THE ARKANSAS GOLDFINCH. 157 



warm and dry; and here they were fed by the 

 parent birds all through the storm, which lasted 

 a week. 



The goldfinches feed their young as do the lin- 

 nets and hummers, both parents lending a hand, 

 or rather a beak, at the nursing. Long after a 

 brood has flown about the garden, they may be 

 seen coaxing for " more porridge," in baby gold- 

 finch voices already plaintive. 



Though the male helps his mate in the feeding 

 of the young, we have not seen him assist in the 

 nest-building. But he does not desert her, like 

 the humming-bird. He flies constantly with her 

 to and from the nest, just behind her, sometimes 

 singing on a low branch, as if to encourage her 

 while she gathers material. 



We often see the two hopping along by the 

 door-step, picking up fiber and threads shaken 

 from the house-rugs, the male close at the heels of 

 his mate, standing on tiptoe, as if keeping watch. 



Besides the Arkansas goldfinch, which is the 

 most familiar of the finches, we have the willow- 

 goldfinch, seen mostly in the willow groves in the 

 river bottoms. We have enticed it to our grounds 

 in late fall by planting rows of tame sunflowers 

 in time for the seeds to ripen before the frost 

 comes. The willow-goldfinch is larger than the 



