A BEAUTIFUL TISSUE 



which are unsurpassed for beauty of material and perfection 

 of delicate workmanship. Of these two the latter is to be 

 found from time to time in almost any bush or hedgerow, 

 and every boy is familiar with it ; but owing to the popu- 

 larity of the goldfinch as a cage bird, the former is un- 

 fortunately no longer as common as it used to be. 



In general shape these nests resemble a hollow ball with 

 the top sliced away. They are thick - walled, soft, and 

 extremely neat. Owing to their small dimensions neither 

 of them measures more than three and a half inches across 

 the birds can very well dispense with the earth and stout 

 bents and roots used by thrushes and blackbirds ; they are 

 satisfied with soft mosses, wool, etc., which they bind 

 together with perhaps a little fine grass and a few small 

 rootlets. 



The materials are interlaced so skilfully that they form a 

 tissue which is both strong and elastic as soft and as springy 

 as a knitted web; yet it is not soft enough, it seems, for 

 these fastidious little birds. The goldfinch adds a lining of 

 fir-needles, feathers, wool, thistle-down, willow-down, etc., 

 according to the choice afforded by the locality in which the 

 nest is built, and then a few hairs to keep everything neat 

 and trim, for otherwise the mass of light down would have 

 a tendency to spring up and become displaced, however care- 

 fully the bird arranged it. The chaffinch does much the 

 same, lining the nest with hair and feathers ; yet even then 

 she has not finished her labours. One of the most beautiful 

 of our British birds, this little creature is equally endowed 

 with self-respect and excellent taste; so when she has 

 finished the structural part of her nest she turns her atten- 

 tion to the outside decorations. The fragments of moss are 

 so beautifully arranged, and woven together with such regu- 

 larity, that the surface texture resembles the fleece of a lamb, 



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