THE GOLD-FINCH. 61 



the ploughed land margins on the bushless waste, and there is 

 no bird save the twite, with its dull plumage and dismal note, 

 the two literally run into each other, the grass-land starves the 

 cattle, and the corn is not worth reaping ; but where, even on 

 soil naturally of the same quality, there are bushes and belts, 

 and linnets and gold-finches carolling away in full activity, the 

 grasses are kindly and green, and the corn plays in the sum- 

 mer wind with those beautiful wavings which proclaim there 

 shall be plenty. 



Though gold-finches labour cheerily and with songs, they 

 labour more diligently than most other birds. They are early 

 on the breeding-grounds, and their nests are constructed with 

 great care and much neatness ; the materials of course vary 

 with the locality, as the birds never range very far from the 

 nesting-place till they have reared the last brood for the 

 season. The song of the male generally begins in March, and 

 continues improving till the middle of May, at which time it 

 is in the greatest perfection. He sings from the perch, but 

 prefers one which is not very lofty ; begins at daybreak, and 

 continues, with little intermission, till sunset. The nest is 

 placed in a branch, and the foliage of evergreens is preferred to 

 that of deciduous trees, which is another proof that the find- 

 ing of caterpillars (which are comparatively few on evergreens) 

 is not one of the inducements in the choice of place. A 

 flexible branch seems to be preferred to a stiff one ; and thus 

 the nest of the gold-finch is literally a cradle, and the young 

 are rocked by the winds in their hatching place, nearly as 

 much as they are afterwards to be on the tall and flexible 

 stems, from the tops of which they are to find their food. 

 That situation requires a compact nest, and accordingly the 

 materials are very carefully united, or worked together, so 

 that the wind has little tendency to tear the structure. The 

 external parts are vegetable fibres, mosses, and lichens, mixed 

 with wool or hair, when these can be obtained ; finished with 



