I see reptilian features in these American Goldfinch chicks, the bird on the left showing lizard eyes. Their skin, thin as fly wings at this point, has an old, leathery look. There is a bit of a million years ago in the nest, soon to rush to the present. Ancient reptiles yesterday, songbirds today. The adult characteristics would be clear in another week.

These chicks were photographed a few days ago, when they were something less than a week old. There are three here (bill of the third visible at lower right); there probably was a fourth hunkered down. The bills, looking widely hinged, are just so. They open in a gape to receive food from the parents. I've seen dragonflies stuffed into birds this young. (I'd refer mine with the wings and legs removed first, thank you.) The bright colors edging the bills match the inside of the mouths, this vivid target thought to reinforce the parents' instinct to feed the young.