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finch that huilt it. The nest caught the attention of a number of visitors, who marveled at its tight construction of thistle down and grapevine bark, ajf skillfully held together with spider webbing. The cup of the nest measured 3 inches across and was 2 inches deep.
So tightly woven are goldfinch nests that young birds have been known to drown in them in heavy rains — the cups actually hold water. Goldfinches nest very late in the season, for they wait for thistles to produce soft-tufted seeds — thistle down — for their nests.
I began thinking, wondering even, about all the goldfinch activity that had been going on during August, only a few yards from the end of the barns, where people were constantly moving about every Sunday. We had missed it all, so concerned were we with our own business. I would like to have seen the greenish female fly in with a bill full of thistle down and settle in to weave it into her nest.
Were young fledged from this nest? I don’t think so, for it is too perfect and the sides are vertical. Growing nestlings push the nest apart in their competition to get the half-digested seeds brought in by the adults. My guess is that some predator — a jay or a grackle, even a snake — spotted the nest with its clutch of bluish-white eggs and made
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