According to one intelligent observer, the Finches are, in Nature's
economy, entrusted with the task of keeping the weeds in subjection,
and the gay and elegant little Goldfinch is probably one of the most
useful, for its food is found to consist, for the greater part, of
seeds most hurtful to the works of man. "The charlock that so often
chokes his cereal crops is partly kept in bounds by his vigilance, and
the dock, whose rank vegetation would, if allowed to cast all its
seeds, spread barrenness around, is also one of his store houses, and
the rank grasses, at their seeding time, are his chief support."
Another writer, whose study of this bird has been made with care,
calls our American Goldfinch one of the loveliest of birds. With his
elegant plumage, his rhythmical, undulatory flight, his beautiful
song, and his more beautiful soul, he ought to be one of the best
beloved, if not one of the most famous; but he has never yet had half
his deserts. He is like the Chickadee, and yet different. He is not so
extremely confiding, nor should I call him merry. But he is always
cheerful, in spite of his so-called plaintive note, from which he gets
one of his names, and always amiable. So far as I know, he never
utters a harsh sound; even the young ones asking for food, use only
smooth, musical tones. During the pairing season, his delight often
becomes rapturous. To see him then, hovering and singing,--or, better
still, to see the devoted pair hovering together, billing and
singing,--is enough to do even a cynic good. The happy lovers! They
have never read it in a book, but it is written on their hearts:
"The gentle law that each should be
The other's heaven and harmony."
In building his nest, the Goldfinch uses much ingenuity, lichens and
moss being woven so deeply into the walls that the whole surface is
quite smooth. Instead of choosing the forks of a bough, this Finch
likes to make its nest near the end of a horizontal branch, so that
it moves about and dances up and down as the branch is swayed by the
wind. It might be thought that the eggs would be shaken out by a
tolerably sharp breeze, and such would indeed be the case, were they
not kept in their place by the form of the nest. On examination, it
will be seen to have the edge thickened and slightly turned inward, so
that when the nest is tilted on one side by the swaying of the bough,
the eggs are still retained within. It is lined with vegetable down,
and on this soft bed repose five pretty eggs, white, tinged with blue,
and diversified with small grayish purple spots.
* * *
A curious story is told of a caged Goldfinch, which in pleasant
weather always hung in a window. One day, hearing strange bird voices,
the owner looked up from her seat and saw a Catbird trying to induce
the Finch to eat a worm it had brought for it. By dint of coaxing and
feeding the wild bird, she finally induced it to come often to the
window, and one day, as she sat on the porch, the Catbird brought a
berry and tried to put it into her mouth. We have often seen sparrows
come to the window of rooms where canaries were imprisoned, but it has
uniformly been to get food and not to administer it. The Catbird
certainly thus expressed its gratitude.
[Illustration: From col. Eugene Bliss.
CHIMNEY SWIFT.
Copyrighted by Nature Study Pub. Co., 1897, Chicago.]