THE SPARROW TRIBE AND ITS KIN 117 



the asters and Michaelmas daisies; or, when snow covers 

 the same field with a glistening crust, above which the 

 brown stalks oflfer only a meagre dinner, the same birds, 

 now sombrely clad in winter feathers, cling to the swaying 

 stems with cheerful fortitude. 



In the spring the plumage of the goldfinch, which has 

 been drab and brown through the winter months, is 

 moulted — a change that transforms the bird from a, sombre 

 Puritan into the gayest of cavaliers, and seems to wonder- 

 fully exalt his spirits. He bursts into a wild, sweet, in- 

 coherent melody that might be the outpouring from two or 

 three throats at once instead of one, expressing his rapture 

 somewhat after the manner of the canary, although his 

 song lacks the variety and the finish of his caged name- 

 sake. As love-making is prolonged through the entire 

 summer, so is the dehciously sweet, tender song. Dear, 

 dear, dearie, you may hear him sing to his dearest all day 

 long. 



Usually not until July, when the early thistles furnish 

 plenty of fluff for nest lining, do pairs of goldfinches with- 

 draw from flocks to begin the serious business of raising a 

 family. A compact, cozy, cup-like structure of fine grass, 

 vegetable fibre, and moss, is placed in the crotch of a bush 

 or tree, or sometimes in a tall, branching thistle plant. 

 Except the cedar waxwings, the goldfinches are the latest 

 nesters of all our birds. 



The Purple Finch 



Length — 6 to 6.25 inches. About the size of the English 



sparrow. 

 Male — Until two years old: Sparrow-like in appearance like 



