THE GOLDFINCH 35 



come together at nightfall after the day's work, in order 

 to have a Httle gossip while enjoying the cool of the eve- 

 ning on their doorsteps. Meanwhile, the busy females 

 were fluttering to and fro in search of (lies and small 

 worms for the supper of their large family. 



One day it happened that the cat of the family, Avhich 

 had hidden treacherously behind a clump of lilac trees, 

 took one of the mothers by surprise as she was leaving 

 her nest, and strangled her. I then witnessed a most 

 touching scene, which proves that charity is not ex- 

 clusively a human virtue, and that it can dwell even 

 in the heart of an humble goldfinch. The surviving 

 mother adopted the children of the dead bird. She un- 

 dertook to feed the two broods, and during a whole 

 week, 1 used to see her flying from one nest to the other, 

 dividing the food between her seven little ones and the 

 seven orphans. 



The female goldfinch is an honest, valiant creature; 

 she is the very embodiment of self-denial and devotion; 

 she shows a most exemplary attachment to her young 

 ones; the sun may shine or the clouds burst in cold 

 hail showers, she remains sitting on her nest with out- 

 spread wings, and sometimes after a storm, the hail has 

 bruised her while she was faithfully attending to her tender 

 brood . 



Too fine to work, the male goldfinch, meanwhile, scar- 

 cely helps her in her task ; he sometimes bends over 



