They are such jolly little chaps that it made me laugh when I watched them swinging on the ends of the tall grass.

Once in a while one would play he was angry and try to look cross; but he couldn't keep it up long, because he really felt so good natured." "I believe every one knows Goldfinches," said Olive.

"I remember them longer than any birds, but the Robin and Bluebird." [Illustration: American Goldfinch] "Yes, for even I know them a little bit," said Dodo, "but not by their right name, for when I saw some in the Park last summer somebody said they were wild Canaries that had flown out of cages." "What do they eat, cones or little seeds ?" asked Nat.
"They eat grass-seeds, and the seeds of weeds--the most fly-away weeds too, that blow everywhere and spread ever so fast," said Rap.

"Look, quick! There's a flock coming by now, and they are calling 'Come _talk_ to me! Come _talk_ to me!' See--they have settled on the long grass by the fence and are gobbling seeds like everything," continued Rap in a whisper.
As he spoke a flock of twenty or more birds flew over; some were the bright-yellow males and others the more plainly colored females.

They did not fly straight, but in a jerky way, constantly dropping down and then lifting up again, and calling out "wait for me" on every down-grade curve, until by common consent they alighted among some wild grasses, where the early yellow thistles were already going to seed.
"Watch and listen," said the Doctor, as he handed the field-glass to the children in turn.
There was a perfect babel of bird-talk, the jaunty blond males all making pretty speeches to the gentle brown-haired females, who laughed merry little bird-laughs in return.
"It is like the noise in the store where they sell Canaries," whispered Nat, after taking a long look; "first they all sing together and then a few sing so much louder that the others stop.