THE LANGUAGE OF BIRDS. 
49 
sweetwarblers should undergo the discipline requisite 
to teach them such performances. 
It appears to me sinning against the designs of 
Nature. Birds, in the place assigned them by their 
Maker, I consider the most beautiful of God's crea- 
tures ; and to torment them for the sake of gain is 
unpardonable. 
I have seen large flocks of these interesting song- 
sters in the fields about Battersea, feasting on the 
seed of the thistle, which is their favourite food. 
The nest of the goldfinch is beautifully neat, and 
even elegantly interwoven ; the outside composed of 
moss and lichen, and lined with hair, wool, the 
down of the thistle, and the pappus of the willow. 
I much doubt if any human ingenuity could con - 
struct anything to compare with the nest of this 
bird, which is generally built in a fruit tree, and 
contains four or five eggs. 
It wins my admiration 
To view the structure of that little work, 
A bird*s nest. Mark it well, within, without ; 
No tool had he that wrought, no knife to cut, 
No nail to fix, no bodkin to insert, 
F 
