126 Birds Every Child Should Know 
Usually not until July, when the early thistles 
furnish plenty of fluff for nest lining, do pairs of 
goldfinches withdraw from flocks to begin the 
serious business of raising a family. A com- 
pact, cozy, cup-like structure of fine grass, veg- 
etable fibre, and moss, is placed in the crotch 
of a bush or tree, or sometimes in a talk 
branching thistle plant. Except the cedar 
waxwings, the goldfinches are the latest nesters 
of all our birds. As their love-making is pro- 
longed through the entire summer, so is the 
deliciously sweet, tender, canary-like song of 
the male. Dear, dear, dearie, you may hear him 
sing to his dearest all day long. 
In summer, throughout his long courtship, 
he wears a bright, lemon-yellow wedding suit 
with black cap, wings, and tail, while his sweet- 
heart is dressed in a duller green or olive yellow. 
After the August moult, he emerges a dingy 
olive-brown, sparrowy bird, in perfect colour 
harmony with the wintry fields. 
PURPLE FINCH 
Called also: Linnet 
It would seem as if the people who named 
most of our birds and wild flowers must have 
been colour-blind. Old rose is more nearly 
the colour of this finch who looks like a brown 
