14 Bird Day Book 



brooding wife. His frequent visits are always announced with a 

 sweet conversational song, which he seems able to give even though 

 his bill is filled with seeds.- 



These leaflets are published to induce the boys and girls of 

 the country to keep their eyes wide open and see things out of 

 doors. One of the things we want to know about the Goldfinch is 

 why he begins to nest so late in the season, often long after most 

 birds are through with domestic duties for the year. August is 

 the time he chooses. Surely it seems a strange month for nest- 

 building and the care of young. Does he select it because before 

 that date nature has not provided food suited to the needs of the 

 young Goldfinches? 



The Goldfinch belongs to the thick-billed, seed-eating class of 

 birds and is extremely fond of the seeds of thistles, a most noxious 

 weed. Does he postpone housekeeping until the thistle seeds are 

 ripe enough to eat? 



The agriculturist should be interested in this bird. Every 

 thistle along the highway is a prolific source of future trouble, but 

 when you see it ornamented with an animated bit of gold and black, 

 you may know that Nature is interposing one of her potent checks 

 to the too rapid increase of weed pests. Every Goldfinch saves the 

 farmer much hard work by destroying weed seeds, which form the 

 bulk of its food supply, although during the breeding season it 

 gives its young considerable animal food, consisting of insects of 

 various kinds. 



Note: See picture on cover. 



