106 WILD BIRDS 



his nest, a third his song. But his figure can only 

 be called clumsy or bulky if contrasted with a gold- 

 finch's which is so faery-fine, or a red linnet's, which 

 is so sprightly and carried so upright and " peart." 



The greenfinch is no model builder like the 

 chaffinch or the goldfinch, the outside of the nest 

 being often rather rude and formless, but the cup 

 within is well rounded and softly lined. As to the 

 statement that the greenfinch is a trifling or indif- 

 ferent songster I dispute it. True, the greenfinch 

 is no songster if we are to measure his music simply 

 as melody. But that is not the way we should 

 appraise the songs of birds. Judged simply as 

 music or melody, apart from the charm and beautiful 

 ways and appearance of the singer itself, there is no 

 bird's song that can stand the test well. Even the 

 nightingale's song, or the blackcap's at its best, 

 would be scarcely worth considering much, were it 

 not for the nightingale and the blackcap. We ought 

 to bear this in thought, if inclined to scorn the 

 greenfinch's little lay. 



The greenfinch has a drawn-out call, more or less 

 a love-call, I should say, that can at times be a little 

 monotonous its " twee-er," over and over through 

 late summer days. But its true song, though slight, 

 is too pleasant and gentle to weary the ear. It is 

 a song often sung, and it is short : I cannot syllable 

 it even roughly, though it seems simple and is 

 clearly uttered. I think it consists of three little 

 passages, or call them words joined by a hyphen ; 

 a conversational, friendly little piping. I call 



