126 Birds Every Child Should Know 



Usually not until July, when the early thistles 

 furnish plenty of fluff for nest lining, do pairs of 

 goldfinches withdraw from flocks to begin the 

 serious business of raising a family. A com- 

 pact, cozy, cup-like structure of fine grass, veg- 

 etable fibre, and moss, is placed in the crotch 

 of a bush or tree, or sometimes in a tall, 

 branching thistle plant. Except the cedar 

 wax wings, the goldfinches are the latest nesters 

 of all our birds. As their love-making is pro- 

 longed through the entire summer, so is the 

 deliciously sweet, tender, canary-Hke song of 

 the male. Dear, dear, dearie, you may hear him 

 sing to his dearest all day long. 



In summer, throughout his long courtship, 

 he wears a bright, lemon-yellow wedding suit 

 with black cap, wings, and tail, while his sweet- 

 heart is dressed in a duller green or olive yellow. 

 After the August moult, he emerges a dingy 

 olive-brown, sparrowy bird, in perfect colour 

 harmony with the wintry fields. 



PURPLE FINCH 



Called also: Linnet 



It would seem as if the people who named 

 most of our birds and wild flowers must have 

 been colour-blind. Old rose is more nearly 

 the colour of this finch who looks like a brown 



