NOTES BY THE WAY. 157 



she takes to cover in the grass there is generally a 

 squabble " down among the tickle-tops," or under 

 the buttercups, and " Wintersable " or " Conquedel " 

 is the winner. 



In marked contrast to this violent love-making are 

 the social and festive reunions of the goldfinches 

 about mating time. All the birds of a neighborhood 

 gather in a tree-top, and the trial apparently becomes 

 one of voice and song. The contest is a most friendly 

 and happy one ; all is harmony and gayety. The fe- 

 males chirrup and twitter and utter their confiding 

 "paUeyf "paisley" while the more gayly dressed 

 males squeak and warble in the most delightful strain. 

 The matches are apparently all made and published 

 during these gatherings; everybody is iu a happy 

 frame of mind ; there is no jealousy, and no rivalry 

 but to see who shall be gayest. 



It often happens among the birds that the male 

 has a rival after the nuptials have been celebrated 

 and the work of housekeeping fairly begun. Every 

 season a pair of phoebe-birds have built their nest on 

 an elbow in the spouting beneath the eaves of my 

 house. The past spring a belated male made des 

 perate efforts to supplant the lawful mate and gain 

 possession of the unfinished nest, There was a battle 

 fought about the premises every hour in the day for 

 sit least a week. The antagonists would frequently 

 grapple and fall to the ground and keep their hold 

 like two dogs. On one surh occasion I came neai 

 Covering them with my hat. I believe the intruder 



