530 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



that of the chaffinch, and the lichens and moss of which it is 

 partly made are not stuck on the outside, hut are woven so 

 deeply into the waUs that the whole surface Ls quite smooth. 



The position of the two nests, however, is very different. 

 Instead of choosing the forks of a bough, the Goldfinch likes to 

 make its nest near the end of a horizontal branch, so that it 

 waves about and dances up and down as the branch is swayed 

 by the wind. It might be thought that the eggs would be 

 shaken out by a tolerably sharp breeze, and such would indeed 

 be the case, were they not kept in their place by the form of tlie 

 nest. If one of the best examples be examined, it will be seen 

 to have the edge thickened and slightly turned inwards, so that, 

 when the nest is tilted on one side by the .swaying of the bough, 

 the eggs are still retained within. I have seen the branches of 

 a tree violently agitated by ropes and sticks, and noticed tliat 

 the eggs in a Goldfinch-nest retained their position until the 

 branch was struck upwards close to the spot on which the nest 

 was made, aU the previous agitation having failed to dislodge 

 them. 



The lining of the Goldfinch's nest is unlike that which is used 

 l)y the chaffinch. The latter bird mostly employs hair, while 

 the former makes great use of vegetable-down, such as can be 

 obtained from the willow, the coltsfoot, and other plants. Like 

 other birds, the Goldfinch will not take needless trouble, and if 

 it can find a stray tuft of cotton-wool, will carry it off, and work 

 it into the nest. Sheep-wool is also used for the same purpose ; 

 but the bird likes nothing so well as down, and will use it 

 in preference to any other materiaL On this soft bed repose the 

 five pretty eggs, white, tinged with blue, and diversified with 

 small greyish-purple spots. Now and then a small streak is seen ; 

 but the spots are the rule, and the streaks the exception. 



Altogether, it is hardly possible to find a more beautiful group 

 than is made by a pair of Goldfinches, their nest, and eggs. 



Thk nest of the Bullfinch {Pyrrhula vulgaris) is unlike that 

 of the goldfinch, though it is sometimes found in similar locali- 

 ties. This bird seems to be rather capricious in its ideas of 

 nest-making, sometimes preferring trees, and sometimes building 

 in shrubs. 



