"Look, Mamma, look!" cried a little boy, as one day late in June my
mate and I alighted on a thistle already going to seed. "Such a lovely
bird! How jolly he looks, with that black velvet hat drawn over his
eyes!"
"That's a Goldfinch," replied his mamma; "sometimes called the Jolly
Bird, the Thistle Bird, the Wild Canary, and the Yellow Bird. He
belongs to the family of Weed Warriors, and is very useful."
"He sings like a Canary," said Bobbie. "Just hear him talking to that
little brown bird alongside of him."
That was my mate, you see, who _is_ rather plain looking, so to please
him I sang my best song, "_Per-chic-o-ree, per-chic-o-ree_."
"That sounds a great deal better," said Bobbie; "because it's not sung
by a little prisoner behind cage bars, I guess."
"It certainly is wilder and more joyous," said his mamma. "He is very
happy just now, for he and his mate are preparing for housekeeping.
Later on, he will shed his lemon-yellow coat, and then you won't be
able to tell him from his mate and little ones."
"How they are gobbling up that thistle-down," cried Bobbie. "Just
look!"
"Yes," said his mamma, "the fluff carries the seed, like a sail to
which the seed is fastened. By eating the seed, which otherwise would
be carried by the wind all over the place, these birds do a great
amount of good. The down they will use to line their nests."
"How I should like to peep into their nest," said Bobbie; "just to
peep, you know; not to rob it of its eggs, as boys do who are not well
brought up."
My mate and I were so pleased at that, we flew off a little way,
chirping and chattering as we went.
"Up and down, up and down," said Bobbie; "how prettily they fly."
"Yes," said his mamma; "that is the way you can always tell a
Goldfinch when in the air. A dip and a jerk, singing as he flies."
"What other seeds do they eat, mamma?" presently asked Bobbie.
"The seeds of the dandelion, the sunflower, and wild grasses
generally. In the winter, when these are not to be had, the poor
little fellows have a very hard time. People with kind hearts, scatter
canary seed over their lawns to the merry birds for their summer
songs, and for keeping down the weeds."