NESTS OF THE CHAFFINCH AND THRUSH. 7 



our search in many a carefully chosen lurking 

 place among the leaves of the bough, or nestling 

 against the lichen-covered trunk, just where a 

 stout arm of the tree juts out so as to leave a 

 resting-place at its junction with the tree. The 

 beautifully-felted nest of the goldfinch lies snugly 

 seated on a shady branch, all wrought so smooth 

 and even as to present a perfect picture of neat- 

 ness. Upon an aged apple-tree, the bark of which 

 is heavy with moss and greyish lichens, in a fork 

 of one of its branches, is the not less beautiful 

 structure of the chaffinch. There, bound together 

 and to the surrounding branches by bands of moss 

 and wool, this fabric is fixed with its contents; 

 and there the anxiously glistening eye of the parent 

 may often be seen keenly observing the intruder. 

 The American water-thrush places her structure 

 at the very foot and amongst the roots of trees, or 

 by the side of a decayed log, where it is very 

 easily discovered. While the mother tends her 

 task of incubation, her musical mate is often seen 

 perched on a low bough, and pouring forth music 

 which has been compared to a successive running 

 down two octaves on the pianoforte.* Of our 

 * Audubon. 



