FA3T, XIII. FINCHES, SPAREOWS, ETC. 



119 



American Goldfinch 



flies through the air in a wave-like track, singing per-chk-n-ree 

 on the downward slopes of its passage. The female all the 

 year, and the male in winter, have only yellow wash- 

 ings on a brownish body ; the black cap is /^tU 

 also lacking ; the tail is deeply notched. ,. •' ^^^ 

 Except in early summer when nest- 

 ing, these birds are found in small 

 flocks. (Thistle-bird; Yellow- 

 bird.) 



Length, 5 ; wing, 2f(2J 

 2|) ; tail, 2 ; culmen, I. 

 Temperate North Amer- 

 ica ; breeding from Vir- 

 ginia and Kentucky 

 northward, and winter- 

 ing througliout most if 

 not the whole of the 

 United States. The 

 Arkansas Goldfinch 



(530. Splints ps('iUria) differs in having the back dark olive-green to 

 black in color, the lower parts only being lemon-yellow. The black 

 wings have a large (or sometimes small) white patch on the base of the 

 quills. The female is grayish-olive-green on the back, and greenish- 

 yellow below ; the white patch on t'.ie wings is smaller. This is a west- 

 ern bird found from the 

 Plains to the Pacific. 



y. Pine Siskin (533. 

 Sj^hius j))?iMs). — A small, 

 very streaky, dark -colored 

 winter sparrow with much 

 yellow on the wings and tail, 

 which is decidedly notched. It 

 has much the habits of the gold- 

 finch, but is found more frequent- 

 ly upon the cone-bearing trees, 

 whence its name. (Pine Finch.) 



Length, 5; wing, 2| ; tail, 1|; culmen, |. North America ; breeding 

 from the northern United States northward, and wintering very irregu- 

 larly south to the Gulf States. 



Pine Siskin 



