94 ON THE BIRDS' HIGHWAY 



up a continual " chippering," and by the 

 amount of food given to each, their capac- 

 ity must be enormous compared with their 

 size. It was interesting to watch the par- 

 ent seek the tree where one had been a 

 moment before and see how anxiously she 

 peered around uttering a sharp " chip," 

 and then when the young rascal answered 

 from the next tree, how quickly the old 

 bird would dart off to give to the mite, 

 who stood with quivering wings and open 

 mouth to receive the wriggling grub. I 

 could tell instantly the young chippies 

 from the old birds, as their breasts were 

 streaked with dusky brown. 



A pair of goldfinches undulated over 

 the meadow and stopped for a moment at 

 the right angle of the wall among the 

 rusty stalks of a clump of dock and the 

 delicate flower heads of the yellow loose- 

 strife. Yellow predominates in the mead- 

 ow now, St. John's-wort, loosestrife, tansy, 

 butter-and-eggs and mullen being the prin- 

 cipal colorists. 



In crossing the meadow a few days ago, 

 the old chippies arose from the grass and 

 proclaimed the whereabouts of a youngster 

 by anxious manner and loud " chips." I 



