404 THE MOUNTAIN FINCH. 



next day he died. The woman thinks she gave him too much 

 hempseed. The female broke the eggs and took down every 

 bit of the nest, got another mate and built another nest on a 

 fir tree closer to the house. But she and her young never entered 

 the cottage. The following lines in praise of our little friend 

 will do in want of better : — 



Beneath the birks wi' jaunty air, 



Sae prood an' pert thou'rt happin' there, 



Sweet bird o' joy — wi' plumage rare — 



And life o' bliss — 

 Thy bonny wings frae gowans fair 



Steal mony a kiss. 



Leal kindness fills thy throbbin' breast, 

 And love uplifts thy tiny crest ; 

 Thy care o' sic a wondrous nest 



Proves, head and heart, 

 An architect by Nature blest 



Thou truly art. 



When Boreas thunders through the wuds 

 Or blatterin' rain descends in floods, 

 And leaves are torn like tattered duds, 



Still firm and fast 

 Atween the twigs the biggin' haud^ 



Against the blast. 



What peer hast thou the trees amang, 

 Sae happy owre thy tender young ? 

 And though thy kindly ways unsung 



May lang remain, 

 A life like thine is never flung 



Awa' in vain. 



At least when not a sparrow fa's 

 Upon the ground without a cause — 

 As plain set doon in Bible laws — 



Then sure this bird, 

 Sae gaily clad in Sunday braws, 



Deserves a word ! 



The Mountain Finch. 



(Fringilla Montifringilla.) Linn. 



" Nae laverock sang on hillock green ; 

 Through faded groves Maria sang — 

 HerseP in beauty's bloom the while, 



And aye the wild wood echoes rang 

 Farewell the braes o' Ballochmyle." — Burns. 



This bird is also called the brambling ; it is less than the 

 last — 6 J by 10 J — but like it in form and habits. It is only a 



