ite place is in the fork of some tall thistle. When exploring 

 the edges of fields and woods in August and September, I 

 can always find one or more goldfinch nests. In fact it is 

 easy to select the patches which ought to contain a. nest, and 

 generally the nest is there. 



One of my boy friends found a nest with three eggs in it 

 a day or two before Christmas. The eggs were frozen, and 

 of course deserted, and how late the birds started the nest 

 it was impossible to tell. 



I have frequently found nests still with eggs during the 

 week of the State Fair. 



The latest date on which I found one was September 28th. 

 I had gone out for an early morning walk. The air was cold 

 and crisp and the grass was covered with hoar frost. As I 

 approached a patch of thistles I heard a plaintive call: 

 "Chipee, Chipee." Entering the patch, I found a nest with 

 four young goldfinches, large enough to leave the nest within 

 three or four days. There was no trace of the parent birds, 

 and the nestlings seemed to be cold and hungry; but a few 

 rods away a large flock of goldfinches were feeding on the 

 seed of the wild hemp near the railroad track. 



Somehow things did not look just right about these little 

 finiches. The sun had just risen, it was quite cold and the 

 nestlings still called plaintively for food. I felt sure they 

 must also be cold and one of the parents ought to have been 

 on the nest. I passed the nest a second time, but neither of 

 the parents were near it. 



Having an out-of-town engagement for the day I could not 

 visit the birds again the same day, but I went early next 

 morning and found my fears only too well founded. Two of 

 the young birds lay dead in the nest; one I found dead in 

 the grass under the nest. The other two I could not find. 



It was clear that the parents had deserted the young, but 

 why they had done so is not entirely clear to me. Food was 

 abundant near the nest and the weather continued warm, 

 although the nights were cold; and, moreover, goldfinches 

 stay with us all winter. However, at this time they assemble 

 in flocks and roam about from place to place. It is possible, 

 that the whole goldfinch population shifts southward in win- 



