THE AMERICAN GOLDFINCH 



He is a brilliant little fellow, with his yellow body, his black wings 

 and his black cap pulled down over his eyes. You will see this when you 

 make your paper Goldfinch, and then when the real bird comes you will 

 surely know him. 



If you want him to visit you often, plant sunflowers in your garden ; 

 the Goldfinch loves the seed of the sunflower. And if you want him to 

 live near you, plant wild clematis and let some wild grasses grow at the 

 back of your garden, for he makes his nest from grasses and lines it with 

 the soft down of clematis, thistles and dandelions. It is a very neat and 

 closely woven nest, and in it will be four or five bluish eggs. Sometimes 

 you can find the nest in bushes on the edge of a field, sometimes in trees, 

 and often in the willows or alders near water. 



The Goldfinch is closely related to the Sparrow. 



