him appear 
about the size of a chipping bird. In habits, 
