242 A PllOCKEANT CRADLE. 



to a distant clump of thistles ; and as we approach, others shift their 

 stations ; but as yet the main body has no thought of retreating. 

 Let us stand still to observe them. They flutter over the plants, 

 cling to the stalks, bend in various attitudes, disperse the down, al- 

 ready dry and easily separable, pick out the pericarps one by one and 

 swallow them. There comes a stray cow pursued by a herd boy. 

 The birds suddenly intermit their labours, pause for a moment, and 

 fly off in succession. You observe how lightly and buoyantly they 

 cleave the air, each bird fluttering on its little wings, descending in 

 a curved line, mounting again, and speeding along. They wheel 

 around the field, now descending almost to the ground, now springing 

 up again. Some of them suddenly alight ; when, the example thus 

 set, all betake themselves to the tiny thicket of dried and withered 

 weeds, and, on settling, display to the delighted eye the beautiful 

 tints of their plumage, as, with fluttering wings and expanded tail, 

 they hover for a moment to select a landing-place amid the prickly 

 points, that seem to stand forth as if to prevent aggression. 



How charming is this ! What a beautiful picture of bird 

 life, and how true to nature, whose beauties and harmonies 

 are well understood by the Scottish naturalist. 



The Goldfinch is found in most of the wooded and culti- 

 vated districts of Great Britain ; but it is not equally 

 plentiful in all its resorts, being rare in some which seem 

 to possess the same features and advantages offered by 

 others in which it abounds. The nest of the bird is built 

 in trees in orchards, gardens, or plantations. It is a very 

 neat structure, elaborately interwoven, of grass, moss, and 

 lichens, as well as occasionally of twigs, threads, and other 

 substances ; it is lined with the down of various plants, 

 cotton, and other delicate vegetable filaments. The eggs 

 are five or six in number, about three-quarters of an inch 

 long, of a pale greyish blue colour, sometimes tinged with 

 brown, and marked with a few spots of faint purple and 

 brown ; in some cases there is a dark streak or two. 

 Mudie has observed that ' the nest of the Goldfinch is 

 literally a cradle, and the young are rocked by the winds 

 in their hatching-place, nearly as much as they are to be 

 afterwards on the tall and flexible stems on which they are 

 to find their food.' ' The Goldfinch,' says Rennie, in his 

 4 Architecture of Birds,' ' is more neat in the execution of 

 its felting than the Chaffinch, though its nest is not quite 

 so tasteful. The Goldfinch's is considered more formal, 



